I came to the Lucky Boys Confusion show with mixed expectations for the opening bands. I had heard The Vanilla Village Villains record ROAR, and was impressed with the music, just not with the recording. I had not heard Idle 13 or Last Place Champs songs, but had heard that they were decent bands. As the show started, I was pleasantly surprised by The Vanilla Village Villain’s performance. Being fairly new to the entire "punk" scene, I really didn't know what to expect; but once The Vanilla Village Villains came to the stage I knew that I was in for a real treat. They threw up an entertaining set, which included the song "Sorry, No Bananas Here" and "Dannie" with Andrew on vocals instead of Adam. Every member of the band was extremely energetic, including the crowd surfing Skimmy (Tom). Sweet sax solos were brilliantly executed by Jeff and Robert on "Hott (G.B.S.) Girl." As always, Paul laid down some mad beats on the drums and although Joe was fairly hidden during the whole show, he kicked major ass on bass. I thought that they were a very good group and that they correctly set the tone for the audience to continue the night. Overall the Villains impressed me so much that I wish I were in their shoes right now.

Idle 13 followed and started off with a bang. But much to my dismay Tyler, the lead singer, felt that he couldn't go on with the show after the first song pleading temporary illness. But that didn't stop these boys from kicking ass and rocking the crowd. Idle 13 were very impressive despite Tyler’s absence. Lucas did a great job of taking over vocals and playing guitar as they played on without their lead singer. These boys totally kicked ass. Timmy kept the pace on drums while Lucas and Nick played the strings up front. Idle 13 played a sweet set, I was a big fan of the third song of their set entitled "Summer Song." To bring their set to a happy ending the lead singer did come back to do one of their more known songs "Blue Skies." Anyway, my personal favorite highlight of this band is when they announced that they would be playing again with Mest and Riddlin’ Kids in the beginning of May (everyone go...I personally promise you that it will be a blast and a half!). All and all I would definitely watch for these guys in the future. They’re definitely going places.

Next up (if I remember correctly) was the Last Place Champs, who also put on one hell of a show. Last Place Champs were, in my opinion, the best opener. They played an awesome set. Lead singer and guitarist David got the crowd into it right away by being very vocal and talking to us a lot. They couldn’t have devised a better set list. I was into every song they played. Their anonymous second guitar player displayed some awesome talent, so props to him. Andy played kick ass on the drums, dropping advanced beats like no other. Their innovative beats made their music a whole lot better to mosh to, and that’s what a lot of people were doing the ENTIRE night. Jason’s facial expressions throughout the show made it all the better for the ladies in the house, who love and adore him, especially without his shirt on. Oh yeah, and he’s good a bassist as well. Overall these guys took the "Pimp Opener" award that I just started to give out right now.

Now comes the time that we have all been waiting for...LUCKY BOYS CONFUSION! I was highly impressed by this band live. Of course they sound awesome on CD and that is great, but it is even more impressive when a band can pull off CD quality sound live...and they did. The vocals were amazing as usual throwing in all of my favorite rests and trills. The boys maintained a high intensity level the entire show, even when performing a punk cover from The Little Mermaid.

T.J. Gannon & Laura Asman
Special to XROXX

XROXX.com Concert Rating: XXXX (4 out of 5 possible X's)

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