| ~ I went to The Stone Pony in Asbury Park to watch Jup
headline, but before Jup had even entered, Partial Credit has stolen
my eye.
The members of the three piece band looked like they were an average age of 13 (I later found out that they were all 15). Their sound was great, and their lyrics, though not too profound, sounded great too. It's not often that young talent comes around, but the boys of Partial Credit have it. The drums were larger than the drummer, but he beat the hell out of them. Partial Credit is one of the first bands in a while that made me say, "Wow." But the night would be full of wows and good bands. Two bands later, The Ailment took the stage. Their sound is very similar to Taking Back Sunday. I told Kevin that they should cover TBS' Great Romances of the 20th Century. If they don't, I'll be upset. The Ailment really has the potential to make something of themselves. A touch of scremo (How Kevin learned that he can yell like that, I may never know) and a bunch of punk added to a plethora of energy is the perfect combination for The Ailment. Drive was to follow. I was a bit concerned about how they would sound, especially after The Ailment. Even though Pat, the bassist for Jup, told me that Drive's singer was "really, really good," I was still a bit skeptical. Within the first 30 seconds, I was sold. The stage presence that the lead singer had was unbelievable. The way he worked the stage, the microphone, his guitar, and the crowd -- all at the same time -- made it seem like he was born on stage (or born to be on stage at least). Drive was a little more rock and a little less punk than the other acts on the bill, but I'm sure they could fit in anywhere. I think that's mainly because the singer can sing. His voice seemed to be routed in Van Halen and influences by Axl Rose. I was upset that their only merch were t-shirts and bumper stickers instead of CDs. They have a CD in the works, but if someone can get me anything recorded that I don't have to stream that would cease my Drive craving, I would be forever grateful. What awed me the most was that the drummer sang the back up vocals. You don't see that every day, so you should take those anomalies when you can. Jup was next. Drive just played an amazing set and cover "Crazy Train" in the middle. Could Jup really top that? Honestly, I hadn't ever heard of Jup until a week and a half before the show, but even I was able to differentiate between the old stuff and the new stuff. Jup's old stuff (although I'm not sure how old it is. They just won an Asbury Music award for Top Young Band) is more raw, and their new stuff is more refined. I think their new stuff suits them better, which is good because that shows that they're growing as musicians. They began to have technical difficulties after one of their songs, so to stall, they covered a verse of New Found Glory's "Hit or Miss." Anyone who knows me knows that that gave Jup HUGE brownie points. I love my NFG. I'll admit it, I didn't know any words to any other songs, even though I did recognize the two from the sampler I have. But I was alone in that. Almost every person at The Stone Pony knew every word. The band fed off that energy. The further they got into the set, the better they were. By the time Jup sang "Queen of Hearts," the entire crowd was on its feet, belting out every word. From the Sky opened the show. Their music was great, but the vocals need a bit of tweaking. They lost their show virginity that night, so I'm sure that they played on nerves more than anything else. Tragic Hero also played. According to Jessica, my +1 (yea, I had my OWN +1), they're "preps with pent up anger." Jup forgot to shout them out during their set; maybe they agreed with Jessica. All in all, it was a great show -- if you don't count the fact that the stool I was sitting on got really uncomfortable as the show headed in to hour five. Just real quick, before I sign off for the evening, I want to thank Jup for hooking me up for the night. I really appreciated it. I also want to say, just for the record, that Pat, the bassist, is a really nice guy. He just came up to me and Jessica and sat down to talk, and I thought that was the nicest thing ever. Jup -- good luck at The Birch Hill with The Misfits on December 7th! Everyone else -- check out that show!
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