The Fans Are in Love

Headlining their fan appreciation tour, The Click Five does just that: appreciates their fans. North Star Bar, a great little venue near Girard College, made their venue teenager-friendly by letting the under-21 fans enter through the back door and placing a bouncer at the door in between the bar and stage area. As I was standing there waiting for The Click Five, I saw one fan with a Fall Out Boy purse. (A purse that you could only buy at Friday night's concert.) It was a bit disconcerting that I spent most of my weekend with the same teenagers.

The first band wasn't that great. I don't remember their name, which is probably a good thing since I hated them. Overall it was incredibly trite, boring, and the musicians weren't that good. I was so bored I put my head down on the railing and tried to sleep.

Kate Voegele took the stage second. Quite refreshing after the first band. She's beautiful, plays acoustic guitar pretty well, and has a big powerful voice. She has everything that you want in a pop star, except well, originality. She seems to be about six years too late. I've heard her music done before with the affected vocals she has going. It's nothing new, edgy or that interesting. Her songs are great and she's even won songwriting competitions with them, but again, we've all heard it before. Every time she stopped playing she would start talking. Normally I enjoy the musician/audience banter. Unfortunately Voegele kept talking in circles and her stories weren't that funny. I preferred her singing and playing the guitar. Ultimately, though, if you are into that girl-acoustic-pop sound then you are going to love her, because she is talented.

As I sat waiting on the floor in the corner in between sets, I finished some homework on a napkin that I grabbed from the faux-bar. I also realized no one was doing the meet-and-greet with Voegele. There wasn't a bad "seat" in the house, yet The Click Five fans wouldn't move. They were so dedicated they didn't want to lose their coveted front-row spots. These girls were hard-core.

Finally the five-piece band, with their new singer, took the small stage. They barely had room to stand with all of their equipment, but they made it work. The fans screamed their little hearts out as they tried to cop a feel quickly as they passed. It suddenly looked like the paparazzi showed up with all of the flashes going off. Every fan had a camera or camera phone. It was an instant strobe light.

The band had such great charisma that it didn't really matter what they played, the audience would have still screamed. Which was a bit reminiscent of Friday's FOB concert. This time, though, the music was more exciting than watching the audience. Though I am not totally in love with The Click Five's music, I can appreciate it. They played well, sang better and gave a convincingly great show. Because of their targeted market and very specific pop sound, I am not sure that they will be around forever, or even a couple of years from now, but right now it's working. If you are looking for some good, happy, simple pop songs for the summer, then these are them.

Photo taken by author