Hellogoodbye; Slims February 28th, 2011 San Francisco

Hellogoodbye step out onto the tiny stage at Slims and it's an explosion of beanies, glasses and plaid. As soon as Forrest steps up to the mic and the rest of the band take their places on stage it's clear that this show is going to be a personal experience, like friends playing for friends. You can tell that they appreciate us being there just as much as the girls screaming "I love you, Forrest" appreciate them being there. They start the show with "Finding Something To Do", a song off their newest album, Would It Kill You? Four songs in they bust out an old favourite, "Shimmy Shimmy Quarter Turn", and the crowd comes alive. You can almost feel the people standing there, turning back the clock five years and reliving the way it felt to be in high school, listening to this music, and having it get them through the day. Hellogoodbye is all about the fans, performing to us rather than around us. They are all energy and humor. Making us laugh between songs and pulling out all the stops when the music starts to play. It's nice, honest, the way a night watching a favourite band should make you feel. They're not here to take our money, they're here to spend the evening with us, make us smile, make us feel like we're with friends. Jokes are told, eyes are rolled, songs are played and tambourine is pounded fiercely.

Fourteen songs have been played, Forrest has used effects on his mic to talk to us like a tranny, Travis Head, the bassist, has drunkenly thrown a cell phone, he supposedly found in a toilet, into the crowd, Joseph Lemble, the hot British addition to the band, has been pushed off the stage into a swarm of girls I'm pretty sure violated him in some way or another and Joseph Marro, keyboardist and tambourine extraordinaire (seriously), has added his share of sarcastic quips to the onstage conversation. Most importantly, these guys played a kick ass show. Forrest may not have the most amazing vocals, and these guys may not play their instruments as cleanly and tightly as some other bands, but they have more energy than a group of Kindergartner's hopped on Halloween candy and they play with a whole helluva lot of heart and soul. By the end of the night it's clear, they love the crowd, and I've gotta say, we love them back.