This tourdate was put together on relatively short notice as H2O works there way down to Florida in order to meet up with NEW FOUND GLORY. Although the H2O mockingly complained of being jetlagged, after recently flying into the area, there were no visible signs of fatigue as once again they plowed through much of their catalog with nary a mis-step. Being that much of the DC is mired in slight hysteria from the ever growing Anthrax scare, and this being a Thursday night show, there crowd was fairly tiny, probably no more than 300 people, but as expected, H20 gave it their everything and were incredibly funny too. No one should ever underestimate lead singer, Toby Morse’s quick wit.

Starting with the riff heavy, “”Role Model,”" from their still new album, “”Go,”" the receptive crowd quickly lost their ambivalence and well, moshed it up. With no visible security patrolling this show, it was great to watch the stage divers and such cause chaos up front without the usual interference from meathead bouncers. Then again, H2O had to work extra hard in avoiding the crashing bodies that hopelessly flopped on stage and came back time after time again. After playing “”Out of Debt,”" “”I Want,”" “”Memory Lane,”" and “”Under the Flames,”" all from “”Go,”" it became readily apparent that their new material sounds so much better live than recorded. Granted, no band can emulate the type of energy H2O brings to the stage while holed up in a studio, but the quality of the songwriting just seems for crowd-interactive.

The back catalog didn’t get too much attention besides the usual favorites from the first album, “”Roots,”" and “”I Know Why,”" leaving me slighty upset they didn’t play the anthemic tune “”Spirit of ’88″” but what can you do. “”Thicker Than Water,”" only got referenced twice, first with “”Go”" and then with the seldom played, but highly emotional song, “”Sacred Heart,”" which was a treat to me since that’s a rarity live. From “”FTTW,”" the epic, “”Faster Than the World,”" tune sounded larger than ever before, “”Guilty By Association,”" put the pit into a fury, and “”One Life, One Chance”" closed out the set. I’ve seen this band a heck of a lot of times, and this was probably one of their best performances, as they worked extra hard to satisfy the devoted crowd. A band like H2O shows a ton of character when they admit the turn out is small, but still aim to put on the best darn show possible.

AUTOPILOT OFF opened the evening, and this was their first DC show. I had seen them a few months back in Baltimore and they were really impressive then, and so was the case this evening. Sporting some new material, and songs from their debut release, “”Looking Up,”" and their rockin’ split with SLICK SHOES on Fueled By Ramen, AUTOPILOT looked strong and well refined. Tracks like “”Missing Innocence,”" “”Dusk til Dawn,”" “”Clockwork,”" “”Pin the Tail on the Donkey,”" and the killer, “”Friday Mourning,”" rocked darn hard. Chris’s vocals are really smooth, not unlike GREEN DAY on “”Dookie,”" featuring just the right amount of sneer and melody. AUTOPILOT OFF are clearly one of the best melodic punk rock bands out there, and could easily whoop NEW FOUND GLORY’s behind in both songwriting skills and style. A new album should be on the way by early 2002, and I urge everyone to check it out.

AGAINST ALL AUTHORITY played too, but well, I watched and didn’t really think much of it. I suppose there was a time in my life where I dug the spiky haired punk rock stuff live, but not anymore. AAA’s recorded material is a heck of a lot stronger on disc rather than live, but they’ve been around for probably close to 8 years now, so I guess that’s worth something.

Finally, I would just like to point out that the door security for this show was ridiculous. I’ve probably been to some 30 + shows at Nation, and never, ever have I once been as thoroughly searched as tonight – so much to the point that a guard forced me to throw out a pen I had in my pocket. A PEN! I know security has been heightened across the land and civil liberties are probably going to get the short end of the stick in the meantime, but let’s not replace good intentions with boneheaded practices based 110% away from common sense.