My Long Awaited Cobra Starship Write-Up

Okay, so, my internet and my back up laptop have both been dead since November 21st, when I got the chance to see Forever the Sickest Kids and Cobra Starship on their Pittsburgh stop on the Sassyback Tour. I also apologize because, due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, I ended up without a single usable shot from the concert.

I know, I know. I’m sorry. But, on the bright side, I did attend the show with the amazingly awesome Gwen and Vanessa, meaning that Pittsburgh’s trio of Buzznet bitches were at the same concert at the same time, all with their mobile Twitter activated.

So, I give you a concert recap as well as a recap of our adventures in Twitterland.

Sing It Loud opened the show and, to be honest, I couldn’t tell if they were confused, nervous or drunk. Because they kept mentioning they were in “Pennsylvania.” Now, for those of you who aren’t aware, Pennsylvania is a big ass state. On one side you have myself, Gwen, Vanessa and Varius, and on the OTHER side, in Philly, you’ve got JayV, Bulletproofheeb, CubistManifesto and a horde of other people who I’m not mentioning here, sorry. So, to say “Pennsylvania” is like saying that all of New York is JUST like New York City. Which is a lie, I have seen Buffalo and Rochester.

Other than that, we pretty much agreed with Gwen’s declaration of Sing It Loud sounding a hell of a lot like Jimmy Eat World. Which isn’t really a bad thing, Jimmy Eat World is good pop-punk music. The problem is, SIL hasn’t quiiiiite figured out how to make the sound their own. But I’ll be honest, I go easy on opening bands because I generally assume they are still musically finding themselves.

And, to be fair, she also compared them to Hanson, who are three very talented young men. So, it’s technically a compliment.

So, Sing It Loud, get on that. And learn what effing city you are playing in. There will be a quiz next time. We will throw terrible towels at you if you are incorrect. Or if you’re correct. Pittsburgh just likes tossing those damn things around.

In between sets, the first of two groups of teenagers sat in front of us. They didn’t ask permission, they looked back, saw we were there (Gravity has a nice raised lounge area for people who want to couch crash…we were hanging back there until Cobra. Hey, we are all OLD WOMEN who needed to rest our legs, got it?) and sat in front of us anyway.

NOTE TO CONCERT GOING TEENAGERS: JUST BECAUSE A PERSON AT YOUR SHOW IS OVER THE AGE OF 18 OR 21 DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN THEY ARE THERE AS A CHAPERONE. Cobra addiction knows no age limit.

Also, this is I believe when we had the following exchange:

GwenArtax: I take it back, jimmy eat hanson wants their sound back.newageamazon: I ate a Hanson onceIt was tasty 🙂 nessalh: did they taste like chicken?GwenArtax: they tasted like sweet sweet christian babies.newageamazon: It tasted like papayas and hair!

…and yes, we were all Twittering at each other while sitting right beside one another. All for your amusement.

Hit the Lights was better, a little more Blink-182 than Jimmy Eat World. I felt like the lead signer had a strong voice and once more it’s just a band that needs to find their own sound. They did suffer a little from “same song syndrome” where a band’s songs all sound so similar, you truly believe they’ve been playing the same song the entire set. But hey, The Offspring have nearly made a career out of it, so it’s not necessarily a move that hurts you financially.

However, it didn’t really hold our attention, sadly. I believe I summed it up in a single Twitter:

newageamazon: We are having a heart warming conversation about vomit. We need a reality show.

Once again, in between sets, a group of teenagers sat directly in front of us. I have your pictures, so if you’re reading this, feel bad. I can expose you for the concert douchebags you truly are.

Forever the Sickest Kids really amused me. I will admit, back in the day I had a weak spot for rap-rock. So, the idea of crossing rap rock with punk makes me happy. And seeing it done well makes me happier.

FtSK had an awesome stage presence on top of it all. Oh, and their brief cover of Will Smith’s Men In Black may have been the non-Cobra related highlight of the evening.

Because Cobra Starship. Ooooooh, Cobra Starship.

We forged our way to the pit for this show because you DO NOT sit down during a Cobra Starship set. You get up off your ass and you DANCE. And at least at THIS show, people were doing just that. When Vanessa and I rocked out at Diesel, most of the crowd there refused to dance. And I just don’t get it.

Cobra’s set was not in the least hampered by Gabe’s recent vocal issues. While he talked less during the set than I’m used to, it was great to see the rest of the band, especially Alex and Ryland, get into the show more. It made it very clear that this is no longer Gabe Saporta from Midtown and a back-up band he tours with. This is Cobra Starship and they are here to make you dance tonight.

One of the best parts was the dancing on stage. From Ryland doing the Carlton (which, as Vanessa pointed out, a lot of the people in the audience probably knew from Nick at Nite, not from the original run of Fresh Prince of Bel Air. It made us both feel a little old…), to Ryland turning around and shaking his money maker (THANK YOU, PLEASURE RYLAND) to Gabe breaking out into the Soulja Boy Dance (I found out what “Superman” is a reference to in that song…and I will never be the same again D: ). Oh, and the band covering a few lines of “This is How We Do It” by Montel Jordan was pretty bad ass as well.

But the music we really wanted to hear was Cobra’s. And they delivered. I would not have known Gabe was having vocal issues based on his voice as he ran through a medley of Cobra songs, incluing “The Ballad of Big Poppa and Diamond Girl” (sadly, this didn’t involve Gabe singing in Spanish…). Though we didn’t get “I Kissed a Boy,” we did get “Hollaback Boy,” which I like more anyway.

Oh, and when the band left the stage without singing “Guilty Pleasure” the crowd only briefly chanted “One more song.” Instead, they began chanting “Guilty Pleasure!”

Dude, when your fans are calling for your encore by name? You’ve got some serious loyalty going there.