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I’ll say this about the two headliners on Bill & Trav’s Bogus Journey Tour - they sure know how to please the ladies.

While the tour’s title is a reference to a film made before most of the predominantly female audience was born, the Guvernment was packed by the time I showed up at 5:20pm. Merch sales were through the roof, and many in attendance had created their own designs prior to the show. Can someone say, “Arts and craft slumber party!?!?”

Warped Tour alums and power-pop princes We the Kings were the first of the main eventers (consider them Spinal Tap to TAI’s Puppet Show) and put on an energetic, if somewhat Hallmark card performance. The Florida four had girls swooning to romance-laden choruses on Secret Valentine and Check Yes Juliet, but the real highlight was This is Our Town, when the ‘tween choir nearly drowned out singer Travis Clark.

A quick set change and impromptu sing-a-long to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air later, and it was up to The Academy Is… to satisfy the all-ages crowd before bedtime.

TAI’s melodic pop-punk (easy on the punk) had the audience screaming lyrics to songs like Everything We Had right back at singer William Beckett. As a frontman, Beckett held hundreds of teen girls in the palm of his hand with ease, exploring the stage and mugging for an ocean of cellphone cameras. Lead guitarist Michael Guy Chislett, on the other hand, offers a no-frills approach that can be admired or ignored depending on your taste. In the realm of skinny jean musicians, he’s the anti-Wentz.

Opening act Carolina Liar left a lot to be desired. They’ve put on great shows in the past, but a muddled setlist was to blame for their bi-polar performance on Saturday night. Telling the crowd, “Enjoy this moment because you might not even make it home tonight,” was a mixed sentiment that raised more eyebrows than fists. Lead single I’m Not Over ensured they left the stage on a high note, with the crowd responding kindly to frontman Chad Wolf’s claim, “It feels better to let go.”

Posted on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 at 3:51 pm by Dan Carruthers and is filed under Concerts & Events.

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