All Time Low

support The Audition
author PP date 17/09/09 venue Kulturbolaget, Malmö, SWE

I guess it was to be expected, but the amount of scene-cled, under 16 year old girls queueing in front of Kulturbolaget, Malmö hours before the All Time Low show surprised even a frequent concert goer like myself (1 more show to surpass the 'magic' 500 unique bands seen achievement). To give you an idea just how many 13-15 year old girls were in attendance tonight, consider this: a 24 year old such as myself was requested for ID at the bar for the first time in at least a couple of years, with the bartender responding that there were probably only three people at the entire 750 capacity venue who were eligible to buy alcoholic beverages. She had a point because even though there must've been close to 400 people at the venue, reaching either of the two bars was easy even just after The Audition's set had ended.

The Audition

First up were emo rockers The Audition, who received a surprising amount of high pitch screaming as they took the stage. Although I suspect it wouldn't have mattered what band it was, because like my fellow scribe TL said, many people are here tonight just because it's cool to go to this show. Anyway, with their devastatingly boring Give It A Name 2007 performance still in mind, I wasn't expecting much and didn't receive much either. Sure, the band seemed a little more confident on stage, but I'm almost willing to label it overconfidence, for so often did the band's afro-haired bassist reach over to the crowd in a fake rockstar manner only to receive lots of screams by the scene girls, let alone their frontman's see-through antics at praising the crowd with things like "I know Gothenburg was crazy last night and they talked a lot of shit about you, but you guys are definitely much more into it here!". Yeah right, Gothenburg was sold out and tonight was barely half full at least at this point. Anyway, such rock star behaviour can easily be swept away with some good material, but The Audition's biggest problem has always been that, aside from a couple of excellent tracks (mostly the high-octane ones), their songs are extremely average. Not bad by any standards, but not good either, just songs that pass by without making any impression on you whatsoever, positive or negative. These two factors combined made TL hate these guys, but at the same time, I have to commend them for reasonable energy on stage.

All Time Low

From the first moments of the All Time Low show, however, it was clear that they're in an entirely different league than The Audition. Starting with the energetic "Lost In Stereo" from the new album, the band immediately shrouded the venue in a fantastic display of cheerful energy, engaging in simultaneous stage jumps and the usual pop punk tricks. If you've seen a big pop punk band live before, be it New Found Glory, Fall Out Boy or someone else, you'll know exactly what to expect from a band like All Time Low live: lots of jumps, running around stage, huge sing alongs, danceable rhythms, but also a convincing showmanship that's both believable and oh-so-easily-likable. You'll have seen it all before, but in all honesty there's little chance not to like a show surrounded with so much positive energy.

It helps, of course, to have a few album's worth of great material to pick from. Songs like "Six Feet Under The Stars", "Break Your Little Heart", "Weightless" and more are sure to be well received each time All Time Low plays them. Even the balladic "Remembering Sunday", which saw Alex take the stage alone with acoustic guitar before the band joined him for the last part of the song, felt well placed in the otherwise high-octane set. The biggest sing alongs, however, were of course reserved for the ridiculously infectious "Dear Maria, Count Me In Song" after the encore. Everyone knew it was going to be the last song, but that didn't matter, because everyone also knew that you'd need earplugs to survive the volume of the crowd. The only complaint you could really have about the show that it was somewhat short: after just 45 minutes, it was time to say our goodbyes to a fun, enjoyable pop punk night.

8

Setlist:

  • 1. Lost In Stereo
  • 2. Six Feet Under The Stars
  • 3. Jasey Rae
  • 4. Poppin' Champagne
  • 5. Break Your Little Heart
  • 6. Remembering Sunday
  • 7. Coffee Shop Soundtrack
  • 8. The Party Scene
  • 9. Weightless
  • --Encore--
  • 10. Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don't)
  • 11. Dear Maria, Count Me In

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