Los Angeles act, Nico Vega, has been bouncing around the music scene for quite a while now but with an opening spot for Imagine Dragons and their new EP “Fury Oh Fury”, they are now taking their energetic live shows to a whole new level.

“This is one of the biggest tours we’ve ever played. Thank you so much for watching us and for listening to us play.” gushed front woman Aja Volkman before launching into a whirlwind set that had a little something for everyone, including dancy-pop tracks (“Gravity”), heart-warming ballads (“Wooden Dolls”) and powerhouse rock songs (“Fury Oh Fury”). The band worked the super-sized stage at Red Rocks Amphitheater like a playground, with Aja jumping over the barriers and clasping hands with the crowd as she skipped along the front row. [..]

There is not much better than a cold beer and a warm venue on a cold Denver night. B-Sides came out to see Los Angeles band, Family of the Year, in Denver, CO after having heard so much about their dynamic live shows and falling madly in love with their single, “Hero.” [..]

There are few bands who can put on a show quite like the lineup of A Day to Remember’s “Right Back At It Again” tour. For those of you who weren’t able to catch this tour, you missed out on some of the best bands currently representing the past, present and future of hardcore music.

Up-and-comers Issues started off the night with a bang. Playing through their debut EP Black Diamonds, including debut singles “King of Amarillo” and “Princeton Ave”, the band warmed up the crowd for the sure insanity that was to come. These boys represent the future of hardcore music and where it’s headed in the next couple years – let’s just say that we have no complaints if this is the future of hardcore. These boys are well on their way to becoming hardcore staples themselves.

Of Mice & Men are riding high on the music scene right now and with their 3rd album recording under way and a new batch of tours lined up for 2013, there is still nowhere to go but up for this band. Frontman Austin Carlile stomped across the stage riling the crowd into a frenzy during the first part of the set with songs “O.G. Loko”, “Product of a Murderer” and “Ben Threw”. “My baby sister goes harder than you!” was the retort one of the band members, as the people lined up at the front barriers failed to party as hard as the people in the mosh pit. The band closed out their high-energy set with crowd favorites “The Depths” and “Second and Sebring”, inspiring crowd sing-a-longs and one last romp in the mosh pit. If there is one thing you can take away from of Mice & Men’s set, it’s that these boys go hard. From opening to closing note, their set is an action-packed whirlwind of screams, guitars and mosh pits that usually result in a well-won battle scar or 2 in the crowd. Of Mice & Men’s set is definitely not for the faint of heart.

For those of us who had never had the pleasure of seeing A Day To Remember live before, we were nowhere near ready for the real level of insanity  we were in for. Even just having heard of the level of mayhem that occurs at most ADTR shows doesn’t really prepare you for it. Toilet paper, bawdy stage banter and t-shirt cannons are just a few of the antics one can expect from the ADTR boys. Fan favorite songs like “I’m Made of Wax Larry What are You Made Of?”, “Mr. Highway’s Thinking About the End” and “All Signs Point to Lauderdale”, were mixed in with newer material, that included the opener of the new single “Violence (Enough is Enough)” off their new album Common Courtesy (release date TBA).

Thankful of the crowd that attended the show despite the inclement weather, frontman Jeremy McKinnon addressed the obvious: “We didn’t know if people were gonna come, because of the snow and the blizzard. Denver, giving life and limb. You know what that means? Free fucking t-shirts!” The concert atmosphere then turned into one that would be seen during a halftime show of a basketball game, as t-shirts were rocketed into the crowd through a t-shirt cannon.

For the encore, the band took it down a notch for an acoustic version of “It’s Complicated” before ramping up once more, delivering one final chance for the crowd to effectively lose their marbles, just in case they hadn’t up until this point. A Day To remember closed out their set with “All I Want” and “The Downfall of Us All” before disappearing offstage.

