Boys of Summer

I love Boys of Summer - the Don Henley song, the Atari’s cover, the Australian tour, and to a lesser extent the DJ Sammy version…

Destroy All Lines have been putting Boys of Summer on for a number of years now, and it’s become quite the nurturing ground for Australian talent (and international reputations) – past years line ups have included Parkway Drive, Evergreen Terrace, I Killed The Prom Queen, Misery Signals and Spitalfield.

Friday night at Billboards was exactly what I have come to expect from a Destroy All Lines show, plus some.

I arrived in time for Set Your Goals (sorry Deez and Capeside, I just couldn’t get away from after work drinks), a San Francisco Bay Area band that are bringing back pop punk. Yep, that’s right, it’s on it’s way back... not in a Blink 182 way, more in a MxPx meets Taking Back Sunday meets Lifetime meets Comeback Kid kinda way. One of the things I find most refreshing about these guys is that they’re not trying to reinvent the wheel – they pretty much pay homage to bands they love.

I hadn’t heard any Set Your Goals before tonight, and they got my attention. They played a solid set that the crowd got into. I was impressed. Highlights were ‘This Song Is Definitely Not About A Girl’, ‘To Be Continued’ and ‘Mutiny’. They’re also playing this Saturday night at Bang – I think it’s a Pimps & Hoes party? Go see them, you won’t regret it!

Next up were Brisbane’s The Amity Affliction. Woah! I have never heard this incarnation of Amity sound so heavy. Never! Oh and the new track, it was a great start to the set. Friday’s show made me look forward to the Enter Shikari side shows a whole lot more than I was already. I’ve seen these guys about 8 (or more) times in the last 12 months, and I’m not sure whether it was because Joel and Ahren were a touch more sober than usual, but tonight was ace! Thankfully the boys made up for the near sobriety after the show.

Silverstein were the final band to grace the Billboards stage, and it really was obvious that half the crowd were there for Amity and the other half were there for Silverstein. So I’m going to be really honest with you, I spent most of Silverstein’s set getting Jager-rific at the bar. However, just because I was drinking does not meant that my ears were closed.

Friday was only the second time I’ve seen Silverstein (I saw them on their first Australian tour way back when…) and I must say they put on a great, polished show. Shane is a charismatic and talented front man, and the years of constant touring have obviously paid off. As with the other shows on the Boys of Summer tour that I’ve read reviews, Silverstein were chatty, crowd focused and played a solid set. I wish I knew the new songs from Arrivals and Departures but unfortunately I don’t, thus my fuzzy highlight was ‘My Heroine’, and the old friends I ran into. What a brilliant night!

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