Say Anything At The House of Blues: There’s No Place Like Home

“And the record begins with a song of rebellion.”

Yesterday I had the opportunity to not only see Say Anything live for the first time, but I got to sit down and chat with Max Bemis himself. I have been listening to Say Anything since their 2005 release ...Is A Real Boy, and have always heard incredible things about their live set. Now I know why.

When I met with Max (you all can enjoy the interview next week) we talked about how the tour went and what inspired Anarchy, My Dear. He was shy, but incredibly well spoken and kind; it was such a pleasure to talk about music with him and see inside his genius brain for 20 minutes.

Now on to the show! I went with the lovely Bree (You guys know Bree, right?) and while we waited for the set to start, the crowd, primarily of boys, was chanting “Max Bemis, Max Bemis!” When the band come out I was surprised by how commanding Mr. Bemis was on stage! Right from the first riff of “Spidersong” he owned the crowd and everyone was moving.

He kept mentioning how great it was to be playing in his hometown of LA, and he had many memories coming to shows at the venue when he was just a young fan. I love when the musicians share little stories like that at shows; makes you feel like you have something in common with them. Max even admitted half way thought the set, “This might be my favorite venue in the entire world.”

The night was a constant sweaty pit of jumping boys, but when the dial tone of, “Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too” came on, the venue turned into a dance club. Another highlight was when they went into “So Good” and Max’s wife Sherri joined him on stage to sing the choruses. Aw!

All together it was great to chat with Max and to finally see Say Anything live. The entire band was having a great time performing and the crowd was gladly along for the ride. Check back next week for our interview with Max! #musicrules.

Let’s talk music, let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Have you ever seen Say Anything live? What is your favorite Say Anything album?