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Fuel
Brett Scallions of Fuel wails to the packed crowd at
The Crowbar in State College, PA.
Performers: Fuel, Jennifer Listen, and
Emily's Toybox
Where: The Crowbar
When: Tuesday, September 12th,
2000 8:00 PM
State College’s PA Crowbar was full of energy for
Fuel’s sold-out show on September 12th. Local favorites
Emily’s
Toybox, hailing, like the main act Fuel, from Harrisburg, kicked off the
show and energized the crowd with their original pop/punk melodies. The
band, consisting of Mike Wise (lead vocals and bass), Frank White (guitar), and
Wade Corbin (drums) is currently on tour promoting their new album Kindly
Remove the Stick…. Jennifer Listen, originating in Lehigh Valley, PA
followed up with what they describe as "heavy, weirdo groove."
Front-man James Davis’ wicked shaking while on stage and boisterous voice
crushed the crowd with the lyrics from Jennifer Listen’s new album Breathing
Joey. During the show, Davis continuously threw out copies of their
new CD to the rambunctious fans.
Next, Fuel,
who had just returned from Australia for their first headlining tour in North
America, took the stage and the packed crowd went wild. Opening with
"Jesus or a Gun," all eyes were on the stage, where there was no
denying lead singer Brett Scallions’ rock star quality as he took over the
microphone clad in sunglasses. The band’s performance, fueled by
Scallions, contained a non-stop powerful sound from the vocals to the
music. They performed all of the singles off of their smash debut, Sunburn,
including "Shimmer" and "Bittersweet." When the
band launched into material from the new album, Something Like Human,
which had yet to be released at the time, it was clear some of the fans had
already gotten a hold of the songs, as they sang along with the band. In
the midst of the Napster controversy, Scallions seemed resigned to the fact that
the songs were downloaded, but asked the crowd to support the band by purchasing
the new album. As the band played the first single,
"Hemorrhage," off their new album the ecstatic crowd sung along to
passion filled lyrics such as "Leave love bleeding in my hands, In my hands
again, …." The only low point of the show, though far from the band’s
fault, was the out-of-control audience in the cramped quarters of the
venue. The usual moshing and crowd surfing common to concerts was not the
problem. At one point, "Shimmer" was completely stopped to
attend to a melee in the mosh pit. The song did not start up again until
the bouncers ejected the two individuals that were in the fight. Aside
from the rough crowd and the tight space at the Crowbar, Fuel put on a real and
incredible "rock" show- a feat quite uncommon these days. -Denise
Stokes and Todd Wojtowicz
Click on the artist to see photos from this
concert:
Fuel
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