Saving Abel has been one of my favorite up-and-coming bands ever since I first heard the hauntingly catchy "Addicted." And especially after my delightful interview with drummer Blake Dixon for the current Valley Planet issue, I was looking forward to seeing this band live.
It was certainly one of the hugest crowds I have ever seen for a band playing so relatively early in the evening. In fact, it was the kind of crowd I normally see only during the headline acts.
Perhaps it's age catching up with me, but these days huge mosh pits of thrashing bodies and crowd surfers only serves to make me exceedingly nervous. (Then again maybe it's not so much an age thing: I was always the uptight geek in the crowd, even when I was 18). But one thing that is as true now as it was then: I still love good rock'n'roll. And standing among the Saving Abel crowd, I was reminded of the old adage that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Kids today are really no fundamentally different than when I saw my first concert as a starstruck teen in the early 80's. It's still all about rushing the stage, trying to get as close as possible. I can still look around and see, almost 30 years later, that it's still all all about those 45-60 minutes when you can forget everything else in your life and just live in the moment.
The highlight for the crowd seemed to be the band's rendition of 18 Days, a song that strikes a lot of chords with people who are missing loved ones-for whatever reason. New Tattoo also got a huge, visceral response (I think this was about the time I had to duck to avoid getting kicked by a surfer, though).
My only complaint is that the set seemed rather abrupt. I was expecting it to be a little longer.
But for the time that they were on, they definitely had the Jam crowd going.
Raven Woods
It was certainly one of the hugest crowds I have ever seen for a band playing so relatively early in the evening. In fact, it was the kind of crowd I normally see only during the headline acts.
Perhaps it's age catching up with me, but these days huge mosh pits of thrashing bodies and crowd surfers only serves to make me exceedingly nervous. (Then again maybe it's not so much an age thing: I was always the uptight geek in the crowd, even when I was 18). But one thing that is as true now as it was then: I still love good rock'n'roll. And standing among the Saving Abel crowd, I was reminded of the old adage that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Kids today are really no fundamentally different than when I saw my first concert as a starstruck teen in the early 80's. It's still all about rushing the stage, trying to get as close as possible. I can still look around and see, almost 30 years later, that it's still all all about those 45-60 minutes when you can forget everything else in your life and just live in the moment.
The highlight for the crowd seemed to be the band's rendition of 18 Days, a song that strikes a lot of chords with people who are missing loved ones-for whatever reason. New Tattoo also got a huge, visceral response (I think this was about the time I had to duck to avoid getting kicked by a surfer, though).
My only complaint is that the set seemed rather abrupt. I was expecting it to be a little longer.
But for the time that they were on, they definitely had the Jam crowd going.
Raven Woods
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