Yellowcard, Good Charlotte and Runner Runner at the Fox Theater

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Written by Brittany Woolsey

Monday, 13 June 2011 21:21

The Fox Theater in Pomona received a triple threat of pop punk Saturday night. Co-headliners Yellowcard and Good Charlotte, along with supporting act, Runner Runner, packed the house for a night of good vibes.Kicking off the night, Huntington Beach natives Runner Runner exploded onto the stage with a pop sound that could make any adolescent girl melt.“Is anyone in a bad relationship out there?” vocalist Ryan Ogren asked the mostly barely-pubescent audience. “This song is about getting away from that person and with someone better. They exist.”

With that, the group broke out into the somber, yet hopeful song, “Life After You.”

“I have exciting news,” Ogren said. “I’m getting married in 28 days.”

He explained that he wrote a song for his wife-to-be to walk down the aisle to. As if that wasn’t cheesy enough ― although the awing girls didn’t seem to mind ― the lyrics to “I Can’t Wait” were overly-cliché, yet cute because they included aspects of the couple’s relationship, such as playing truth or dare.

When Good Charlotte, led by twin brothers Joel Madden (vocals) and Benji Madden (guitar), came onto the stage, the female audience shrieked in excitement.

Beginning with their 2002 hit, “The Anthem,” the group was never still, constantly running around the stage. And, like the band, the crowd was continuously moving, pushing toward the stage to grab at one of the members.

Their set list was mostly composed of songs from their 2002 sophomore release, “The Young and the Hopeless.” With classic dance-inspiring songs like “Girls and Boys” and the morbid “Bloody Valentine,” the room seemed to fill with 2002 nostalgia, despite how young some of the audience members might have been back then.

“Let’s take it back about 12 years when some of you were born,” Benji Madden joked later on in the set before playing Good Charlotte’s first single, “Little Things.”

Before playing the rebel girl anthem, “Riot Girl,” Benji Madden explained the context of the song.

“One time I fell in love with a punk rock girl from Pomona. She broke my heart,” he said. Joel Madden added, “This song is all about you girls who come to the show,” after recalling that concerts were the only places he and his brother could meet girls, since they didn’t go to parties or clubs.

The group also performed songs from their 2010 release, “Cardiology.” The songs were energetic and possessed a more mature sound, along with more adult-oriented lyrics, such as in “Like It’s Her Birthday” and “Sex on the Radio.”

When the group played “The River,” which originally features Avenged Sevenfold vocalist M. Shadows, Joel Madden sang the entire song on his own. For those who were used to hearing Shadow’s raspy voice on the track, the song without him was definitely different, yet the band pulled it off well.

A cover of Blink-182’s “Dammit” served as an interlude in “The Story of My Old Man.” The crowd went wild and pushed toward the front as the band played the song by one of the pioneers of pop punk, also a likely inspiration for Good Charlotte’s own music.

They ended their set with one of their biggest hits, “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,” which inspired simultaneous jumping from the audience.

Yellowcard opened their performance with “For You and Your Denial,” which was fitting since the song is about telling off past doubters of the band. As the crowd roared with excitement, as well as pushed and crowd-surfed toward the stage, it became obvious that any nay-sayers of the band were very wrong.

Despite the band’s three-year-long hiatus (since 2008), it appeared as though they did not lose touch of how to put on an entertaining show.

The most energetic of all was Sean Mackin (violin), who was constantly reaching out toward the audience and running around the stage. With shredding and powerful violin solos, such as the opening of “Believe,” Mackin helped prove why Yellowcard’s sound was always so unique.

Longineu W. Parsons III (drums) was also impressive as he played an upbeat and nearly two-minute-long solo during “Lights and Sounds.” The crowd cheered as Parsons pounded away, never missing a single beat.

It was surprising that Yellowcard played “Only One” so early on in their set because they usually play it toward the end. However, the song was still beautiful as nearly everyone in attendance sang a capella to open the song before the band joined in.

“Sing for Me” was possibly even more moving, as Ryan Key (vocals) explained that the song was about his Aunt Stephanie, who was diagnosed with brain cancer last year. The song was played acoustic, including Parsons sitting on top of a wooden box and gently pounding on it to mimic his drum kit. The song was full of emotion, causing some members of the audience to shed tears, possibly relating the song to someone that they knew personally.

Yellowcard ended their set with “Ocean Avenue,” accompanied by Runner Runner guitarist Peter Munters.

Overall, the night was full of nostalgia as Good Charlotte and Yellowcard performed a handful of new goodies and old favorites.