I Am The Avalanche Tour Review

I Am The Avalanche Tour

No Use For A Name Punchline I Am The Avalanche 3/29/06 HOB Reviewer & Photos: Maggie Solum

Tales from the Pit 

Lineup: Vinnie Caruana - vocals, guitar; Brandon Swanson - guitar; Kellen Robson - bass; Michael Ireland - guitar; Brett Romnes - drums

Consider this a very choppy review! And partially vague. Let's start at the beginning. We arrived at the House of Blues about fifteen minutes before the doors opened. There were about a dozen people in line. I probably should've been pissed, but then I realized - why? Low attendance equals more intimate shows. Beforehand I'd heard that No Use For A Name shows had been selling out at earlier dates, and that partially worried me. Then I realized Chicago has a high scene population and thankfully NUFAN's genre hasn't and won't be poisoned (who wants the Bleeding Through show to be reborn?). So this was astonishing. I ran into Mr. Brett Romnes (drummer of I Am the Avalanche) almost immediately and he aided me with photo pass troubles and various things - which I was extremely thankful for considering this was the first show I've covered on my own.

I went back to meet up with a friend on the floor and saw that the railing was the only part of the floor that was covered in the soles of sneakers. Most of the oddly low attendance was seated around the bar and rim of the floor. I felt bad for the bands playing that night at that point but at the same time I was thinking - this is amazing! I'm letting you know I attended this show for I Am the Avalanche and that's basically the only group I was able to cover in depth. I'm sorry I'm not a No Use For A Name fan!

Versus The World was the opening act, playing for about three dozen people on the floor, and they were nothing special but they didn't lack talent. They were from Santa Barbara, California but their Britney Spears enthusiast drummer was a Chicago resident (he was sporting a sleeveless t-shirt that read "Listen to Britney Spears") and strangely reminded me of Unearth's Mike Justian by appearance. Their bassist's massive presence also reminded me of Every Time I Die's Andy Williams. My friend later pointed out that several people that played that night resembled hardcore artists. Strange. The only "issue" with their set was the singer's voice was drowned out by the volume of the instruments so I wasn't even sure if I liked what I'd heard. But the crowd seemed to enjoy the time-filler.

Second slot was I Am the Avalanche. I was pissed to the fact that I was to take pictures during the first three songs, and the first three songs were my favorite songs from the band. I rushed back into the crowd to watch the rest of the set from a more enjoyable place. I was very impressed by their performance - I knew a couple members were hung-over from the night before (Surprise?) but I wouldn't have known had I not been told and had guitarist Michael Ireland not admitted in front of everyone. The previous night in Detroit they'd had some party time with Bayside. Lots of party time, apparently. By the way, the attendance was slowly growing with each set, which inside I hoped it would happen; I felt pretty bad for the bands if two dozen was the maximum outcome.

Vocalist Vinnie Caruana (ex-The Movielife) did an amazing job with his vocals (and bare feet) and really made this group the live band it is. Not without, of course, the three crazy men with axes, Ireland, guitarist Brandon Swanson and bassist Kellen Robson who repeatedly stomped it up on their square of floor or tried to grab each other's ankles when they weren't looking. It proved to be an entertaining set that was kind of made-up as they went along, playing whatever songs the kids would shout or deciding then and there what they wanted to rock out to. Their setlist included "New Disaster", "Dead & Gone", "Symphony", "I Took A Beating" and a new song they decided to tease us with. For those who weren't there but are fans - it sounded amazing.

After this I headed back to the merch hall to wait for Mr. Romnes and my interview, so I missed Punchline's entire set, at least by sight. Later my friend and I decided that they resembled The Starting Line musically. At least I think that's what I remember them sounding like, haha. During their set I spent my waiting time watching the merch guy of No Use For A Name and the guitarist of Versus the World write (most likely) dirty notes back and forth, and Punchline's merch boy pretend to strip in order to get customers. I also enjoyed watching various artists eat steaks and cheeseburgers while I hadn't since one in the afternoon. The highlight of that night was probably when the guitarist from Versus the World shouted to NUFAN's merch guy, "How do you spell 'angel'?!" or singing "Just two guys having a good time". I don't want to know what they had going on.

So Brett did find me and thanks to good old weed he was the only one "in the state of mind" to be in attendance for my interview. In a way I was thankful - I would most likely be most comfortable with only him. I missed No Use For A Name's set because of this, but coverage from my partner in crime said that they weren't amazing. I haven't even heard their material recorded, so I can't determine their set at all.

Didn't I say this was vague? Well it was. It was practically I Am the Avalanche Day. And what's wrong with that? Nothing, they're a good band. If you're going to get all pissy, go to the show instead of relying on reviews, haha.

_Maggie Solum_

Chicago Cord / FourteenG

No Use For a Name 2006 Tour Dates

Support w/Punchline and I Am The Avalanche

3.06.06 - Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
3.08.06 - Detroit, MI @ The Shelter
3.09.06 - Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
3.10.06 - St. Louis, MO @ Creepy Crawl
3.11.06 - Milwaukee, WI @ Eagle's Club
3.12.06 - Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Cafe
3.13.06 - Winnipeg, MB @ The Venue
3.15.06 - Edmonton, AB @ The Starlite Room
3.16.06 - Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall Ballroom
3.18.06 - Vancouver, BC @ Richard's on Richards Cabaret
3.20.06 - Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
3.22.06 - Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
3.23.06 - Chico, CA @ Senator Theatre

All photos Copyright © 2006. Pictures may not be used without the written consent/permission of FourteenG