This last Monday (September 17, 2009) I got to see one of my all-time favorites in concert, and in my home city nonetheless! The last time The Sounds visited the region they hopped through Cleveland, which, while being better than Chicago, was still further than I would have liked to travel on a work-night.

This time, they visited Mr. Smalls with a band called Foxy Shazam.

Foxy Shazam was, how should I put it… Bad. I don’t know who decided to pair them with The Sounds, but I imagine it was a label decision and a deeply regrettable one at that. The character of the band was something like the deranged bastard child of rock and ska (taking more from the former) attempting a comedy act on a Saturday night while stoned.

I’m sure that’s an entertaining sounding combination, but trust me – it isn’t.

There were some die-hards in the crowd that came solely for Foxy, and I should theoretically thank them because a few made way for us to snag front row standing room after the opener was over, but I just can’t. The entire opening performance – from when the lead singer opened by palm-punching a guitarist in the head, to the absolutely ridiculous diatribes that involved more stuttering than words – managed to appall me.

All I could think the entire time was how much I wish Matt & Kim were the tour buddies for this leg of the tour… Then Foxy’s singer would try to speak and it was the sight of brain cells committing suicide. Oh, Matt & Kim, why have you forsaken me!?

The keyboardist was the most entertaining of the lot, and I think his quiet, quirky style, which involved a lot of foot-playing, made the show tolerable. There were assuredly no other mitigating factors even though the singer’s voice reminded me an awful lot of Alex from IMA Robot.

Don’t misunderstand me, I didn’t loiter there like an apathetic hipster. The music had a beat and was at least twitchable – so twitch I did, but thank Congress the set was short. Eventually The Sounds made their way on stage with the intro “Crossing the Rubicon” which was in such contrast to the audio gore I had just suffered through it nearly put me in tears.

Last time I saw The Sounds was in The Grog Shop – a much smaller and more “intimate” venue than Mr. Smalls – and Maja (the short lead singer) was hard to see from just a few rows back even at my over-six-foot vantage point. Mr. Smalls’ stage has a good four and half feet rise from the rest of the floor with a veritable moat to prevent stage-crowding.

Enter the show… The set was a large part their new album “Crossing the Rubicon,” but a number of songs from their previous two albums “Dying To Say This To You” and “Living in America” made it into the line up including the rock/concert version of “Tony The Beat” (the original of which is my all time favorite song).

As a rabbit trail, may I say that there is almost nothing more humorous than seeing an entire venue full of Americans singing “We’re not living in America” – the lyrics to the namesake track on “Living in America” – when not only are they living here, but they’re also bloody citizens. Just for the record, I sang along too.

“Crossing the Rubicon” is a much more artsy grouping of songs than either of their former albums. The lyrics are ultimately deeper (although arguably just as nonsensical), and the music itself is almost more enlightened than anything on “Dying To Say This To You.” Overall, however, “Crossing the Rubicon” seems to be the next step in evolution for the tastes of The Sounds connoisseurs as it mixes the band’s fantastic aesthetic with notable beats and a more matured tone.

Suffices to say, the concert was a huge hit in my books, and The Sounds performance more than compensated for the dumbass choice of opener.

Christina and I even bought (ridiculously overpriced) hoodies in celebration.

Now, since this is a concert review I’m going to forgo the normal question/answer lineup and save that for an honest-to-god review of the “Crossing the Rubicon” album. In the mean time, might I suggest you go have a listen for kicks and giggles?

I’ll share more on that later.

Suffices to say that articles are on standby while I grab some rest – guarantee reviews will be up tomorrow. Promise.