The Academy Is is not quite a band that has found its way into everyone's music dictionary. It hasn't even made it "big" yet, spending most of the summer as the opening act for pop-emo-punk giant Fall Out Boy. In fact, the name of the band's headlining fall tour, the "Sleeping with Giants Tour," perfectly describes the band's ascent to relative popularity.
That said, the "Sleeping with Giants Tour" is coming to the Palladium in Worcester tonight, bringing with it The Academy Is, Armor for Sleep, The Rocket Summer, Sherwood and Cobra Starship.
If last Saturday's show at the Casino Ballroom in Hampton, N.H., was anything like what the rest of the tour will be, this show is certainly a must-see for any fan of pop-rock. The four opening bands are energetic, young and excited to be on the road, and it shows.
After arriving at the venue, one major aspect of the show was immediately noticeable: the median age of the audience was about 14.
The first band of the night, Cobra Starship, took the stage without a soundcheck, as is usual for opening acts, and quickly busted through its brief 20-minute set.
The second act, Sherwood, from San Luis Obispo, Calif., put on a good show for the limited time it had, but the band seemed too chill for its own good. The group's particular brand of feel-good. SoCal easy-rock seemed to hype the crowd, but the band didn't capitalize on the crowd's energy. Sherwood did, however, point out that the Pacific Ocean was nicer than the Atlantic. Perhaps these guys are just better on their own turf.
The first "real" opener, The Rocket Summer, got more squeals from the audience than a fully nude Pete Wentz before it even hit the stage. The Rocket Summer is more properly known as Bryce Avery, who plays and writes all the material on the group's records but is backed by three other musicians live. When the mite-sized Avery took the stage, the crowd erupted in orgiastic applause and was greeted with an incredibly squeaky "Hi guys!" from the bouncy blonde man-boy.
Appearance aside, The Rocket Summer put on a great show, full of Something Corporate-esque ballads with slightly clichéd, but cute, lyrics. Avery did an excellent job of working the crowd, in this case meaning tossing his hair around while spitting excessively on every syllable. It drove the masses of teenage girls insane. The band quickly tore through its 20-minute set, which contained such fan favorites as "Break It Out" and "So Much Love."
The co-headlining act, Armor for Sleep, native of the upper-class Maplewood, N.J. area, seemed to have more than enough to whine about. The band released its first major label record, "Smile For Them," only last Tuesday, yet was significantly less amped than expected about playing songs from that album. While a few songs in the half-hour set were from the new album, including "Smile for the Camera" and "Williamsburg," a song entirely dedicated to deriding the scene aesthetic that the band ironically subscribes to whole-heartedly, the majority of the songs were from the banal "What to Do When You Are Dead" (2005) and "Dream to Make Believe" (2003).
As The Academy Is took the stage, the venue was overcome with a certain feeling that had been missing all night: maturity. Lead singer William Beckett came out with a striking sense of authority, a far cry from the shy, awkward, six-foot-four 19-year-old of only two years ago. The band ripped into the opening track, "Same Blood," from its latest album entitled "Santi" and continued to up the adrenaline through the next three songs, most from the band's first album, "Almost Here" (2005).
While Beckett strutted across the stage in his sprayed-on skinny jeans and girls' sweater, the rest of the band stayed rather comatose throughout the set; surprisingly, lackluster bandmates didn't seem to stop the energy from pouring out of the sickly-thin frontman. At the end of the night, Beckett reigned supreme, holding the mic stand over his head while he stood facing backwards on the drum riser.
This show features a great set from a band that has finally come of age - even though the first four are stuck in musical Neverland - making this show most definitely worth the $18 ticket. Not to mention, anyone who hasn't seen Mick Jagger live has to see William Beckett. He's the closest this generation will ever come.
