The crowd screamed and pushed forward as The Academy Is… took the stage Friday at the House of Blues Orlando.
The band opened with “Summer Hair = Forever Young,” their newest single off of their third major label release, “Fast Times at Barrington High.” Despite several issues with HOB security, including the decision to not allow cameras, despite the band’s request and forcing the fan club meet and greet to be relocated, fans seemed to enjoy the 15 song set.
Lead singer William Beckett, decked out in his signature colorful pants, this time in bright red, worked the crowd with a stunning performance. He not only displayed beautiful musicianship, such as his solo acoustic version of “The Test,” but impressed the crowd with Adam Lazzara-esque microphone swinging. He even stepped outside of his role as lead singer to play the end symbol part on “After the Last Midtown Show.”
Musically, the show was impressive. TAI… always seem to put on a show that does justice to their music. There are very few departures from the album versions of the songs, but, in turn, their sound is nearly perfect. The set list seemed featured a fairly even mix of songs from each of their albums (6 from “Almost Here,” 4 from “Santi” and 5 from “Fast Times”) and had a perfect balance of slow and fast tempo songs.
There were only a few minor negatives to the show.
The House of Blues was very uncooperative with the band. Despite requesting that fans be allowed to bring cameras into the venue, HOB staff would not allow cameras of any kind inside the building. They also gave Jack the Camera Guy a hard time about bringing members of Santi’s Little Helpers, the TAI… fan club, inside the building for the meet and greet. As a result, the meet and greet took place outside the back door of the venue. The twenty-minute time span for talking to all five members of the band, combined with the poor location, made it a less-than-ideal situation.
submitted by Ashley
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