Two extra months is a painfully long time to wait for anything, especially for a concert. All Time Low proves they're worth that extra time.
After releasing their third full length, Dirty Work, last June, and completing a stint of European festivals, the Baltimore natives set off on their "Gimme Summer Ya Love" tour. Set to end in Niagara Falls on June 27, fans were disappointed when the band had to return home to secure their residences for hurricane Irene.
However, two months was a small price to pay for the extended set All Time Low played Sunday night at Rapids Theater. As the first stop on their "Rise and Fall of My Pants" tour, All Time Low made sure their fans received a show that was worth the wait.
That is, an All Time Low set worth waiting for. The opening acts proved a major disappointment for those who had wished to see the previous line up of Cartel, The Cab, and We Are the In Crowd. Instead, concertgoers found themselves standing through Paradise Fears and He is We, neither of which could have possibly been worse than the atrocity that was The Ready Set.
Ticket holders could have walked in at 9 p.m. and saved themselves two hours worth of headache-inducing nonsense. Known for bringing exciting bands on tour, All Time Low seemed to have went for two interestingly diverse bands, who, although not horrible, did not fit the sound fans were expecting. While Paradise Fears and He is We were generally met with blank stares, The Ready Set did seem to get a few young fans excited, although he was generally incomprehensible and lacked the ability to hit the notes in his own songs.
However, once the quartet hit the stage to the sounds of "Forget About It," it was easy to do as they sang and push the openers far from one's mind.
"When we perform live, that's something we take very seriously, it's our focus as a band," said lead vocalist Alex Gaskarth. "We record so that people have material to listen to, but our hopes are that they come to the concert."
Come fans did, and they were treated to the longest set All Time Low has played to date. With 16 songs pulled from all three albums and one EP, the group accidently deviated from the set list and wound up adding in some old favorites that don't get performed often enough.
"We try to make it our best, to make it a one of a kind experience every time," Gaskarth said. "We don't sort of manufacture our performances, it's not something that's planed…what happens between the songs, during the songs, it's unpredictable. It's very raw and I think people connect with that…it makes it a little bit more real."
Having received the Kerrang! award last spring for Best Live Band, All Time Low brings a show that keeps fans coming back every time they enter town. Playing top singles including "Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don't)," "Coffee Shop Soundtrack" and "Time-bomb," listeners were also treated to stand out tracks such as Nothing Personal's "Stella" and the strongest pop-punk song of this year's Dirty Work, "Heroes."
All this comes from a band who has successfully made the transition to major label status without breaking stride.
"It's been integral in bringing new opportunities to the table," Gaskarth said. "Before we were on a smaller label with less status and they did amazing things for us, but with Interscope backing us we kind of have this much broader international team sort of backing us making good deals for us and good decisions. It definitely helps, I think, they just have a little more reach, and a little more scope on everything."
As All Time Low works with Interscope to expand their influence over the airwaves and over seas, fans fall into the classic fear of worrying that their band has done the unthinkable – "sold out."
"I think we really haven't sold out…that stereotype exists because people are misinformed, they don't really know how it works when a band moves to a label or makes a label change or anything like that," Gaskarth said. "I think first and foremost people need to realize that it wasn't something that was done financially. It wasn't a move that made us some kind of money or anything like that, it was something that kind of allows our careers to grow beyond what it was."
Naysayers can put their worries to rest, or better still, they can check out an All Time Low show and see they are just as good as ever.
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