You Blew It! (photo: Amanda Starling)
Two connected rooms brimmed with Orlando hometown love and set up You Blew It! for a welcome return from the band’s first headline tour. Fans drove from North Carolina or across the street for a performance that was nothing less than kinetic energy.
That’s the vibe that the band has had since its inception. In 2014 alone, You Blew It! released full-length LP Keep on Doing What You’re Doing and You Blue It!, a critically acclaimed Weezer cover EP.
But You Blew It! is far from a Weezer cover band, stretching the alternative and emo genres into a more technical performance. The band ditches the emo concepts of dredging whines and sappy confessionals and instead offers an insightful, cutting performance that riles up emotion balanced with poignant thought, such as in the slamming “Gray Matter.”
The evolution of You Blew It!, still a reasonably young band, almost seems to be in fast forward. Energy is everything for Keep on Doing What You’re Doing, but technical skill and thoughtful lyricism drive the early 2015 Jade Tree EP release, Pioneer of Nothing. For a song only weeks old, “Lanai” held just as much audience attention and word-for-word shout-screaming as year-old smash “Award of the Year Award.”
Taking the stage with handshakes and hugs, You Blew It! smashed through hits off Grow Up, Dude and Keep on Doing What You’re Doing with an intensity that left Will’s Pub quaking with post-show tremors. It was impossible to get enough of the emo-punk energy that tore through the venue.
It was little talk between songs, with so much audience anxiety for favorites, except for hometown love notes shouted from guitarist Andy Anaya. Why chat when lyrics speak louder? That appears to be the working philosophy of the band’s performance. Instead, fans were left thirsting for an encore and waited an additional 15 minutes after the end of the set in hopes of a second serving.
Tiny Moving Parts (photo: Amanda Starling)
But it wasn’t just the Orlando band that ripped into the scene. Surprise hit of the night was Tiny Moving Parts, who filled the room in the strongest three-piece performance I’ve experienced yet. The indie hints and Midwest emo vibes set listeners up for a refreshing sound flavor that suits many music palettes. The recorded work of the Minnesota trio doesn’t do them justice; in fact, the best way to taste the ferocity and post-rock angst was standing right in front.
Opener Rozwell Kid released pent-up show energy, leading through the romping “Kangaroo Pocket” that provided the best bounce and smash moments of the night. Even if you didn’t know the lyrics to the West Virginia band’s songs, the contagiousness of their overall performance was connective, so it only took seconds to scream along.
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