She Wants Revenge with Kill Hannah and Paper Route

Posted 16 October 2009 Live Music Review

September 16, 2009

Revolution Live, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Written by Krystal Padilla

The first rain free day South Florida had seen in almost a week turned out to be a great day for a show. People of all ages lined up outside Revolution Live Wednesday September 16th for the She Wants Revenge/Kill Hannah show. Soon enough doors opened and we all filed into the venue. It looked as if the space wouldn’t fill up but as soon as Paper Route took the stage, places to stand were hard to find.

Paper Route wasted no time with talking and dove straight into the music. They played songs including ‘Gutter’ and ‘Carousel’ using a wide variety of instruments; some looking more like they belonged in a science lab than on a stage. One of which being a Theremin, an instrument where by moving your hands you can manipulate the frequencies and volumes of the sound coming from it. With each member seemlessly being to be able to play any instrument handed to them, their performance was filled with sounds using everything from an accordion to a miniature drumset. As quickly as they started, they were finished with their set, leaving the stage as we all awaited Kill Hannah to take their place.

The lights went down after a quick setup and the crowd went crazy as Kill Hannah took the stage. With lasers strapped to the ends of their guitars, they too went right to work diving straight into their music. After playing only a few songs, lead singer Mat Devine was faced with obscene gestures (two middle fingers to be exact) repeatidly coming from a fan in the front. Looking unbothered, he continued performing.

Only moments after the incident, he turned around spraying the fan and everyone around him with a bottle of water in response. The song ended and Devine took the time to respond once more to the fan with a few choice words and a song dedication. They played ‘New York City Speed’ for the fan and by the end of the show they seemed to have made up. Ending with ‘Lips like Morphine’, they left the stage and the crowd went back to socializing within themselves and making their way as far front as possible, anticipation high.

After what seemed like ages, She Wants Revenge took the stage opening up with ‘Written in Blood’. Almost instantly, front man Justin Warfield was dancing. After playing some new songs, one of which being ‘A Little Bit Harder Now’, Adam Bravin aka Adam 12 played an amazing and emotionally moving piece on the keyboard as the rest of the band left the stage only to emerge once more as he ended; receiving deafening applause from the crowd. Warfield attempted to quiet the crowd and once he did, informed everyone that they would only play two more songs and there would be no “Spinal Tap encores” so we should enjoy it while it lasted. Ending in ‘Tear You Apart’, Warfield finished the song with his mic pointed towards the crowd. The crowd finished off the show and, despite the protests from the fans, there was indeed no “Spinal Tap encore”.

Despite the disappointment that the night was finally over, everyone in the audience seemed happy with the way the their evening had played out. From the unique sound of Paper Route to dance rock feel of She Wants Revenge, it turned out to be a perfect ending to a good day for South Florida.

Photos by Christina Mendenhall