Summer School in Charlotte, NC

We’ve all had that concert that the second it gets announced and it immediately gets brought up in the group chat about how amazing it is. *The perfect concert.* It’s all the bands you’ve been talking about for months. Dreams come true. Such is the case with idobi’s Summer School. With a 6 band line up, it’s hard to go wrong. With Letdown, Honey Revenge, Scene Queen, Stand Atlantic, Magnolia Park, and The Home Team closing, the whole concert was on another level of shear perfection and lived up to all expectations.

Opening the night was Letdown; so many I chatted with might not have known Letdown before that night, but they left fans. Having been a fan of Letdown for a while, I was honestly shocked at how few people knew about them. With songs like “Go to Hell,” “Crying in the Shower,” and “Love is a Weapon,” Letdown fits right along side the whole line up of heavy pop with catchy songs that have a pop feel but give a little bit of that punk/rock vibe. Not only are their songs catchy, but their stage presence is great as well. With guitarists moving around the stage and hair flips galore, I’m looking forward to seeing Letdown on more and more tickets moving forward. 

Honey Revenge picked up where Letdown let off. The last time I saw them was at the Canal Club in Richmond, VA. For those not familiar with the downstairs portion of that venue, it’s basically a billiards hall vibe but without billiards and a raised platform instead. I’m grateful I had the chance to see them there and see how their presence could infect such an intimate location because it was no different here. You could have told me they were headlining and I would have believed it based on how excited everyone got for them. And I can’t blame them. They have insane amounts of stage presence and are simply a joy to watch. I’ve seen a lot of bands look happy to be playing, but every member of this band seems like they’re happy to see *you* while playing. In the punk/ metal genres anyone is welcome, but you often have to get past a tough exterior to feel it. With Honey Revenge, you only have to watch them play and you innately  know that they’re grateful for their fans. And it’s no hardship to watch them. Even as someone who doesn’t routinely listen to their music, I love when they come on stage. They have great energy, great chemistry on stage, and are just a damned delighted. 

Scene Queen came on next as the first of the shared headlining bands. And as the most polarizing. I chatted with fans and photographers alike and so many of her fans showed up in droves. It was, generally, pretty easy to tell who was a fan based on their outfit color or the aesthetic of it. Whether they were 18 or 30, people were embracing their feminine side wherever and however they could to show support of Scene Queen and the message she’s sending. Which, in all honesty, got a little confusing for me. One of her first songs was “18+” which I’m genuinely a fan of. Later on in her set, I believe it was right before “Pink Panther,” she mentioned toying with the idea of harming someone after they cat-called her - that’s where she lost me. Her music is catchy and her guitarist had insane headbanging skills, but I couldn’t get behind saying that she hated men in bands when she’s being supported on stage by a male guitarist and a male drummer (I will say, in all fairness, that they could claim to align with something other than male but I have not found as such). Additionally, I’m just not a fan of promoting violence against anyone, especially when her whole image is purposefully hyper feminine. To me it creates a parody of the trials women go through by putting it under the Bimbocore genre she coined. I think she’s doing a lot in terms of highlighting the gender inequalities of the industry, especially since her set was the best produced female vocalist I’ve ever seen but I would love for her to not encourage violence against or hatred against other people. As her fan base is, at least where the show was, younger, I would love to see her be less of an aggressor role model. 

After writing this, I’ve been made aware that her guitarist and drummer are her day 1’s. They were there when she was just starting out and have supported her along the way and she’s repaid this kindness in stride. I would have LOVED to hear about this on stage. And I’m human- she could have mentioned it when I was chatting with other concert goers. But I wish she were more loud about the fact that men have helped her along the way, not just giving a shout out to her boyfriend. Or the fact that having male friends and supporters can be great, instead of focusing on the negative. I also understand that this is niche music. Her songs are not her full beliefs, but to many of her fans, it’s what they believe her to be and what they emulate out of admiration. And don’t get me wrong, you don’t get to where she is by sitting back. It’s taken a lot of hard work to get where is and to put on the level of show she puts on night after night. She has the energy, she has the work ethic, she has the fan base- I just wish she would use her voice to not promote violence against anyone and to talk about how it’s not everyone, as her songs make it seem, but that a few bad apples really can, and often do, spoil it for the whole fruit basket.  

