You wouldn’t believe how much I was looking forward to this show. Not because I had a vast interest in seeing Sparta, but in that it would mark the end of finals. No more school, and then a show, what a great day! I picked up my amiga/photographer Shannon, and after a brief stop for some Chinese food, we were off to the House of Blues in Anaheim, CA, right next to Disneyland. After a detour through the parking lot (I had somehow driven into the valet parking area), we stepped foot into line to get the photo pass (and awesome VIP tickets!) Then we made our way through security, just in time to have missed the opening band, My American Heart. Sorry guys.

Copeland starts setting up, and all I could focus on was how skinny the lead singer was. I mean, this dude is seriously a twig. A few minutes later and Copeland is up and running. Besides the generic and mismatched stage theatrics, the show wasn’t that bad. If there was ever anyone the epitomized the emo cliché, it was this guy; long hair, tall, scrawny, and sweating insecurities. And while insecurities may make good music, it kind of ruined their show. Nobody wants to watch someone who looks like they can’t stand being in front of people. Meanwhile, bassist James Likeness appeared to be stealing all of the Hives’ moves, but none of their style. Guitarist Bryan Laurenson and drummer Jon Bucklew seemed to be completely disinterested in their fellow band member’s shenanigans. Though I didn’t catch any of the names of the songs, Copeland seems to be better suited towards the slower songs. Marsh can play the keyboard about five million times better than the guitar, which is also cliché, as he power chorded his way through the chorus and that’s about it. The other guitar and the fat bass tones drowned whatever sounds he was making with his stringed instrument out. I wish I could tell you what songs were outstanding, and which were droning, but as I said, they never mentioned names, so I couldn’t tell you. All in all, decent tunes, poor show.

Up comes Further Seems Forever, fresh from the studio, and with their third singer, John Bunch of Sense Field. When someone comes in and tries to tap into the emotion of those who wrote a song, it comes off as third-rate karaoke. It seemed as if Bunch was trying to hard to appear as emotional about the older songs as the band was. The band, however, was in top form. I was impressed to see bassist Chad Neptune going all nuts and singing along even though no mic was picking him up. That kind of detail let’s the audience know that this guy loves what he does. The band covered the span of their career, starting off with the title track of their first release The Moon is Down, and then going back in forth betweens songs off of their latest release Hide Nothing. While it is generally awesome for a band to play some early stuff along with new stuff, Bunch just didn’t pull off pinch-hitting for Chris Carrabba.

Now, I wasn’t particularly excited to see Sparta, but that’s not the case anymore. After tonight, Sparta’s live show would become one of my favorite live show memories. Sparta blasted their way through 5 songs before even stopping to say hello to the audience or give any kind of back-stories. Something I must say is the sound quality of the set was amazing. Quite possibly the best live mix I have ever heard. I’m not sure if it was the House of Blues guy, or someone brought by Sparta, but kudos to that guy. Starting off with Guns of Memorial Park off of the new album Porcelain, and trotting nonchalantly between Porcelain, Wiretap Scars and the Austere EP, Sparta kept the energy high throughout. Something that makes Sparta a headliner and separates them from opening acts is their stage presence. Jim Ward’s sheer confidence draws your attention, but doesn’t draw away from the other members of the band.

Each member of the band held their own through the onslaught of sound. Matt Miller on bass was particularly amusing to watch, as he wandered his way blindly across the stage, very rarely taking the time to look up and see where he was. His singing on Lines in the Sand was by far the best backing vocals of the evening, being very capable of standing on their own. Paul Hinojos is remarkable at being able to pull eerie and surreal sounds out of his guitar. I got some great pictures of Tony Hajjar’s hair doing some amazing things as he beat the crap out of his drums. The band is more than a sum of its parts, however. Sparta has shown itself to be more than an At The Drive In spin-off, but a band that has it’s own distinct niche in the music world, and can easily hold it’s own. If you can, catch Sparta next time the tour, you won’t be disappointed.