st. louis: a great big pile of leaves, fences, fake problems, hellogoodbye

this was probably one of the best shows i've been to in a while. not only was the headlining band fantastic, but all three of the opening bands were amazing as well. i'd heard great things about a great big pile of leaves from my friend brad so i was really looking forward to hearing them. unfortunately i was a little late to the show and only managed to catch the last two songs. but from what i heard, they were great, enough talent to cause me to buy a physical copy of the cd. i'm not gonna lie. i'm all about supporting music. but i do download a lot of it illegally. the way i see, if i download an album illegally, really enjoy it, then buy a ticket to a show to see said band as well as a bunch of merch, and it's justified. and if they're not all that great, the band didn't lose any many because i would have declined paying money for not-so-good music anyway. i also like to buy physical copies of music because it's generally going to be in person from the actual band members, which means they make more of a profit that way instead of off itunes or something like that. but anyways. back to the show.

fences played next and absolutely blew my mind. they weren't what i expected - a pretty mellow, acoustic-type feeling band - but i can dig it. i bought a copy of their cd as well. they've been getting a lot of play-time on both my ipod and in itunes lately, and my last.fm can vouch for that. (might i recommend the mansions/fences split to you?)next up was fake problems who i'd seen a couple times in passing on various warped tour dates last summer... but i'd never given them the time of day and i regret it! they're so fucking great. gritty rock n roll that got everyone dancing, even the sixteen yaer olds in attendance who were strictly there to swoon over forrest kline. i immediately went home and listened to the album of theirs that had been sitting in itunes for ages and metapohrically kicked myself. i can't get enough of the songs 5678 and ADT. check em out! and check out fuckyeahfakeproblems.tumblr.com - my friend runs the site.

and finally there was hellogoodbye. i was so happy with how the show had been going that i almost could ahve left and been content. but i've been listening to hellogoodbye for almost six years now so it was a real treat to finally see them perform. they played a good mix of old stuff (which i love for the nostalgic value) and new stuff (which is so different, but i really love) and i left with a big smile on my face. what a great show.