Hey friends!
The Hawthorne Heights show last week was awesome! The crowd wasn’t very big, which I was surprised about, but the show was still so much fun. The band MEST has the most engaging stage presence I’ve ever seen. Also, I had never heard of the band Handguns before going to this show but they were one of the openers and they were awesome. If you’re into pop punk you should definitely check them out.
The tour is called the Three Headed Monstour because there were three headlining bands and two smaller openers. It was an interesting setup because the lead singer of MEST, Tony Lovato, started another band called London Falling. London Falling was the first opener, and they were pretty good, but it was literally all of the same people as MEST.
After London Falling, Handguns came on and absolutely killed it. I was not expecting a pop punk band to be there so it was a pleasant surprise. I came straight home to buy their music.
After that, Hawthorne Heights came on. This was who I was here to see. They were very good live. They didn’t have the strongest stage presence and their connection with the audience was lacking, but the music was good. Of course, everyone went crazy when they played “Ohio Is For Lovers” because that song is probably their most recognizable tune.
Then, MEST came on. Tony Lovato literally told the crowd that it was the same people as London Falling and that they just had different t-shirts on. A few songs into the set, he changed out of his t-shirt and into a bright yellow crop top that said “Beware of the tits” and told us all that he was just trying to prove he could wear a crop top better than Beyonce. When they took a pause and everything was quiet, one crazed fan screamed a song request at the top of his lungs. Lovato heard him and stopped the show and called him out. “Whoa man, relax,” he said, “if you can sit quietly on the stage, I will sing a song to you.” And he was completely serious. The fan (quite literally) clumsily threw himself over the barricade and climbed onto the stage. He proceeded to sit down criss-cross applesauce style and stare up at Lovato. Lovato then turned the mic to face the fan instead of the crowd, and serenaded him with one of the band’s famous ballads. From the way he acted, I’m fairly certain that was the best moment of that guy’s life.
After MEST, The Ataris came on. They were pretty good as well, but I ended up leaving the show early because it ran really late and I had a longer drive home than normal.
If you’re interested in checking out the photo gallery, it just went up on the Pop Deflators website here. Enjoy!
DULY NOTED 