Following Scene Queen was Stand Atlantic, which was quite the opposite. With low lighting and minimal stage production, Bonnie’s iconic voice took over. With a killer band to play along side her, I was really excited to see what they brought to the stage since I haven’t really listened to them that much. I know of them due to the rumors that went around saying that Bonnie might be the next Linkin Park Vocalist, but not of them as a band themselves. But after seeing them play, I completely get why there were rumors about her fitting in so well with the legendary band. Coming on stage to "WARZ0NE" they absolutely set the tone for their whole set. With a nostalgic early 2000’s vibe, I was eating up every single crumb. I also can’t get over the vibe of every single one of the band members. Individually they all put on their own show while on stage. Each one of them carried their weight and then some. I saw genuine team work between them all and I got the sense that they focus on pulling the band forward together- no one left behind kind of vibes. It showed through their performance 100%. I wish I had a thousands words to write about their performance because it was just simply GOOD. The way they ran their set was so clean and they show their hard work in every second of it. So far, every Australian band I’ve seen has been immaculate and every single one elevates other Australian bands to another level in my head. I’ve gone to shows simply because there’s an Australian band playing and this is exactly why- they bring their A game to every single show and put in the work. 

Magnolia Park was the penultimate performer of the night. I’ve seen them in a smaller venue on their headlining tour and was so happy to see them on a bigger stage. And so were many of their fans. I chatted with many people who mentioned how much the band meant to them and how happy they were to see them. In the Summer School booklet that came with certain merch, they labeled themselves “The Vampires.” When I see that I interpret it as people who welcome those who feel unwelcome. Those who call themselves vampires will always been a safe harbor for those who are lost. And no, the irony is not lost on me. But this band embodies that. Having had the good fortune to chat with them 1:1 at the previous show, I immediately felt welcomed from all of them. Their music also embodies that. Ranging from upbeat to emotionally relatable on the sadder side, the band really has something for everyone. This is another band where every single member was pulling their weight and was showing what a team looks like while on stage. From jumping around on stage, back up vocals, to smiling at each other during a quiet moment or a breakdown, they were all there together and man, did they show up together as well.  

The Home Team closed out the night. If you can believe it, I’m a bit speechless about them. I chatted with a lot of people and while they might have been there to see a few bands, almost all of them were ultimately there to see The Home Team which warmed my heart (some even driving 4+ hours through storms to see them.) It amazes me how many people don’t know of or about The Home Team and to see so many fans so hyped to see them it made the night more momentus, especially since this was the first time I was seeing them as well. From what I’ve seen from them, I was expecting a lighthearted performance from guys that you could tell would be fun to see perform- that’s pretty much all I was expecting. I got so much more than that. While their marketing, in my opinion, paints them as the class clown, both collectively and individually, the people that came on stage were grown men who know how to throw down. Starting off their set with people in inflatable costumes of a giant rat and a smaller elephant (there’s gotta be a reason for that somewhere?), the tone was set: this is gonna be fun.

And class clown or not, they brought that energy from start to finish. With John and Ryne (guitars) spinning around and doing synced dances behind Brian during “Right Through Me” to them all bouncing, jumping, and dancing around stage the entire show, their energy matched their music so well. Mixing songs from their new album, ‘The Crucible of Life’ with stand out songs from their previous album ‘Slow Bloom,’ they had an amazing line up that showcased every strength they had.

Mad shout out to Brian’s dance moves throughout the show because despite the amount of dancing he’s done for recent music videos (shout out to Sam Link),  Brian kept reusing his choreography from the “Loud” video which I doubt anyone but me noticed, but it still had me laughing most of the time. With fun, upbeat, and catchy music, it’s hard not to have a good time listening to them, let along watching them perform. Almost every member of 2470mag are huge fans of The Home Team (Brian, half the staff is ready to run away with you at a moments notice) and I was happy to find out that a lot of my friends are as well based on the messages I got after the show. And it’s for good reason. ‘The Crucible of Life’ is a big move for them and shows that they’re growing so much as a band and stepping into an era where they’re embracing their strengths. I’m so excited for what they’re going to be doing in the future and what they come out with next because so far, they haven’t missed once.