Patent Pending, People on Vacation and
Lacey
April 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 25th, 26th,
27th and 28th, 2014
Nottingham, Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle,
Manchester, London, Bedford and Birmingham
I have always been a bit of a fangirl but
I had never classed myself as a super fan until I met three bands that have
become very important to me.
When I heard that Patent Pending, People on
Vacation and Lacey would be touring together I thought I had died and gone to
heaven. Anyone who is a regular visitor
to this blog will know that these are three of my favourite bands.
As this was a once in a lifetime chance to
see all three of them together my sister and I decided to go to more than one
show, starting with Nottingham's Hit The Deck Festival and finishing at the Birmingham
show. Our original plan was to do five
of the ten dates but in the end we added Hit The Deck when they too announced all three bands and then added a couple more shows, meaning we ended up doing eight
out of twelve.
Anyone who has ever seen these bands before
will know that even if you go to every single night of the tour you will never
see the same show twice!
Starting each night was Lacey. A four piece alt rock band from Nottingham
consisting of Graham Turner, Josh Lewin, Dave Pearson and Pete Maksymiw.
These guys were the only ones who stuck to a
planned set list each night.
Starting the show with a new song
called 'Won't Be The Last Time' from the
album they are planning to release later in the year, they started the show
with a burst of energy which they maintained throughout.
We also had the pleasure of hearing another
new song from the album called 'Get Me Out Of Here', as well as old favourites 'Hometown',
'Burning Out' and 'Contender' from last years' EP 'Outlaws'.
Each night they finished the set with their
new single 'Reach Out', a very catchy and bouncy rock tune but listen closely
to the lyrics and the story of the song is evident. 'Reach Out' is another song from the forthcoming
album.
If the three new songs are
anything to go by, the new album will be well worth waiting for! (You can download a free copy of 'Reach Out'
from www.soundcloud.com/laceyofficialuk/reach-out/s-EsoZ8)
Even though we had the disappointment of
their set being cut short at Hit The Deck due to bad organization by the
festival (people were only let into The Forum 10 minutes after the advertised
door time), they still gave the set everything they had and over the course of
the tour have got even stronger and more confident.
At the Bedford show Lacey looked slightly embarrassed
and amused as they encountered the first bra to be thrown at the stage during
one of their sets and they were slightly red faced again at the Manchester show
when Joe and Corey from Patent Pending came on stage to join in with 'Burning
Out' and Josh nearly took Joe out with the neck of his guitar as he spun
around. (Joe quite proudly showed his
bruise off after the show).
Although Lacey have not been around as long
as their touring buddies it is evident that they are starting to get quite a
following, as the same faces could be spotted at the front of the crowd for
their set each night. Their fan
community 'Lacey's Outlaws' is growing at a steady pace and after the fantastic
job they have done on the tour it can only grow larger and stronger.
During this tour Lacey really have shown
that they have what it takes and with the calibre of the new songs they played I
can't wait for the new album and their next show!
Anyone who went to the tour to see Jaret
Reddick from Bowling for Soup doing his usual thing was in for a big
shock. You see People on Vacation are a million
miles removed from Bowling for Soup's pop punk.
People on Vacation is a supergroup made up
of Jaret Reddick (Bowling For Soup), Ryan Hamilton (Smile Smile), Rob Lane
(Teenage Casket Company) and Michael Richards (Session Drummer). These guys have a more acoustic and rather
quirky folk vibe to them, but don't be fooled... listen to the lyrics and it is
obvious that they have been written by Jaret and Ryan!
These
guys started each night with 'Punk Rock World' from their forthcoming album 'The
Chronicles Of Tim Powers' and ended each night with a cover of Slade's 'Cum On Feel The Noize', with the exception of the Birmingham show when they ended with
'All I Ever Really Wanted' (also from the new album, which until now only
people attending the VIP sessions had heard).
Other songs included 'Prettiest Girl',
'Because Of The Sun', 'I Get You', 'We
Are The Lucky Ones' and 'Back To Being Friends' from their album 'The Summer and The Fall'.
Another song from the new album was 'You
May Not Believe In God', which soon caught on and had the crowd joining in with
the choruses very quickly.
However there was one song that got
everyone joining in and that was a cheeky cover of Bowling for Soup's 'The Bitch
Song', which was played every night and was well received by crowd. (Not really
surprising as most people's first encounter with Patent Pending was when they
toured with Bowling for Soup)
During the Sheffield show Jaret and Ryan
brought their acoustic guitars into the audience and treated us to a completely
unplugged rendition of 'Where Do We Go'.
This song is quite a mellow and haunting song anyway but sung in this
way gave me goose bumps. Seeing Jaret
and Ryan stood in the middle of the crowd like that was something I never
thought I would see.
