DECEMBER 19- As a 22 year old, the idea of going to Chain Reaction makes my head hurt. For those that aren’t familiar with the venue in Anaheim, it’s one of few all ages venues in Southern California, which means lots and lots of teenagers and no alcohol for the older kids.

The set up in the small club makes it difficult to hear anything happening on stage if you’re standing on the sides. Needless to say, it’s one of my least favorite venues, but I’m glad I decided to suck it up for Nick Santino & The Northern Wind and This Century for the Up Close and Personal Tour.

After an excruciating amount of opening acts, there were literally five of them (another reason I hate this venue), Nick Santino finally hit the stage. Nick was the lead singer of A Rocket to the Moon before the band decided to part ways in early 2013. Nick’s solo venture is a complete change of pace from A Rocket to the Moon, going from pop rock to a more folky-country sound. This was clear from the very beginning of his set, which started with “Story You Should Tell.” The Nashville inspired sound came right through with not only the music, but also the lyrics as he stood on stage with just his guitar.

Nick has an ease on stage, which made his set that much more enjoyable to watch, even with all the “slow sad songs” (his words, not mine) he performed. Nick told stories before many of the songs to explain where they came from or what they’re about. He had the crowd laughing between every song, often by making fun of himself, or friends in bands which the crowd recognized. Before singing “Too Good,” he warned the crowd, “keep your best friend as your best friend, don’t try to do anything.” The song, a sad and beautiful ballad, kept a theme present in many of Nick’s songs: heartbreak. Even more beautiful and sad was “Goddamn,” which Nick prefaced with, “this song is about not getting the hint and not knowing when to move on. I guess that makes me sound kinda crazy.” His honesty onstage, while talking and singing, made his music vulnerable, and believable. In a time where musicians often take the entertainer route rather than be a musician, Nick Santino’s music and ability to stand alone without the smoke and mirrors is refreshing.

Nick brought former bandmates Eric Halvorsen and Andrew Cook on stage to sing a fan favorite, “Baby Blue Eyes,” from A Rocket to The Moon’s debut album. The crowd was clearly excited for the mini-reunion. Although the genre of music may be different for Nick Santino & The Northern Wind, the romantic lyrics were clearly written by the same guy. Nick has easily created a style of songwriting unique to himself, and which will only continue to mature as his career takes off — and I’m sure that it will. Nick also had more uptempo songs, that were obviously influenced by Johnny Cash, like “Miss Virginia” and “Never Coming Back.”

After Nick’s set, headliners This Century followed. The four member band was down to three, with keyboardist Alex Silverman’s absence. Lead singer Joel Kanitz addressed this after a fan shouted, “Where’s Alex?” with, “Sick, sorry this is kind of a last minute acoustic thing.” Joining Joel on stage was drummer Ryan Gose, who played keyboard for the song “Running in Circles,” and Sean Silverman on guitar. Their “last minute acoustic thing” was good for the band, as the acoustic sound impressed me much more than their recorded album. The band played songs from both their albums, but with a majority from their May 2013 release, “Biography of Heartbreak.” Yep, the night continued with more songs about unrequited love and heartbreak. The girls in the front row sang along every word to every song, including a slowed down version of “Tip Toe.”

Judging from the crowd, Nick and This Century’s music caters to a younger demographic. It’s clear why the bands chose a place like Chain Reaction to perform, but the entire time it seemed that the show would have been better suited for a place like The Mint, where you could enjoy the music while having some drinks and dinner.

Check out the pictures from the show below:

Photography by Rosemary Vega

[See image gallery at hollywoodtimessquare.com]

The popular pop-punk band, The Maine stormed through the House of Blues in Anaheim on Friday with one mission –entertain the hell out of audiences–and that they did.

The show was only the second stop on the band’s national 8123 tour, but the energy was already in full swing.

Even before The Maine made it to the stage, the crowd grooved along with opening acts Brighten, This Century, and A Rocket to Moon.  Each band had fans in the audience, making the night a pleasurable experience for everyone.

Although, the night was a little bittersweet for Rocket to the Moon fans since this is the final tour they will be performing together.  It was definitely a little sad for me because I wasn’t familiar with their music before the concert and they won me over right away. During the show I overheard someone saying “I like them, why is this their last tour?” The group played some of their signature songs like “Dakota” and “Like We Used To”–which was featured on an episode of “Teen Mom.”  They closed their set with a bouncing rendition of “Mr. Right.” Maybe, I’m crazy, but the chorus to this song reminds me of the George Harrison song “Got My Mind Set on You.” It was a great lead into The Maine’s set.

The crowd went absolutely bonkers when The Maine finally hit the stage, it was almost like being at a boy band concert…almost.  They opened with “Love & Drugs,” from their latest album “Forever Halloween.” It was a good first choice since “Love & Drugs,” is one of the few songs off the new album that is reminiscent of the group’s classic pop-punk sound. The audience was very into it and most knew all the words even though the album just came out three days ago (albeit the song was released a month ago…it’s still impressive).

The group did a good job of switching back and forth from their newer songs to the older stuff. No matter which The Maine album is your favorite, they played something you liked. My personal fave was “Happy,” the hooks are extremely catchy and John O’Callaghan’s voice sounded impeccable. Of course, not everything is all fun and bright tunes in The Maine’s world; they also performed the emotional ballad “These Four Words.” Everyone got a little emo for this one. The lights were turned down and O’Callaghan hid behind the piano. It was just his voice and his sadness. The song was extremely powerful and it was easy to spot a couple of fans crying.

The sadness didn’t last long though, O’Callaghan quickly reminded everyone why The Maine shows are so much fun. He interacted with the crowd and gave them pep talks. He actually started a monologue with, “this is me being your dad right now.” He was also looking out for everyone asking, “Hey can I get you anything? What can I get you?” The security guards proceeded to bring people in the front rows bottled waters after he said that. It was cute to see how much O’Callaghan loves his fans.

Sadly, the night couldn’t go on forever and the group closed out the night with “We’ll All Be.” They surprised the audience by bringing up all the opening acts to perform with them. It was clear to see how much the bands like and respect each other by how much fun they were having on stage.

All in all, if you’re a fan of The Maine, this is a show worth catching. The tour gets bonus points for bringing in very talented openers. Even if you’ve never heard of any of the opening acts before, you are sure to go home wanting to know more about them.

The 8123 tour is going on throughout the summer with the last stop in Austin, TX on July 20.

Set List:

1. Love & Drugs
2. Misery
3. Inside of You
4. We All Roll Along
5. Into Your Arms
6. Right Girl
7. Happy
8. Some Days
9. Kennedy Curse
10. Heroine
11. These Four Words
12. Whoever She Is
13. Identify
14. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Cover)
15. Count Em 1, 2, 3
16. Like We Did
17. We’ll All Be…

Contact reporter Frances Vega and follow her twitter.

Photography by Rosemary Vega
[See image gallery at hollywoodtimessquare.com]