I went down to the orpheum last night, ignoring my studies, to see a slew of "hardcore" bands.

The opening act was the reincarnation of underoath in the form of 16-year-olds. The quintet recreated "They're Only Chasing Safety", using similar octave chord progressions to mix breakdowns with the catchy melodic chorus. Don't be fooled by their age, these kids put on an energetic live performance although their age shows when trying to reach out to the crowd. My biggest surprise was frontboy, 16 year old Trevor Wentworth. Only 5'5, 110 lbs., Wentworth's small stature hides his exceptionally BIG "screaming" technique. Our Last Night was signed to Epitaph a few months ago, so expect to see them back in Tampa/St. Pete soon to support their debut album The Ghosts Among Us.

Next up was Lovehatehero. Being from L.A. they brought their cheap brand of flash and charisma in a desperate attempt to bring back glam-metal with a "My sunglasses match the Cocaine tray" attitude. If you have any respect for yourself you won't pay any attention to them. They had two guitar solos and made announcements when each one was about to begin. This bad ass also was humping his guitar and telling people how awesome he was while he was playing. All the kids ate it up. Everyone is 15 once.

Moving on...

The high point of the night came from my lowest expectations. I've been reading some of the hype surrounding Skyeatsairplane but wasn't impressed when hearing their songs on myspace, seeing them live was a different story. In my experience, hardcore shows are usually mixed terribly. Skyeatsairplane's set was perfect because they drowned out the electronic sequencing that brings down most of their songs. With the computer noise gone you get an intense, almost southern rock sound with the Dallas Taylor (Maylene and the Sons of Disaster) inspired vocals and the typical hardcore stuff.

 It was fun, but if you've seen one hardcore show you've seen 'em all.