It's fair to say that the song that
everyone seemed to enjoy the most was 'Lonely Fish', and you can't blame them
as it is one of the catchiest songs I have ever heard (check out the official video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gijqq8f3UEA&list=PLy2UdCGg99hO6cDA8ilYpndYTiWaCQO0c).
'Lonely Fish' was the song most requested
at the VIP acoustic sessions and the one that got people moving during the full
set. It was during this song at the
Newcastle show that they invited a young fan called Tom on stage to play the
song with them after seeing his cover of it on YouTube. I think it is safe to say that that show is a
night that Tom will never forget!
Considering that the rehearsal for this
tour was done in two different countries, Jaret and Ryan in Texas and Rob and Michael
in the UK, they played a seamless performance every night.
Whether you go to hear the songs or for
Jaret and Ryan's banter (which usually contains at least one butt joke and
couple of mentions of boobies) you can't help but come away with a huge smile
on your face.
I have a feeling the UK may see a lot more of
these guys in the future!
Since the 'One Big Happy Tour' in 2012
Patent Pending have been building quite a following and reputation for
themselves here in the UK. Their fan
base the 'UK Second Family' is a tight knit community who attend shows not just
to see and hang with their favourite band but it is as much about seeing other
family members as it is hearing the music.
Whether you see them once or every night
you will find that every show is different and that the time goes by far too
quickly.
Patent Pending are made up of Joe Ragosta,
Marc Kantor, Anthony Mingoia, Rob Felicetti and Corey DeVincenzo, five 'bros'
from Long Island New York.
During this tour there have been three on
stage proposals, two guest singers and one guest guitarist. Not to mention
numerous shout outs and dedications from Joe to the diehard fans who show up at
every performance.
Throw into the mix a ton of catchy bouncy
punk tunes and five band members who have seemingly unlimited energy and you
have a show that you will never forget.
If I listed every song covered over the
eight shows I would be here all night but ones of note are 'Psycho In Love' during
which they do the crowd swimming, 'Spin
Me Around' the song written by Joe for his wedding which Joe sings solo and a
very upbeat cover of Andrew WK's 'Party Hard' which on a couple of occasions
featured appearances by the Lacey boys.
Also making an appearance is Joe's younger
brother Robert from 'This Good Robot', who provides extra backing vocals and
guitar during the show.
There are three songs on the set list that
never fail to move the audience.
'One Less
Heart To Break' was written following the suicide of a close friend of the band
and whether it is Joe's honest and open speech at the start of the song or the
song itself that moves people I'm not sure, but this song rings out as one of
the anthems with the entire Second Family joining in.
Many members of the Second
Family are sufferers of depression and self harm and know only too well the
significance of the lyrics. If you look
around the crowd during this song it is not hard to spot the members who have
an affinity with this song and the countless members that it moves to
tears. (You can hear it for yourself here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5xwfMY6ork&list=TLlcrlV-MbV2vExR2szm3ErKl-WulJ8oYF)
Following straight after with 'Brighter'
from their latest album, this song is the sequel to 'One Less Heart To Break' and
reminds us that we can get through anything and come out stronger on the other
side. During these two songs at the Manchester
show not only were there members of the audience visibly moved by these songs
but even Joe shed a tear and had to regain his composure after seeing a kid at
the front of the crowd with self harm marks along both of his arms singing his
heart out.
'Second Family' is another song that really
brings the crowd together. This too has
become one of the anthems of the Second Family community and raises the roof
off of each venue as every member joins in as though they are taking a pledge
of allegiance.
Other songs across the night included 'Little
Miss Impossible', 'Anti Everything' (complete with boy band dancing), 'Cut Copy
Paste', 'The Whiskey The Liar The Thief', 'Shut It Down', 'I'm Not Alone', 'All
Star Hipster', 'Dance Till We Die' and the UK's debut performance of 'Therefore
I Party', to name but a few!
If you have never had the pleasure of seeing
these five charismatic long islanders then I dare you to attend one of their concerts
and not fall in love with them. These
guys give it 100% every time they hit the stage and deserve so much more than
they have already achieved, but something tells me that if they keep on the way
they are going, they will get everything they deserve and more!
This tour was a fangirl heaven as all of
the bands hung around meeting people after the show and all of them are really
lovely, humble, down to earth guys.
They say you should never meet your heroes as they may not be the people you expect them to be, but what you get from these guys is everything you hope for and more. There are no rockstar egos here just a three bands who love making music and cherish their fans.
I have my fingers crossed as tight as I can
get them, that these three bands will tour together again some day as my aim
will be to be at every show!
