FRIENDLY FIRE/A-5 RECORD RELEASE PARTY @ THE TEMPLE

First, The Verdicts. Ever since the first time I saw them, I've been hooked on their melodic punk style. Lacking a guitarist (I think he went to college or something), they still rocked on songs from their self-titled CD (kudos to Marielle for giving it back to me), including the song they closed with, "The Way To Feel." Although they didn't play my favorite song "My Name," they rocked on covers of Bigwig's "Pro Life Talker" by Bigwig and "Smoke Two Joints" by Sublime (Which brings up another topic: This band smokes way too much weed!!! The singer couldn't even remember the words to the majority of the songs!) I'm looking foward to their new material, because they played some of it. Although it sounds harder, it is still really good. Next up, Flipside.Although it's only their second time playing the Temple, they seem to have acquired a fan base in the area, because a sizeable group of kids knew the words. If I had to explain their sound, I'd compare it to Cooter, Flipside sounds a lot like them. They opened with "All For You," and played an energetic set which included giving out two CDs which the crowd fought for (jeez it's just a $6 CD!)Although they messed up the last song, their set was great... On to the next band, Brooklyn's only Clearview 77. This band practically plays the Temple every week, so if you haven't seen them yet, shame on you! Go see them, you have no excuse! They have a brand of extremely catchy pop-punk, which they displayed in songs like "Hate Parade." The crowd was....weird(is there a better way to describe it?). These two big kids just kept knocking into each other. Very odd. Back to what's important, the band...Clearview did something I've never heard before, a cover of "With or Without You" by U2 that rocked my socks! On to Friendly Fire! A band that plays the Temple all the time, they are a vital part to the Brooklyn punk scene. They put on a great set, playing their old stuff that everyone knows (like Meredith's favorite song, "Dial Zero") and mixing in some new stuff. My favorite, live and on their snazzy new CD, was "For The Kids," a song about how there's nothing for kids because so many shows are 16+, 18+ etc. They're right, because it's not fair. And the fact that they're old enough to not care and look down on kids, but they don't....that's just awesome. Plus, they practice what they preach (which is something you don't see too often now-a-days); the lead singer, Jordan (for all who don't know) helps run the Temple, and the band as a whole supports it all the time by playing there. Why they didn't play last, I don't know, after all

• They've been around forever
  • They just came out with a new record!
    • They got pizza and soda for everyone! (dude, when was the last time you got free pizza and soda at a show, huh?)