Last night I went to see Metro Station at Nokia Theatre. This was their first headlining tour and featured opening bands Cash Cash, White Tie Affair, and Tyga. I had gotten there towards the end of the Cash Cash’s set because I didn’t get out of work until like 6pm and it took a half hour to get up town. The last song they played was “A Party In Your Bedroom.” From the bit that I heard I had enjoyed sounds of this dancy pop/electronic group. The singer reminded me of a young Ben Stiller and he had great stage presence.
The next band that came on was the White Tie Affair. I was excited to this band after they were featured on The Hills back in September. When they came out on stage I had to do a double take because they all looked like alike with their grayish black outfits and dark hair styled in either a fauxhawk or spiky formation. Chris Wallace, the lead singer, had a lot of energy. and was running around the stage. Although their set was short, they played a few tracks off their debut album Walk This Way. and a new song. The band itself played well; the drumming was tight and the guitarists and keyboardist rocked, but the sound on the lead’s voice was a little off. Listening to their music on the CD he has a good voice, but for some reason it didn’t come through at this live performance. I’m gonna blame it on bad sound system because when he had sang acoustic he sounded okay. Despite this, the crowd was totally digging this band. They had a ton of energy and were dancing and clapping along to all the songs. After their performance they were out by the merch tables doing an unofficial meet and greet with fans. I got to talk to the drummer, Tim McLaughlin. He was really nice. We talked about them being on The Hills and how it was good marketing tool. I told him about my website and he took my business card then told me to talk to Sean P., who is the guitarist. We went over and there were like a swarm of girls non stop taking pictures. I knew we would have to be aggressive so I went up and started talking to him. He was really nice and I gave him my business card. We went over to the lead singer but we had only gotten a picture since there was like a line to meet with him and we didn’t feel like waiting. We were so busy trying to talk to the whole band, that we actually missed Tyga’s performance. I had heard it out in the lobby and had seen them previously at the Rolling Stone Live event last November which they were good.
At about 9 p.m. Metro Station came on. As walked into the concert area I completely felt really old as I looked around and everyone was probably in high school. It was hilarious. Trace Cyrus came out wearing a black coat and black jeans that made his already skinny frame look so emaciated. His hair was longer and at first I thought he looked like a girl but then as I watched the performance more and more I felt like it suited him. Mason Musto was wearing a fake tuxedo shirt with dark sunglasses. Trace and Mason were positioned upfront while, Blake Healy the keyboardist was higher up on a ledge in the back, and the drummer, Anthony Improgo was on the opposite site. The set they played was really short, but they only have one album so there isn’t much for them to play. I must say that all the touring they have been doing the past year has really improved their performance. They sounded a lot better than the last time I had seen them play. I am really impressed by the stage presence of Trace Cyrus. He is really playing up the rockstar role. After they played their set and came out for the encore, he was shirtless and you could see just how skinny he was. He totally reminded me of Scott Wyland by the way he was jumping around stage and dancing with the microphone. It was really entertaining. They played “Control” and of course “Shake It” for the encore and were done by like 9:30. It was the shortest set I’ve ever seen. I”m really hoping they get back in the studio and put out another album soon.