THE ACADEMY IS...+ We the Kings + Carolina Liar @ Le Medley

By Beatrice Bernard-Poulin - The Kids are So-So - 11/21/2008

When the lights dimmed and a man who strangely resembled Cisco Adler started singing a slow song acapella, many in the crowd looked at their neighbour wondering if that was the next cool thing they should like. While that was only a sound test, the long-haired singer came back to the stage a few minutes later with the strangest assortment of band members: one who looked like a Hanson brother, another like a hippie, a pop punk and an emo kid, and a metal head on drums. A little before 8:00pm, Carolina Liar started their first song. Unfortunately for them, their whole half hour set drew a mixed reaction from the crowd. The bands’ sound – like The Killers gone way, WAY wrong – was not what was expected and wanted by the teenage girls present (and the odd 20-year-old boy and his girlfriend).

As soon as the drum tech brought out the drums that read “We the Kings,” the crowd went insane and when singer Travis Clark, with his trademark long red hair, made his way to the stage, the screams grew even louder. We the Kings’ pop punk sound brings nothing new to the table, but is still absolutely effective, and the band members’ energy throughout the whole set was infectious. Strangely, after only half an hour, the band members left the stage, just to be acclaimed by the chants of the crowd to come back. Clark’s call to stop red head extinction “which is bound to happen in 25 years” made the crowd scream even louder. Red truly is the colour of the day, as the popularity of the band’s “I Love Red Heads” t-shirt among concert-goers clearly demonstrated. If some people still needed convincing, they ended their set with their megahit “Check Yes Juliet” and the whole crowd started jumping up and down and dancing all while trying to capture most of the song on their digital camera.

Clearly, most of the people present at Medley were there for The Academy Is… When their banner went up on the Medley stage, the excitement could be felt throughout the venue. After We the Kings’ energetic set, TAI’s first song seemed to be slightly off, but that did not stop the bulk of the crowd near the front of the stage to start screaming – screams that would not stop until the end of the set. As soon as the song was over, things fell back into place, as well as singer William Beckett’s impressive ability to run all over the stage, jumping and shaking his hands while remained for the rest of the set. The band even dared a cover of Gorillaz’s “Feel Good Inc.” and while many in the crowd did not seem to recognize the song that did not alter their excitement. Beckett even said that this show was the best time he’d had in a while, a comment that, of course, drew a crazy reaction from the crowd. For the encore, Beckett played two songs by himself on the guitar, including a brand new song written only two weeks ago. The rest of the band then came out for more, and when the set finally ended a little after 11:00pm, kids rushed to get their winter jackets to go wait by the buses, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favourite band member.