All Ages Zine
Relient K/MXPX/Rufio/Over It - November 6, 2005
Sunday November 6, 2005 at Congress Theater in Chicago, IL
OVER IT - Over It had the pleasure of being the opening act on this tour, but unfortunately while the band played good the sound inside of the Congress Theater for them was terrible. The crowd was still coming in as they went into the opening track "Siren On The 101," the first single from their latest release Silverstrand. The sound was bouncing around a lot and the bass and drums were way too high to the point that we had contemplated moving back. The sound didn't get any better as the rolled into their set with "Waiting" followed quickly by "Truth Is." Don't get me wrong the band played great, they bounced around the stage and got the crowd motivated, but I just couldn't wait for this to end because my ears were hurting. They only had a 25-minute, 6 song set, that featured crowd favorite "Shine" as well as "Chef Yan" and set closer "Partner In Crime." If the sound were better this would have been a decent performance. Unfortunately the sound sucked and their 6-song set was a bit short leaving off personal favorite "Ordinary."
Set List: Siren On The 101, Waiting, Truth Is, Shine, Chef Yan, Partner In Crime
RUFIO - We had a chance to chat with Scott from Rufio before the show started about their success and what to expect from the performance. He informed us that they only had a half hour set so they would blast through 7 or 8 high energy songs and they did just that. The moment they hit the stage the crowd exploded as they went into their first single from the new album "Out of Control." The sound was much better and these guys were already putting on a good show. The only song in the set from "Perhaps I Suppose" came next and it was album opener "Above Me." I was looking for the ever popular flip that Clark and Jon usually do during this song, but it was not there. No worries as they rolled into another new one "Let Fate Decide." The energy was better then any other performance that I have seen from these guys and the crowd picked up as they went into 2 tracks from 1985; "White Lights" and "Science Fiction." They ended their set with "Mental Games" and the metal influenced "Life Songs." With a heavy focus on the "Comfort of Home" album Rufio seemed to go over really well. They certainly have made their mark on the current punk scene and I can't wait to see what they have in store for people next.
Set List: Out of Control, Above Me, Let Fate Decide, White Lights, Science Fiction, Mental Games, Life Songs
MXPX - The last time that we had a chance to see MXPX we were a little less then impressed. They screwed around way too much with the crowd and didn't play enough songs so when I heard they were playing an hour-long set I was a little skeptical. They came out with an incredible amount of energy as they blasted into "Next Big Thing" and then dedicated "Responsibility" to the crowd. The energy continued for the first few songs before they took a concrete break for Mike to switch bass guitars. They pounded through the first part of their set with a heavy focus on "Slowly Going The Way of the Buffalo." Crowd favorite and as I found out before the show a signature song of the band "Tomorrow Is Another Day" had the crowd chanting along and pumping their fists in the air as Mike taught them a Japanese tradition of pumping your fist in the air and chanting hey hey hey. It was at this point that I said if they keep this energy up then Relient K is going to have a tough time following this. They didn't focus too heavily on their new album "Panic" which is weird to me because it is one of their best. After slowing it down a bit with "Wrecking Hotel Rooms" it was straight energy until the encore with "My Life Story" and "I'm Okay You're Okay" before closing out with a cover of The Proclaimers "500 Miles" mixed with a little bit of Cheap Trick's "Surrender." I was impressed thus far with this performance. They didn't screw around too much with the crowd, they just came out and played a good punk rock show so it wasn't odd to see the support band getting the chant of "one more song" from the crowd and they delivered 3 more. "Young and Depressed" and of course the fan favorite and break through single "Chick Magnet." It was safe to say at this point they could have stopped and stole the show, but with the addition of set closer "Punk Rawk Show" they put the icing on the cake. Great job and left Relient K in trouble. This is how a punk performance is meant to be. If you must play 45 minutes to an hour bring the energy and they did.
Set List - Next Big Thing, Responsibility, Final Slowdance, Tomorrow is Another Day, Let It Happen, Middlename, Wrecking Hotel Rooms, My Life Story, I'm Okay You're Okay, 500 Miles, Young and Depressed, Chick Magnet, Punk Rawk Show
RELIENT K - I ma not sure why Relient K headlined over MXPX, but okay let's see what you got? They hit the stage to the theme song from "Perfect Strangers," and the crowd of teens erupted. I was shocked to see how big these guys have got since we last saw them at Warped. They hit the first few notes of the new single "Who I Am Hates Who I've Been" and that was pretty much all they needed to do. The crowd was theirs. The in between song chatter about rainy weather led to "High Of 75" and it was followed quickly by crowd favorite "The One I'm Waiting For." Relient K was delivering more then I expected. At this point they reminded me a lot of Blink 182 with Tom doing all of the vocals combined with Something Corporate. Yes I know it's a weird combo. The crowd lit up for an older one "Chap Stick, Chapped Lips…" and went nuts as they told a story about his brother's mustache and went into "In Love with the 80's." They went even further back into their catalog and grabbed "Sadie Hawkins Dance" and "Pressing On" from their catalog. The crowd was a little lost on the old stuff which didn't surprise me. They rolled through a 12 song-set closing out with "More Than Useless" before taking a break to give the crowd the encore they wanted. At this point MXPX had stole the show, but Relient K did a really good job. They hit the stage with their breakthrough single "Be My Escape" and closed their set with "I So Hate Consequences." Overall these guys are true up and comers that have a tremendous draw. I'm not sure if they should be headlining or not, but on this night they delivered to the crowd exactly what they wanted. Good job and much more then I had expected.
Set List - Who I Am Hates Who I've Been, High of 75, The One I'm Waiting For, Chap Stick, Chapped Lips, and Things Like Chemistry, In Love With The 80's, Sadie Hawkins Dance, Full House theme song, Pressing On, Jefferson Aero Plane, Life After Death and Taxes, Which to Bury; Us or the Hatchet, More Then Useless, Be My Escape, I So Hate Consequences.