There’s nothing like ending a rough semester with a great show on the horizon. And thus, with H2O’s record release tour coming through Baltimore on May 13th, I was delivered quite the treat. Not only did I get to attend the sold-out show, but I was able to interview the band in their tour bus about an hour before everything commenced. Now that’s the makings for an awesome night.

AUTOPILOT OFF kicked the show off with a burst of energy. Formerly known as COOTER, these upstate New Yorker’s brought their high-speed melodic punk to a crowd that appeared largely unenthused. I was probably one of a handful of people their actually familiar with these guys, but most seemed to need nod their head in approval at one time or another – except for the disrespective hecklers out there. Coming off a big tour with NEW FOUND GLORY and the GLASSJAW, AUTOPILOT OFF sounded extremely tight and crisp. Every note seemed to be hit perfectly and the band appeared to have a great time while performing as they gracefully bounced up and down and across the stage. It’s always difficult to warm up a crowd that was deeply into seeing the headliner, but as far as quality, you don’t get much better than AUTOPILOT OFF in that whole faster-than-fast melodic punk arena. Some of the more well known songs played were, “”Full House,”" “”Dusk til Dawn,”" “”Friday Mourning,”" “”Looking Up,”" and “”Indebted.”" The Digital Club Network filmed APO’s performance too at this show, so look for that at dcn.com. I look forward to seeing these guys again.

Within a few seconds of the first set change, I noticed that the Fletcher’s crowd filled in a bit more and the room suddenly got a lot warmer. Anyway, while MIDTOWN was getting set up, I couldn’t help but notice how funny looking their drum set was. It was black and red and looked like something that came out of a Sharper Image catalog. Oh well. MIDTOWN have steadily been increasing their fanbase by touring virtually non-stop, and much of the crowd followed their set word for word. I’m kinda torn on this band overall. Although their songs are catchy and pretty crafty (and by far, on the better end of the whole pop-punk-emo spectrum), their stage presence leans on extra goofy and certainly far too melodramatic for my tastes. I know their music is pretty powerful and has a lot of cool parts that allows the band to really get into playing their instruments, but one of their guitarists always seems to be like he’s got fireants in his draws. With a set almost exclusively consisting of material from their debut full length, “”Save the World, lose the Girl,”" everything was all rather familar. “”Let Go,”" and “”Just Rock n Roll,”" sounded awesome, as well as their tune from Fastmusic’s Disarming Violence comp, “”Foundation.”" On a final note, MIDTOWN plays freaking loud! Maybe it has to do with none of the guys in the band playing with earplugs…

Woooha, it’s time to talk about H2O. This was my 11th time seeing them, so I was pretty much sure of what I was going to get, but leave it to these guys to bust out the surprises. Their new album, “”Go”" is great, and I was looking forward to hearing the new tracks very much. During my earlier interivew with the band, I hinted to Toby to look for me up front during their set, and during “”Guilty By Association,”" he gave me the mic to sing the chorus . These guys are continually a class act. Anyway, H2O started off the night with “”I See it in Us,”" which instantly ignited the crowd into a stage-diving, body-crashing mayhem of sweat. Fletcher’s is a really tiny place too, so the internal combustion was simply killer. Five new tracks were played including, “”Well Behaved,”" “”Role Model,”" “”Out Debt”" (which EVERYONE seemed to know the words of already), “”Memory Lane,”" and Madonna’s “”Like a Prayer.”" As just mentioned, thanks to the Internet, nearly everyone at the show already knew the words to all the new tracks, even with the album not out yet. Toby at one point mentioned this and encouraged the crowd to buy their album even if they have already downloaded it: “”Metallica doesn’t get hurt by Napster, their fuckin’ millionaires,”" it’s the small band’s like us that suffer. Please keep on supporting us and buy the new one.”" I can’t repeat that sentiment more.

“”Faster than the World,”" “”Follow the Three Way,”" “”Liberate,”" and “”One life one chance,”" were all hit on from “”FTTW.”" I was really hoping for some of the classic “”Self-Titled,”" material too, and H2O cranked out, “”I know why,”" “”Here today, Gone Tomorrow,”" and “”5 year plan / Roots.”" The classic breakdown in “”Roots,”" lasted a good 5 minutes of shoutouts, and of Toby ripping his already torn shirt into shreds. It was all pretty funny. The last time I saw them, H2O didn’t play “”Spirit of ’84,”" so I was really hoping for it this time, but they skipped it again too. I guess I’ll survive. For the encore, Toby came back with a new shirt, apparently one from a guy in APO, and the shirt was really small and tight. To quote Toby, “”I look like one of the guys in MIDTOWN.”" Fortunately, the attire didn’t inhibit his ability to perform.

The bottom line was that this was incredibly fun evening. Fletcher’s just lit up during that last hour of blissful chaos. I’m not sure if there is any band that I enjoy seeing more than H2O. They’re not just a band, they’re an experience, a true force in the spirit of positive reinforcement and wonderful entertainment. May I be graced again with the opportunity to see them in such a setting.