Review
Live Review - Melee
- Author:
- Review Date:
- 11/08/2007
West Hollywood, California (November 3, 2007) - The Troubadour located off of Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood hosted a SOLD OUT Melee show . Much to my surprise, driving to the Troubadour was actually longer than I had expected. I wasn't familiar with the area at all and felt completely lost. Neither my friend and co-writer Heidi Reynaga or I had any idea where we were headed. Luckily, we found the correct streets we were supposed to turn on and sure enough, we arrived at the Troubadour.
With a sigh of relief, we started walking towards the Troubadour. The time was around 8:30pm, which meant the first artist scheduled to perfom just finished their set and Melee was next to perfom. As we picked up our pace, we passed by a peculiar gentleman in his mid-twenties, groomed with short-hair, rocking a vest, singing, or what appeared to be excercising his voice.
We finally reached the box office and asked the employee at the booth for my photopass. To my dismay, the employee told me that they didn't issue photo passes. Nor, was I on any kind of list. I then asked the security guard if I needed a photopass to take photos. To my surprise, he simply shook his head and said that I didn't. Thats when I realised that the Troubadour wasn't one of those venues where you needed a photopass to shoot photos. Since we only had one ticket, Heidi and I decided that I would just go in, shoot the photos, and write the review myself.
After getting lost and the whole photopass fiasco, I finally made my way inside. The atmosphere inside consisted of a mainly older crowd; I don't remember seeing anybody younger than eighteen. The obvious reason was that their was a fully stocked bar located inside. Fifteen minutes after getting myself settled in and scoping out the venue for spots to shoot photos, the music stopped. A new wave-like and synthesizer oriented intro filled the room and Chris Cron, Ricky Sans, Ryan Malloy, and Mike Nader of Melee appeared on stage.
This is when I realized that the man who Heidi and I came across earlier that night was none other than Lead Vocalist, Chris Cron of Melee. Upon seeing all these musicians on stage, you'd get the impression that these kids were here to rock out, to get the audience all riled up, and be the type of "in-your-face" kind of band. But they were the complete opposite. Chris Cron of Melee's melodic and soulful voice filled the Troubadour, performing songs like "Imitation" and "For a Lifetime" off their latest album, Devils & Angels. Cron had the audience singing, dancing, and bobbing their heads to their catchy and poppy tunes. I was just a few feet away from Guitarist Ricky Sans, who had my attention for the first couple of songs with his awesome stage presence and I couldn't help but shoot several photos of him. While hurrying up and down the balcony to shoot photos of the band above the stage, they also played hit singles, "Built to Last" and the ever so catchy, "Biggest Mistake".
This was my first time seeing Melee live and hopefully won't be my last. I've really enjoyed their great stage presence and their simple, yet catchy songs. The only thing I would say that I was disappointed in was their light show to go along with their performance, it didn't really go with their style music and it really didn't give me much to work with to shoot my photos. Other than that, getting lost and dealing with the whole box office fiasco was totally worth it.
Photos From Event:
View Here
Photo credits: John Ferrer
With a sigh of relief, we started walking towards the Troubadour. The time was around 8:30pm, which meant the first artist scheduled to perfom just finished their set and Melee was next to perfom. As we picked up our pace, we passed by a peculiar gentleman in his mid-twenties, groomed with short-hair, rocking a vest, singing, or what appeared to be excercising his voice.
We finally reached the box office and asked the employee at the booth for my photopass. To my dismay, the employee told me that they didn't issue photo passes. Nor, was I on any kind of list. I then asked the security guard if I needed a photopass to take photos. To my surprise, he simply shook his head and said that I didn't. Thats when I realised that the Troubadour wasn't one of those venues where you needed a photopass to shoot photos. Since we only had one ticket, Heidi and I decided that I would just go in, shoot the photos, and write the review myself.
After getting lost and the whole photopass fiasco, I finally made my way inside. The atmosphere inside consisted of a mainly older crowd; I don't remember seeing anybody younger than eighteen. The obvious reason was that their was a fully stocked bar located inside. Fifteen minutes after getting myself settled in and scoping out the venue for spots to shoot photos, the music stopped. A new wave-like and synthesizer oriented intro filled the room and Chris Cron, Ricky Sans, Ryan Malloy, and Mike Nader of Melee appeared on stage.
This is when I realized that the man who Heidi and I came across earlier that night was none other than Lead Vocalist, Chris Cron of Melee. Upon seeing all these musicians on stage, you'd get the impression that these kids were here to rock out, to get the audience all riled up, and be the type of "in-your-face" kind of band. But they were the complete opposite. Chris Cron of Melee's melodic and soulful voice filled the Troubadour, performing songs like "Imitation" and "For a Lifetime" off their latest album, Devils & Angels. Cron had the audience singing, dancing, and bobbing their heads to their catchy and poppy tunes. I was just a few feet away from Guitarist Ricky Sans, who had my attention for the first couple of songs with his awesome stage presence and I couldn't help but shoot several photos of him. While hurrying up and down the balcony to shoot photos of the band above the stage, they also played hit singles, "Built to Last" and the ever so catchy, "Biggest Mistake".
This was my first time seeing Melee live and hopefully won't be my last. I've really enjoyed their great stage presence and their simple, yet catchy songs. The only thing I would say that I was disappointed in was their light show to go along with their performance, it didn't really go with their style music and it really didn't give me much to work with to shoot my photos. Other than that, getting lost and dealing with the whole box office fiasco was totally worth it.
Photos From Event:
View Here
Photo credits: John Ferrer