Leading up to the show a couple friends of mine convinced me that I needed to go, but I was still a bit skeptical. Due to equal parts stubbornness and business I didn’t get a chance to listen to any of their records before making my way to the show. Sometimes it can be nice blindly go to a show. This was one of those occasions.

The opener was the local group Electric Touch. Avoid this band at all possible costs. They  are horrible. I found the stack of flyers at my work for their album release show and I threw them in the trash. That’s how strongly I feel about them. The lead guitarist repeatedly made phallic references with his guitar (to the mostly underage audience) and the singers accent got on my nerves immediately. Luckily I missed the first half of their set. My friends that had already made it to the show told me it was just as bad for the first half as the second half, and I respect their judgment.

After a short set up, Phantom Planet took the stage. I quickly realized the slight stigma I had against them was unjust. While their songs are really poppy, they are constructed well and have strong melodies. While certain songs didn’t really do much for me (I’m told these were on their latest album) the older songs were actually pretty good. After playing some fan requests, including the theme song from “The OC”, “California” which I also feel is a good song. Some fans looked annoyed by hearing it, but I assume that is from hearing it every week and it become over played really quickly. The band kept the audience entertained and involved. They even took a couple drinks from the audience, from the small portion actually allowed to buy a beer. A couple kids were even invited on stage to sing a long.

After disappearing for a short period of time “after their set” they returned for an encore which included the singer running around singing the song “Big Brat”  off stage and dancing with the first few rows for the audience. The set proved a pretty good introduction to the group for me, and nostalgic night for a couple of my friends.