Summer Concerts in Review (2012)

For the most part, my summer concert series was quite dull compared to past summers. I didn’t attend as many concerts this year, however the ones I did go to were big ones.

The Warped Tour 2012, at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, Mass. The line up included Yellowcard, Mayday Parade, You Me At Six, Four Year Strong, All Time Low, New Found Glory, Every Time I Die, A Loss For Words, Memphis May Fire, Pierce The Vail, Tonight Alive, Vanna, We The Kings, Taking Back Sunday, and many others. For those unfamiliar with Warped Tour, it’s an annual concert event where numerous bands play from morning to night on various stages. If you’re lucky, you can even meet with the members of your favorite bands during a “meet and greet” or just spot them walk around. This year was a great show, complete with a beautiful day compared to last year.

Gavin Degraw and Colbie Caillat were next at The Bank of America Pavilion in Boston, Mass. I have never seen either of them in concert, so I was very excited to see them live for the first time. They have both been on the scene for a few years and it definitely brings back some memories of their first hits. Gavin Degraw recently released his new album, Sweeter, which he most of his set list included. Degraw is fantastic live and gives a great performance. Being very musically talented, he plays the piano and guitar on stage, while “dancing” as well. Some of his set list included, “Sweeter,” “I’m In Love With a Girl,” “Not Over You,” “Run Every Time,” “I Don’t Want to Be,” and others. Colbie Caillat opened for him and also gave a good performance. The last album she released was in 2011, called “All of You.” Some of the songs she performed included “Bubbly,” “Fallin’ For You,” “Brighter Than the Sun,” “Realize,” in addition to others. Both performers have raw talent that is amazing to hear and experience live.

My favorite concert of the summer had to be Linkin Park, at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, Mass. I’ve been a fan of the group for ten years, and I finally got to see them. The Honda Civic Tour 2012, consisted of Mute Math, Incubus and Linkin Park. Linkin Park had at least a twenty songs as part of their set list, including songs off their latest album “Living Things” that was released this summer. Their set list included “Faint,” “Somewhere I Belong,” “New Divide,” “Waiting For the End,” “Breaking the Habit,” Shadow of the Day,” “Burn It Down,” “In the End,” “Numb,” “Bleed it Out,” “One Step Closer,” and changed things up by combining and performing different renditions of their songs.. It was such an upbeat, high energy and entertaining show, there was not a minute the audience didn’t seem to enjoy. Definitely one of the best concerts I have ever been too and let me just say this: if you ever get the chance to see them in concert, take it.

The last concert I attended was Neon Trees, at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel in Providence, RI. with opening acts Walk The Moon and Twenty One Pilots. Neon Trees is very entertaining live, I saw them last fall with Duran Duran and I just think that they are so unique. The lead singer, Tyler Glenn has some ridiculous outfits, but he has great voice and their music is very original. They also had a different drummer, since their fellow band member just had a baby. The only issue I had with their performance was that I don’t really like their new album, Picture Show, as much as their old album, Habits. The group performed “Animal,” “Everybody Talks,” “1983,” “Sins Of My Youth,” “Weekend,” “I am the DJ,” and others.

Even though there were only a few concerts of interest I was able to attend, it was a fabulous summer concert mix. However, there are a lot of bands touring this fall, and hopefully I will get to see some of them.

You Me At Six performing at Warped Tour 2012 in Mansfield, MA. Photo by Amelia Walters