LIVE REVIEWS

The Sounds & The Bravery @ The Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA.

By: Gian Erguiza - January, 2008

Can you say hipster? The hipster crowd was out in full force for this one and you can’t blame them. Two of rock’s great bands are on one bill for tonight’s show, The Sounds and The Bravery, hosted by Camel. Now I wouldn’t really call them rock, but more like New Wave Rock really, but both bands for sure know how to rock and give a good show.

The show started unusually late compared to most shows and the people didn’t seem to mind, except for me, bedtime is by 11:00pm to catch my beauty sleep. So for the doors to open at 8 sounded kind of late but then again, there was only two bands after all. Camel is a great host by the way. They were giving away two free packs to support the deadly habit, one drink ticket, and an ultra cool cigarette case to match your coffin when you’re dead. I’m kidding.

The Bravery were up first, to my surprise. I thought that the Bravery had a bigger fan base and more notoriety here in the U.S. but I guess I was wrong because they opened the show. Regardless, I might be wrong and both bands could be switching slots night after night.

I wasn’t expecting anything out of The Bravery since I haven’t heard anything about their live shows but I was definitely curious to see how it was going to go. From the get go, they were pumped. Don’t know what the first song was but the second song, “Believe,” got the crowd swaying and got their heads bobbing. The band has a very distinct sound, thanks to their lead singer and their upbeat jams. I’m not sure if the crowd was digging them much though since they looked kind of too cool to actually show that they liked them. They played a good set though and throughout the set played some of their best songs including “Time won’t let me go,” and “No brakes.” The obvious stand out track of the night that finally got the crowd dancing and jumping was their big hit, “Honest Mistake,” which sounded really cool and definitely was the highlight of their set. The last song of the night was “Unconditional” to which the crowd responded very well and made their set that much better. Overall, The Bravery is a good live band. There was nothing spectacular or over the top about their performance, but definitely worth your while. I also caught a little Guns N’ Roses, “Sweet Child O’ Mine” lick in one of their songs, obviously worked in by their guitarist. Good Job Dudes!

After a long wait for the Sounds to set-up, they were on.

They had this unfamiliar song playing before they hit the stage but it was great intro to their set. Soon, the five-piece from Sweden walk in and the drummer starts the beat. Maja, lead singer, looking drop dead attractive in her one piece dress type, baring her beautiful naked legs, addressed the crowd a good evening and then introduced “Living in America.” The first thing that hit me about the Sounds was how powerful Maja’s voice was. Man, it cut through the instruments and I could hear every single freakin’ word she was saying. The second thing that hit me about the sounds was, how good they kept time in place. The band is a real straight forward sounding band but with Maja’s voice backing it up, it was ace. “24 hours” sounded real good and I noticed that at that time, the crowd has warmed up to the sounds and vice versa. By the time the sounds jump into “Queen of Apology,” the party is in full swing. People dancing, jumping, singing and screaming like it was Saturday night. Now a song that I didn’t think would be sung on a night like this would’ve been “Night After Night.” Wow man, Maja was pouring out her heart on this one and I could feel all the love in the room. That was a definite highlight of their set but I think “Ego” was the best song they played for the night. It really showcased their versatility and talent. Other stand out tracks for the night included, “Tony the Beat,” and their undying most awesome hit, “Painted By Numbers,” which is actually my favorite song from this Swedish five-piece. I can’t say enough about the sounds but I am definitely going to be there for their next show here in the U.S.

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