A Day to Remember have yet to set a release date for Common Courtesy but we’ll keep you posted here at B-Sides. ADTR is now finishing the “Right Back At It Again” tour with Of Mice & Men and Issues at these select dates:

“Right Back At It Again” Remaining Dates:

4/17/13 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern
4/19/13 – Fresno, CA – Rainbow Ballroom
4/20/13 – San Diego, CA – Soma
4/21/13 – Pomona, CA – The Fox Theater
4/22/13 – Phoenix, AZ – Marquee Theatre
4/24/13 – Oklahoma City, OK – Diamond Ballroom
4/25/13 – Houston, TX – Warehouse Live
4/26/13 – San Antonio, TX – Backstage Live
4/30/13 – Nashville, TN – Rocketown
5/2/13 – Tampa, FL – Jannus Live
5/3/13 – Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live
5/4/13 – Miami, FL – Fillmore

With a lineup that has most alternative rock fans drooling in anticipation, Letilive, HRVRD, Night Verses, Conditions and Rescuer all held their own for the night in Denver Colorado, delivering dynamic performances that would certainly put most other tours in 2013 to shame.

However, we here at B-Sides were here to see one band in particular and that band is Night Verses. Night Verses was born when former The Sleeping vocalist Douglas Robinson joined instrumentalists Nick DePirro, Reilly Herrera and Aric Improta out in Los Angeles after Robinson heard the band play at a local venue. Formerly an instrumental band, Robinson’s addition to the band gave the band a new direction as they still pursued the intricate instrumental qualities they possessed while layering in emotive vocals worthy of their instrumental skill. Musicality meets emotion and message – doesn’t get much better than that.

Before the band launched into their set, Robinson took to the front of the stage, saying “We’re not going to do a lot of talking in between songs. We’re just gonna play.” But this band doesn’t need mindless stage banter because once they get started, you can’t wait for the few seconds in between songs to be over so the next song can begin. Their music does the talking for them and thats the way they like it. Frontman Douglas Robinson leads the charge as the rest of the band follows with a wall of sound that grabs you by the ears and won’t let go. The band performed all the songs off their debut EP Out of the Sky, most notably “From the Shadows Where I’m Low” and “Be Happy With Yourself, I’m Staying Here in Hell”. For a band who has been together for such a short time, the cohesive performance boasts of a band who has been performing together for 10 years.

Night Verses are currently on tour with Letlive but if you missed them this time around, keep an eye on the tour dates section of the band’s Facebook page as they have a couple tours they will be announcing soon. Also download the band’s EP Out of the Sky for free at the band’s website and check out our interview with Douglas Robinson here on B-Sides!

Sister folk-rock duo Tegan and Sara are back with their new album “Heartthrob”, a far cry from their indie-rock sound that made them famous. “We did have to make a conscious effort to make our record sonically more smooth and pleasing…We didn’t want to take a small step. We wanted to take a big step.” Tegan told Rolling Stone in an interview before the albums release on January 29th.

The album was co-produced by Greg Kurstin and Mike Elizondo, who have worked with artists like Ke$ha, Lily Allen and Maroon 5, but fans don’t need to worry that Tegan and Sara have sold-out and lost their indie-cred. The Quin sisters haven’t traded style for substance. Despite the waves of electronica and synth the album is saturated in, they still managed to put their same amount of heart and authenticity into their new material as with their old. “Heartthrob” explores all the facets of a relationship, from initial attraction (“Closer”) all the way to the inevitable break-up and heartbreak (“I Was A Fool” and “How Come You Don’t Want Me”). ”Heartthrob really fit for me because . . . I idolize the people that I date, I truly put them up on a pedestal, so it really resonated with me.” said Tegan in that same interview with Rolling Stone.

That idolization plays a major role in the lyrical content of the album as the heartbreak and break-up songs are the spots where this album really shines. “I Was a Fool” and “Now I’m All Messed Up” seethe with fresh heartbreak and 80′s-eqsue synth for an two of the best songs on the album. Songs like “Goodbye,Goodbye” and “How Come You Don’t Want Me” are ridiculously catchy beats-wise but the real hook for these songs are the biting lyrics that chastise a former lover.

“Heartthrob” is now available for purchase on iTunes and for streaming on spotify. Tegan and Sara have posted a few  tour dates on their website. Check those out below along with the music video for their debut single “Closer”.

Tour Dates:

26-Feb-13 – Winnipeg, MB – MTS Centre *
28-Feb-13 – Calgary, AB – MacEwan Hall *
01-Mar-13 – Calgary, AB – MacEwan Hall *
03-Mar-13 – Edmonton, AB – Shaw Conference Centre *
04-Mar-13 – Regina, SK – Conexus Arts Centre Theatre *
06-Mar-13 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue *
07-Mar-13 – Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theater *
09-Mar-13 – Columbus, OH – LC Pavilion *
10-Mar-13 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant *