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Okay, I'll confess that I don't come to this show with the most open and accepting of moods. I had a sucky day at work, and the only reason we're here is that Tom won tickets. I've heard of Damone but know nothing more of them, and all I know about the headliner is that someone says they do the theme song for "The OC." The audience averages about half my age, and I am not filled with confidence.
Damone strike me as a fine, kind of boring little hard rock band. The singer's voice is lovely and reminds me a lot of Meghan Toohey, if Meghan Toohey were covering Joan Jett. The quick, dumb little metal guitar solos and thunderous bass are just not very interesting to me. In the mood I'm in, her banter between songs is painful.
Phantom Planet are cute young guys, and they take the stage to a deafening chorus of high-pitched squealing from the audience, which is repeated every time the lead singer steps to the front of the stage, or says anything. (I amuse myself by trying to think of something that he could say that would not elicit a chorus of squeals, but I'm not sure there is anything.) It's totally unfair to blame a band for their fans, though, and these guys aren't actually bad at all. Straightforward, occasionally catchy power-pop songs with some nice harmony vocals and big shout-along choruses. After about half a dozen songs, though, I'm getting really sick of the lead singer's vocal style, which involves a kind of lazy slide from note to note. So I do not stay to hear what dizzying heights of squealing greet the theme song from "The OC."
