Photo: Janice French
The night starts out with Indie Rock in the form of Permanent Me. The instrumentals are smooth and Mike’s drums fly during 
‘Heartattack.’ Justin the bassist and backup vocalist is tall, long and lanky but moves like cat. He asks everyone to hug their friends then stands on a speaker and plays ‘4AM’ as squealing girls reach for him. They definitely hold their own in front of the cheering crowd. The announcement of ‘Allison’ elicits screams. Why? It’s an awesome song and rightly shows off lead singer Brian’s vocals.
Boys Like Girls tune up their own equipment. Good thing too because their sound is perfect throughout the set. We last saw them open for Lostprophets and were impressed. With mass amounts of touring now under their belts they’ve put a shimmering polish on their Indie Rock. ‘Hero/Heroine’ is one brilliant love song. Lead singer Martin Johnson closes his eyes, leans into the mic and sings “I’ve got my hands in my pockets and my head in a cloud” Lovers in the audience hug and kiss. Its a sweet sight indeed. The instrumentals and harmonies in ‘Great Escape’ are absolutely divine. The mob jumps like fiends, sings along and we’re blown away. This is a must see band.
Lead singer Gabe Soporta of Cobra Starship has a self confident, swaggering openness about him that’s instantly magnetic. Like lightening ‘The Kids Are All Fucked Up’ hit the jumping crowd hard. The band pours on the energy, Gabe puts his foot up on a speaker, waves a finger and sings “Everyone’s asleep when we play…” as mob madness rages before him. During ‘The Church Of Hot Addiction’ he stands on top of the drum then does a huge split jump, lands, turns and keeps on singing. The crowd’s hands are in the air and surfing begins.
A banjo is played and the first cords of ‘Bring It’ sends the audience reeling. Strobes flash, Martin from Boys Like Girls joins them and the vocal set takes off. Total participation is a must as the audience shouts “So kiss me goodbye.” Two girls from the crowd get up on stage to sing the rap portion of the piece, they giggle then go for it. Good job girls! Gabe jumps on the rail and is pulled into the raging horde as people make the ‘fangs’ sign with their hands and roar. Cobra Starship is coming to the UK March 31 through April 5 with Fall Out Boy and Shiny Toy Guns.
Drummer Kevin Sanders of Cartel is an animal. Tasmanian Devil to be exact. He provides the framework for this killer Powerpop/punk band as they dive right into ‘Matter Of Time.’ In a flash the crowd is on fire, clapping overhead whilst the four guitarist line up and perform an intense long instrumental then explode into ‘Runaway.’ The lighting has great pure colours and 
the stage isn’t buried in smoke. A cover of Oasis’s ‘Wonderwall’ comes in slow and builds till lead singer Will Pugh’s vocals soar to hair raising heights. We love the feeling of this piece.
Primal drums beat, the audience screams and an intricate guitar lick draws us into ‘The Minstrel’s Prayer.’ Will’s vocals echo, lights flash with the pounding rhythm then people hold their glowing cell phones high whilst they dramatically sing along with the band. Will says “This one goes out to the kids at Sabino High School” where they played earlier in the day then they launch into ‘Honestly.’ The venue detonates into a wild whirlwind of movement, clapping hands, beating fist and fun. It seems over too soon. Cartel are rising stars and it’s easy to see why they won the 2006 Yahoo’s ‘Who’s Next’ competition.
