The Damn Personals are the guys who show up drunk to your midterm after not attending the class the entire semester and rock that B plus. They are the class clowns with the magnetic personalities that you just want to hate but can't because, well, they're that funny. At the Backstage Pub Wednesday evening opening for the Appleseed Cast, the Damn Personals arrived 80 minutes prior to show time and still rocked the 70 or so people in attendance.
After their second song, vocalist and lead guitarist Kenneth Cook said,"The difference between now and last month in Buffalo for us (when they played the Mohawk Place with the Kickovers) is that we have a draw here now ... and it's that guy."
Oh, how it did. The third out of four groups that played, the members of the Boston-based band used one hand to hold their beer, one hand to pick up their instruments and one great set to steal the show. Shaggy-haired and messily dressed, they launched into the first of many straight-up rock and roll songs. With their appearance and musical style, it would've been easy to write them off as another indie band in the realm of Strokes-like revival rock, but there was something more to the Damn Personals.
Take drummer Michael Gill, a one-man circus, pounding away at the kit with efficiency and power. Cook, along with bassist James Zavadoski and guitarist Anthony Rossomando, played their parts, too. At one moment Cook guided his melody softly and efficiently into the microphone, only to pull a 180 just seconds later, belting the words out as he stood over a foot away from the mic, guitar raised to his lengthy frame in homage to some unseen rock deity.
Their lyrics and riffs were enough to set them apart from retro-rock acts, but what really did it were Cook's vocals. His melodies were strong and catchy, with understandable and clever lyrics. Cook's shining moment came halfway through the set. As the song hit its climax, he finished each line voicing the last few words in screams that would make the punk rockers in Thursday jealous.
Opening the show was local indie/emo/rock band, bluerskies, who are too cool to capitalize their band name. Sadly, the group was playing one of their last shows. Led by the stage antics of guitarist Karl Maciag and drummer Nick Mesler, they entertained a crowd that was trickling in. Next was the Paper Chase, whose brand of indie rock was a cross between the music of Modest Mouse and the vocals of mewithoutYou.
Headlining was Deep Elm Records' own Appleseed Cast, whose blend of spacy rock and emo was the most anticipated part of the evening, especially after their last show in Buffalo with the Get-Up Kids. But it was almost an afterthought following the performance of the Damn Personals.
The Damn Personals' performance validated them as a rising force in both the indie and rock scenes. While the Appleseed Cast played last, and ably performed their headlining duties to an enthusiastic crowd, a lot of rock was drained by a band exemplified by the message of their T-shirts.
