Tweens to the right of me. Tweens to the left of me. Tweens to the front and back of me. I'd never felt so old in my life. And once the young girls in their newly bought matching shirts filed into the row in front of me, I knew I was doomed.
But that's what I get for going to see Panic at the Disco.
The Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., a venue almost identical to Madison Square Garden on the inside, though smaller (with a much better sound system), was completely full on Nov. 2, one of the last dates on the inaugural Rock Band Live tour. The Cab, Plain White T's and Dashboard Confessional were also featured.
The show kicked off with the Cab, one of indie label Fueled by Ramen's newest discoveries. The Cab aren't bad live, but they have the nasty habit of sounding like a '90s-era boy band. Lead singer Alex DeLeon actually sounds like *NSYNC-er JC Chasez.
Plain White T's then took the stage. After getting the prerequisite "new songs" out of the way, they finally played the only song they ever wrote that anyone really cares about, "Hey There Delilah."
It was more like, "Hey There Squeaky Pre-Teens Singing." I actually liked the song when it first came out, but overexposure and a good smack to the head cured me of my temporary insanity. Plus, I heard the girl that lead singer Tom Higgenson wrote about dumped him.
Finally, some semblance of music returned to the show when Dashboard Confessional took the stage. Chris Carrabba, lead singer and emo king, was as brilliant as always. The band played new favorites like "Vindicated," the hit song from "Spiderman 2," but also fell back on old reliables like "Hands Down" and "Screaming Infidelities."
Unfortunately, the markedly young audience didn't appreciate the sheer brilliance that is a 33-year-old man singing about teenage heartbreak. I had to physically restrain my friend from throwing her shoe at the three prepubescents in front of us when they started screaming "You suck" during "Hands Down." The 12-year-olds were not available for comment.
lol
