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Boys Like Girls Live Review
Boys Like Girls with Cobra Starship, The Maine and A Rocket to the Moon
Kool Haus, Toronto, ON
November 15th 2009
http://www.myspace.com/arockettothemoon
http://www.myspace.com/themaine
http://www.myspace.com/cobrastarship
http://www.myspace.com/boyslikegirls
by Alex Young
Photos by Alex Young
Everyone’s jeans were tight, homemade band shirts were rampant and adolescent romance was in the air. It could only mean one thing: Boston Massachusetts’ Boys Like Girls was back in town. Whenever BLG invades your city it’s as if every teenage girl separates themselves from their fantasies about which boy they want to hit on at high school and buys a ticket to this show. It’s not every day when you get to see a concert where the average age among the audience is either 16 or 45. The Kool Haus was flooded with young girls, most with their boyfriends in tow. They were all there to swoon over the bands on the OP Presents tour, while their parents waited patiently to go home. Boys Like Girls recruited some partners in crime to accompany them on the road including Cobra Starship, The Maine, and A Rocket to the Moon. Everyone buckle your seat belts and prepare for an injection of teen angst like you have never had before.
A Rocket to the Moon originally hails from Braintree Massachusetts where lead singer Nick Santino started the band as a solo project and eventually brought on full time band members to bring his songs to life on stage. Santino is now accompanied by guitarist Justin Richards, drummer Andrew Cook, and the favourite among the ladies, bassist Eric Halvorsen. Together onstage, they let the band’s songs become reborn through their live performance. A Rocket to the Moon is currently touring behind their debut album on Fueled By Ramen and Decaydance Records entitled On Your Side. The band got on their feet with their latest single “Mr. Right” with lyrics like, “Maybe I’m your Mr. Right baby/Maybe I’m the one you like/Maybe I’m a shot in the dark/and you’re the morning light”.
The Maine continue to tour behind their sophomore album Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop which was released on Sire/Warner Bros. records earlier this year. The band subsequently toured with 3OH!3 this summer. They continue to increase their fan-base with their patented brand of pop punk that has infectious guitar hooks, bold choruses full of flare and lead singer John O’Callaghan energizing the entire crowd with his high-flying falsetto. The Maine played their singles “In Your Arms” and “Girls Do What They Want”, along with a smoking hot cover of “Pour Some Sugar On Me” by Def Leppard that the parents and kids could sing along to.
It’s not easy to describe what Cobra Starship is like during their live set. Other than saying they're an entourage of energy and pure entertainment thanks to the band members having their tongues firmly embedded in their cheeks. Cobra Starship are best known for their work on the soundtracks for the films Snakes on a Plane and the new Meghan Fox flick Jennifer’s Body, but the band proved they have more tricks up their sleeves. While the band descended onstage in the dark, they lit up the audience with their insatiable enthusiasm while displaying a massive banner with their motto “GET AWESOME” on it. Cobra Starship bombarded the crowd with the title track from their latest album Hot Mess as well as fan favorites “Guilty Pleasure” and “Good Girls Go Bad”. Lead singer Gabe Saporta rapped and sang his way through the bands set and gave an animated speech on what it was like to meet Samuel L. Jackson while working on the Snakes on a Plane soundtrack. Victoria Asher on backup vocals added a sleek and sexy aspect to the band's set while she rocked melodies on her keytar like it was 1984. Before the band ended their set they got the crowd to give their signature hand salute to induct everyone in attendance into the bands gang “The Cobras” whose objective is party and have fun.
Boys Like Girls stormed the stage with an appetite for adrenaline. Their songs include tales of teenage romance and the fleeting emotions that come with falling in love for the first time. The band opened with “Love Drunk” and flew into a fury of their other songs such as “Heart Heart Heartbreak” and the acoustic ballad “Thunder”. Lead singer Martin Johnson had the crowd hanging onto his every word while the girls in the audience fawned over lead guitarist Paul DiGiovanni’s slick guitar licks. Drummer John Keefe remains to be BLG’s anchor by letting his rock solid drumbeats hold the rhythms within every song down while the rest of the band flooded every track with vocal and guitar melodies. Bassist Bryan Donahue provided harmonic backup vocals that flew alongside Johnson’s voice in tandem. They co-mingled with authentic and organic chemistry, allowing the songs to take flight in a way they never could on the band’s album. When the band burst into their traditional closing song “The Great Escape” the stage became flooded with fans and Johnson ran through the audience, creating an unforgettable experience for fans of any age.
It’s not easy to describe what Cobra Starship is like during their live set. Other than saying they're an entourage of energy and pure entertainment thanks to the band members having their tongues firmly embedded in their cheeks. Cobra Starship are best known for their work on the soundtracks for the films Snakes on a Plane and the new Meghan Fox flick Jennifer’s Body, but the band proved they have more tricks up their sleeves. While the band descended onstage in the dark, they lit up the audience with their insatiable enthusiasm while displaying a massive banner with their motto “GET AWESOME” on it. Cobra Starship bombarded the crowd with the title track from their latest album Hot Mess as well as fan favorites “Guilty Pleasure” and “Good Girls Go Bad”. Lead singer Gabe Saporta rapped and sang his way through the bands set and gave an animated speech on what it was like to meet Samuel L. Jackson while working on the Snakes on a Plane soundtrack. Victoria Asher on backup vocals added a sleek and sexy aspect to the band's set while she rocked melodies on her keytar like it was 1984. Before the band ended their set they got the crowd to give their signature hand salute to induct everyone in attendance into the bands gang “The Cobras” whose objective is party and have fun.
Boys Like Girls stormed the stage with an appetite for adrenaline. Their songs include tales of teenage romance and the fleeting emotions that come with falling in love for the first time. The band opened with “Love Drunk” and flew into a fury of their other songs such as “Heart Heart Heartbreak” and the acoustic ballad “Thunder”. Lead singer Martin Johnson had the crowd hanging onto his every word while the girls in the audience fawned over lead guitarist Paul DiGiovanni’s slick guitar licks. Drummer John Keefe remains to be BLG’s anchor by letting his rock solid drumbeats hold the rhythms within every song down while the rest of the band flooded every track with vocal and guitar melodies. Bassist Bryan Donahue provided harmonic backup vocals that flew alongside Johnson’s voice in tandem. They co-mingled with authentic and organic chemistry, allowing the songs to take flight in a way they never could on the band’s album. When the band burst into their traditional closing song “The Great Escape” the stage became flooded with fans and Johnson ran through the audience, creating an unforgettable experience for fans of any age. 
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