Boys Like Girls with Cobra Starship, The Maine, and A Rocket To The Moon

Posted 09 November 2009 Live Music Review

November 5, 2009

Revolution Live, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Written by Kate Dingle

It was a night of eye candy for the young girls of South Florida. And when I say young, I mean every girl under the age of 16. I thought that Cobra Starship playing in West Palm Beach a few months ago was the epitome of teenage obsession, but this experience brings it to a whole new level. You know it’s going to be bad when the door time is before the sun goes down.

The show was sold out, and had been for a few weeks. The line outside was nearly wrapped around the entire building and every single person was repeating the same sentiment, “This lineup is all of my favorite bands! OMG I hope Gabe signs my shirt!”. It was unreal. As each act that took the stage the excitement grew louder and louder. Each act that took the stage was “my total favorite! OMG I LOVE them soooooo much!”. The screaming girls were throwing anything they could find on to the stage (bras, shoes, feathered boas, bottles, and wadded pieces of paper). It didn’t matter what object it was or what group was on stage at the moment, the front man would always pick it up and look at it like he’d never seen it before. Really, you’ve never put shoes on your feet?

From VersaEmerge to Boys Like Girls, the fans were given what they wanted. A bunch of “I love yous” and “You guys are the best crowd we’ve ever seen”. Really girls, they say those things to EVERYONE. But it made for a great moment that connected the crowd with the artists for a short moment in time.

Even though Boys Like Girls was the headlining act, it was quite obvious that the majority of the crowd was there to see Cobra Starship. They love their fans, and the antics of front man Gabe Saporta definitely made the “good girls go bad” ( sorry, I couldn’t resist the cheesiness). The five some played all the songs everyone wanted to hear, and interacted with their fans in a way that seemed damn near vulgar (considering that a lot of fans brought their moms along). And of course they dedicated their last song “Good Girls Go Bad” to “all the girls of Miami”. You played in Fort Lauderdale, get it right.

By the time Boys Like Girls took the stage, the amount of estrogen flowing through the room was almost suffocating. And I’m sure the three male fans in the room felt a lovely combination of euphoria (being surrounded by so many half dressed girls) and nausea (being surrounded by so many half dressed girls). The quartet started their set with a shortened cover of “I Got A Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas (even though I think their cover of Frou Frou’s “Let Go” is better) and went right into their current radio hit “Love Drunk”. By that time, it was nearly impossible to hear front man Martin Johnson sweep the girls off their feet. Even though the group only formed four years ago, they played like a bunch of seasoned pros.

From start to finish, the show was jam packed with rail thin boys in skinny jeans and flamboyant onstage antics right out of “The Birdcage”. But I will say this about the five groups that performed: It’s quite obvious that the reason they go out every night and do what they do is for their fans. I have never seen a fan base so entirely committed to any specific act and a group of musicians who reciprocate that feeling. I have a great deal of respect for artists whose number one priority is their fans and who go out of their way to make sure that every single person who bought a ticket feels like they are truly important. Every single musician that stepped on that stage laid it all out there and achieved that goal.

Photos by Christina Mendenhall