Monty Are I @ House of Blues New Orleans

Up some musty stairs, past posters and graffiti and teenagers with rainbow belts and spikes on their wrists lies The Parish, grungy cousin to the House of Blues in New Orleans. Perfect place for this Rhode Island band to play, as they may not have the fanbase yet to fill the main hall. I say “yet” because from the reaction of the crowd, next time they come around they probably would be able to. Opening for Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (who I would write about but I don’t want to be redundant), Monty Are I had complete control over the southern kids. I would have expected MAI (formerly Monty, formerly Monty’s Fan Club) to be out of their element so far from home. I’ve seen them before in local settings, where fans were singing along to songs that hadn’t ever been recorded. Here maybe three people had even heard of their old favorite “Hearts Bleeding.” It didn’t matter, because whether for the first time or for the 5^th, everyone loved them.

And for good reason too. It’s not like they were just a warm up opening act. They were a good show all on their own. With keyboard loops, horn solos, metal guitar riffs and a lot of jumping, they caught everyone’s attention. Sometimes the noise got too much. The clarity that they have on all their albums got lost over the noise of the crowd and the fact that they have all those loops and solos going on at once, especially in songs like "Castle Bound". But they had energy, and they have a great sound that even at the most confusing moments was original and progressive and all around kickass. They came around to the casual sex anthem "Between the Sheets" and every sixteen year old in there could immediately relate, at least on the level of making out in the back of cars. And I’m sure their playful stage banter and good hair didn’t hurt their popularity either. The flock of kids to the merch booth for autographs and CD's after the show most definitely shows the next time they’re down in NOLA they’ll have a newly formed army of street-teamers to spread the word.

P.S. There were no cameras allowed, so alas there are no pictures. Also, we're going to try to keep this thing more regularly updated. Maybe once every week and a half/two weeks. Thanks for reading folks! Buy American!