T texted me. "Man, this place is packed!" When I got to Juanita's T had a Pabst in a can -- one of those stretched cans that looked like it was a joke if it wasn't for real. I scanned the crowd and no one else was drinking. The reason was very simple. No one else was over 12 years old. That's an exaggeration, but it was a young crowd. It looked like a junior high lunchroom; the air was saturated with emo. The band The Bridges were in the middle of their set. They sounded good. The lead singer of this "family band" had a striking voice. She sounded a little beyond her years, which, again, was about 12 (I swear the base drum had Dora the Explorer screen-printed onto it). After The Bridges headed home for bed, Locksley took to the stage. They went to 11 (not their amps but their ages). Not as much to write home about with these guys as with The Bridges. In fact, I can't think of anything else. Let's skip to the next paragraph.
T finished his gigantic PBR and selected a more respectable, and less comical, beer - Miller Lite. It was about this time that the rest of our crew showed up, including our newest LRLM contributor, C, and the party started. Now's where the fun starts, faithful readers (all four of you). Rooney stepped up, as they say, and ripped into "Blueside," the band's first ever song (lead singer Robert Schwartzman showed it to guitarist Taylor Locke the first time they met up in Locke's garage to start the band). The Calling the World Tour, which began in May, had finally reached Little Rock.
By this time, we had moved to the floor, about 7 people deep from the front of the stage. This was a good move on our part, as Rooney live is an act best seen and heard up close. We intended to practice C's ABMF methodology to get as close to the stage as possible. For the uninitiated, the acronym stands for the following:
Always
Be
Moving
Forward
Basically, when anyone in front of you shifts out of the way or in any way leaves room for a breach, move into that position. Enough moves on the chessboard and eventually you're up front and center. It didn't work tonight. The crowd was like concrete. Once it set, it was impenetrable.
"Blueside" was followed by "Don't Come Around Again," then the memorable "Calling the World," the namesake of the tour. "Believe in Me" gave Louie Stephens a chance to showcase his talent on keyboard, adding a sonic layer to the music that hadn't been apparent on the first three songs. "Stay Away" was followed by an incredible rendition of "Are You Afraid?", with a guitar solo toward the end that took it to another level. After "If It Were Up To Me," bassist Matt Winter got to show his stuff on bass guitar in "All in Your Head." The driving bass line in this song really is distinctive and is reminiscent of some of my favorite stuff from U2. Next it was time for a cover song, and they made an excellent choice with The Band's "The Weight." This gave a chance for some of the older members of the audience - not me, I said the older members of the audience - to have a song to sing along to. "What For" followed it up and featured a really cool slide guitar effect.
Schwartzman prepped the crowd for the next song by getting everyone to participate in the obligatory "clap your hands to the beat" routine in the lead-in to "Paralyzed". Locke's guitar built to a crescendo toward the end that made you remember why the guitar was invented. They threw in a little bridge in this song and prodded the crowd with repeated chants of "come on, Little Rock." That was followed by the raw guitar sounds of "I Don't Think So." They did an incredible job of performing this song live, with some mesmerizing electronic effects that carried over into "I Should've Been After You." After "Sorry Sorry", it was time for another cover. This time it was "Helter Skelter," the song Charles Manson stole from The Beatles. Rooney stole it back. Seriously. The guitar was totally over the top by the time the song ended. "I'm Shakin'" was instantly recognizable and welcomed by the crowd. Schwartzman tried to stretch it out a bit at the end, but the rest of the band didn't get the cue and the song, unfortunately, ended.
By the time they started the last one on their list, "When Did Your Heart Go Missing?", a song Schwartzman proudly imformed us had gone #1 in Europe, C's careful application of the ABMF method had vaulted him to the fourth row. I guess he was expecting an encore, but it never materialized. T pointed out that it looked like at one point the guitar tech was tuning things up for a few more, but then the house music came up and he put it back down and shuffled out the door. No worries, though, at 17 songs, the length of the setlist was nothing to complain about.
This was my first Rooney show, and I came away impressed. Some bands just sound much better live than they do in studio, and I think these guys fit that category. This was a little bit of redemption for Juanita's too. We've been a little hard on them of late, but they showed tonight they can still bring in some of the bigger names and, in turn, the bigger crowds. I hope this is an indication of what's to come for them.
-G
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