Arts, Etc.Music

Face to Face shows one way to meet music

Dave Baksh, guitarist of Sum 41, played as the crowd listened attentively and reacted ecstatically to the band's alternative punk rock stylings. Sum 41 along with New Found Glory and Saves the Day opened for Face to Face on Sept. 28 at the Glass House Theater in Pomona. Being the opening band is often the hardest spot to be in for a concert. / photo by Jason Cooper
Dave Baksh, guitarist of Sum 41, played as the crowd listened attentively and reacted ecstatically to the band’s alternative punk rock stylings. Sum 41 along with New Found Glory and Saves the Day opened for Face to Face on Sept. 28 at the Glass House Theater in Pomona. Being the opening band is often the hardest spot to be in for a concert. / photo by Jason Cooper

by Brice Nixon
Editor in Chief

The Glass House in Pomona picked up where it left off after last Monday’s performance by Bad Religion when another punk band, Face to Face, packed the cozy venue last Thursday.

Sum 41, a Canadian punk band from Ajax, Ontario, opened for Face to Face, which completed the scheduled dates for its Reactionary U.S. 2000 Tour, with the show at the Glass House being the second to last. Sum 41 played to a half-full venue, although the crowd that was there was energized by the time the band finished its set. Sum 41 played several songs off its just-released album, “Half Hour of Power.”

Florida-based band New Found Glory was next. They had played a show at the Glass House a week before and their popularity had spread to the West Coast, as many in the crowd sang along with lead vocalist Jordan Pundik.

By the time Saves the Day came on, the crowd was packed in and was pressed against the barriers in front of the stage. Saves the Day, from New Jersey, played a less hardcore style than the rest of the bands, but provided a fitting completion to the warm-up for headliners Face to Face.

Once lead vocalist and guitarist Trevor Keith and the rest of the band appeared, the energy level in the crowd rose instantly and remained for the hour and a half set. Face to Face opened with many of its older songs, including several off its 1992 debut album, “Don’t Turn Away.”

“They’re a really good band,” said Lizzie Perez, 18, a freshman at UC Irvine. “They totally know what the crowd wants.”

After getting heads bobbing and the crowd surfing with songs like “You’ve Done Nothing,” the band broke into its most well-known piece, “Disconnected.”

Once they did, the crowd’s energy level reached its peak. “Disconnected” is a staple in the rotation of KROQ and it has appeared on two of the band’s albums.

But the band was touring in support of its recently released album, “Reactionary.” “Reactionary” is the band’s seventh album.

Face to Face used the internet in choosing the tracks for its latest album. The band put 15 songs on its website for fans to listen to. Fans then voted for their favorite songs and the top 12 were put on “Reactionary.”

Near the end of its set, Face to Face played the first single off the album, “Disappointment.” The song has been played often on KROQ and held the top spot in the radio station’s “Furious Five at Nine,” the five top-requested songs each day.

“It’s one of the best shows I’ve ever been to,” said Perez. “They played their old school stuff. The crowd was tight.”

Perez and her two friends proclaimed themselves as huge Face to Face fans.

“We saw them at the House of Blues three nights in a row because we totally dig them,” said Celest Siordia, 18, a freshman at Whittier College.

A few songs into the performance, Keith spoke to the crowd. He said he was an Inland Valley guy, like many in the audience and Keith also said he was thrilled to be playing in front of a sell-out crowd not far from where he grew up. The band played to four straight sold-out shows in southern California, including three at the House of Blues.

Brice Nixon
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Jason Cooper
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