Review from Idaho State University Bengal 5/23/11

[stephb]

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Review: Are you feeling ok? You look a little "Sick"
By Princess Young
Editor-in-Chief

Published: Monday, May 23, 2011
Updated: Monday, May 23, 2011 13:05

The crowd enjoys the Sick Puppies performance on Monday, April 25, in the Holt Arena.

On Monday, April 25, the Australian band Sick Puppies came to Holt Arena at Idaho State University.

The rock band trio was formed in 1997 and is comprised of vocalist/guitarist Shimon Moore, bassist Emma Anzai and drummer Mark Goodwin.

The night started off with three opening bands. First on stage was Madam Adam followed by Adelita's Way. The last opening band was Framing Hanley. Not being an avid rock music listener, I was surprised when Framing Hanley's first song was the rock version of "Lollipop," sung originally by Lil Wayne in a rap version. I realized I knew this band because I had this single on my iPod so I was ready to enjoy the rest of the night.

Sick Puppies came on to the stage at about 9:30 p.m. that evening and began their set with the song "Odd One," the second single from their most recent album entitled Tri-Polar. With the audience pumped up from the opening bands, I could tell that we had a good crowd here for Sick Puppies.

They continued with the songs "Rip Tide," "Should've Known Better" and "My World." Their fifth song, "All the Same" was a personal favorite of mine and the first song I had heard from the group. Sick Puppies became exponentially popular in 2006 when their song "All the Same" was used in a YouTube video for a Free Hugs Campaign that started in Australia. The audience showed their appreciation and love for the song by holding up lighters and phones during the entire song.

They followed up the song with a 60-second break. I had to laugh because during this beak, the Jeopardy theme song played. I enjoyed that the band was lighthearted and humorous with vocalist Shimon Moore talking to the crowd throughout the night and making everyone laugh.

The next part of the show included a slightly more acoustic set of songs that made the entire setting seem a bit more intimate, which is hard to do in an expansive space like the Holt Arena. During this time, they played a few covers.

They soon moved onto their own song "Don't Walk Away." They also played "Too Many Words." This song came from their second album, and I enjoyed how it had a calmer tone during this part of the show.

After another 60-second break, they played a few other songs such as "War" and "Maybe," their hit single from the newest album.

I was incredibly impressed with Emma Anzai's bass-playing skills. Perhaps it is because not many women tend to play bass in bands, but Anzai's skills were enjoyable to watch, including her slap bass playing.

After playing "White Balloons," Sick Puppies left the stage only to get called back out again for an encore. They concluded the night with "You're Going Down" and afterward went out to the crowd for pictures and autographs.

At this point in time, they have three albums to their name. Welcome to the Real World came out in 2001, Dressed Up as Life hit stores in 2007. The third album, Tri-Polar, came out in 2009.

I have to say that I truly enjoyed the concert. Not only was it a fun and entertaining distraction from campus Dead Week right before finals, but I found myself liking rock more than I thought. Now it's time to go add some more rock to my music library.

[ElizaBeth]

Good review that's awesome!

[stephb]

I thought it was a nice one too and from someone real and not a professional if you know what I mean.

[Becky]

[stephb]

[Stacey]

Great article, thanks for sharing.