With Hit Play!, Furious Dudes, Arsenal 88, and Homestretch
Saturday, July 31
Churchill's Pub, Miami
Better Than: Stolen kisses in a Cadillac.
The Review:
This summer's seen a pretty good number of reunion shows, and the latest, this past Saturday, marked both a reunion and a farewell for local pop-punk greats Glasseater. I arrived at Churchill's with some serious expectations, because if people are flying in from different corners of the continental U.S. to play a show, you know you're in for a sweaty treat. And indeed it was.
What is kind of funny and pretty awesome about these types of shows is the sheer volume of people that they bring out. Actually, it makes me wish we had the same attendance levels throughout the year and not necessarily just the occasions at which to mark the passing of a band. But enough with the gripe. Churchill's was packed and everybody had a great time.
Getting the festivities going were a number of very spirited sets by Arsenal 88, Hit Play!, The Furious Dudes and Homestretch. All four did great jobs of keeping the crowd happy and setting up the stage for Glasseater's formal end. I'd like to point out that Furious Dudes have added a fifth dude to their racket and the ensuing loudness was good. Hit Play! and Arsenal 88 did good sets showing off some nice tunes, though I admit I spent a considerable portion of their outings trying to acquire beer at the slammed bar.
Homestretch brought on some pretty good aggression and by the time Glasseater took the stage, everybody was ready for them. I guess the lore revolves around how approximately five years ago the band disbanded without a "final" show to give their fans.After a rather successful career that took them around the globe i the late '90s and early '00s, the group went into hiatus after the release of its Victory Records album Everything is Beautiful When You Don't Look Down. Regardless of what caused the break and/or why it took five years to make a final show happen, it was nice to see them take the stage.
They tooled around with a long set covering all of their releases. Original vocalist Jason Calleiro performing the vocals to their early songs and Julio Marin rounded out the back nine. Ariel Arro on guitar and Anthony Lopez on bass complemented the revolving seat of drummers, including eternal teenager Juan Manuel Rotulo from the Getback on a couple of tracks. I also believe Nate Van Dame was there as well, though truth be told, at this point I let the drink step it up, put my notepad away and enjoyed the set for what it was: their final gift to us, the fans.
Critic's Notebook
Personal Bias: None. I had a good time. Oh yeah. I need a camera.
Random Detail: It was exceptionally sweaty in there.
By the Way: I should get in the habit of keeping better notes.
Overheard in the Crowd: I heard joy. Pure South Florida joy.
