The Ready Set Gets Crowd Going, Breathe Carolina Falls Short

The Ready Set/ Photo Credit: passthepunk.tumblr.com

What do you get when you crunch up garlic Ritz crackers and combine them with Velveeta macaroni and cheese?  Nothing other than a popular piece of tour food for Breathe Carolina, add the chicken burritos being made by The Ready Set and it’s like a restaurant on wheels.

                In a recent interview with both bands, a discussion of tour food became a big one.

                “I get like black beans, rice and some chicken and guacamole and I’ve been making really awesome burritos lately,” said Jordan Witzigreuter, the solo vocalist from the indie-pop band, The Ready Set.

                “You have to be creative with the microwave,” said Kyle Even, a vocalist in the electronic-rock band, Breathe Carolina.

                “You get Ritz crackers and put them all over the plate, cover the Ritz in shredded cheese and then pour the Mac n Cheese all over the crackers,” said Even.

The discussion took a turn when the chain fast food restaurant, Chick-Fill-A was brought up.

From there was a discussion about the spicy chicken sandwich that I should be trying if I ever find one of these places.

                The two bands drove down to St. Bonaventure University on Thursday, April 12, 2012 to perform in the on campus bar, The Rathskellar.

                With it being not a very large venue, it was interesting to see the excitement in the artists when the saw the space they would be working with.

Breathe Carolina/ Photo Credit: ampmagazine.com

                “We really didn’t know what to expect, but we are excited and I like it when it is tight and in your face, it’s gonna be rowdy in here,” said Evens with a laugh talking about the show that would begin only a few hours from now.

                Breathe Carolina formed back in 2007 and have recently moved from Fearless to Columbia records.

                The electronic band has released three albums to date including one released just last year featuring their current single, “Blackout.”

                However, the small venue was nothing new for The Ready Set, who explained that they are used to playing in small venues.

                Witzigreuter explained that the band had recently gotten back from performing in a few other countries before this small, intimate show.

                “We just did a little bit in Southeast Asia, Australia and South America and those places were all amazing and those were some of the craziest shows we’ve played,” said Witzigreuter.

                He expressed that he had no idea that what was just a personal pass time would turn into performing for thousands.

Myself and Witzigreuter

                The Ready Set also formed back in 2007 as a solo act, and was signed onto Fallout Boy member, Pete Wentz’s label, DecayDance Records.

                “He got in touch with my management and he wanted to sign me and I was like sweet, he is more of friend at this point than anything,” said Witzigreuter.

                With only a short time left before sound check, the bands began to discuss what music they were currently listening to.

                Even’s music list before his performance was definitely unexpected.

                He titled his IPod towards me and showed an artist no other than country star Tim McGraw.

                Even’s explained that you have to experience every type of music to grow as an artist.

                Even’s other playlists contain musicians all the way from John Mayer to UnderOath.

Myself and Even

                Witzigreuter’s playlist was a little more on the hip-hop side with personal tastes drifting more towards Kanye and Drake but also bands like Saves the Day.

                Once performance time came around and the audience started to leak in through the doors you could feel the anticipation coming in with them.

                Girls were holding signs and wearing t-shirts bearing “The Ready Set” across their chests.

                The lights turned off.

The vibrations from the bass started to come through the floor and you could feel it in your stomach.

Then, Witzigreuter walked onto the stage opening with his song “Ghosts of LA.”

Then the screaming began.

The Ready Set performing

The Ready Set put on a show that contained all of the necessary parts.

They brought energy, clear vocals, interaction with the audience, great use of the stage and a bright and powerful light show.

 Standing front row I was able to interact with Witzigreuter as he performed.

He really engaged with the crowd and got them moving with each song jumping, clapping and singing along.

The Ready Set performed a 12 song set closing out with the current hit single, “Love like Woe.”

                After this performance Breathe Carolina had some pressure on them to perform to the standards that The Ready Set placed for them.

                With the flashing lights and the electronic sounds coming from the keyboard, Breathe Carolina took the stage opening with their song, “Sweat it Out.”

                It did not take long before Even was encouraging the crowd to go crazy and walking himself into the jumping fans.

                Fans began to push and jump as the songs got faster and louder.

                Breathe Carolina put on show that landed them below The Ready Set.

                Although the songs were performed   identical to how they sound on the albums, which may not be a good thing.

                The band’s songs require a lot of electronic sound and auto-tune.

Auto-tune is an audio processor that affects pitch and sound in vocal performances and instrumentals.

Too much of using this processor can result in songs and performances sounding fake and generated as opposed to a live, raw performance.

Schmitt of Breathe Carolina

Needless to say Breathe Carolina used a lot of auto-tune.

With not only that, Even’s actions were a bit on the intense side.

Strange looks and movements on stage made situations awkward instead of intense which I believe he was aiming for.

Last but not least, the band did not even perform their full set.

                Halfway through their fifth song or so, Even started to tell a story involving fellow vocalist David Schmitt.

He began mumbling something regarding Schmitt piercing his sternum and no longer being able to perform any more songs for the night.

Even from Breathe Carolina

                Even performed another song alone and Schmitt came out to perform the last song, their current single, “Blackout.”

                Although Breathe Carolina did well for the most part with the songs they did perform, overall their performance was not up to par.

                The band could have performed better, used less auto tune, toned down the light show, Even could have relaxed his “come hither stares” and riling up of the crowd and they at least could have completed their set for a college show that only contained 10 songs.

                Overall, both bands were more than willing to interview and sit down with me which was major bonus points.

However, The Ready Set is a band that I would see perform again in a second, and I highly recommend attending one of their shows.

 Although when it comes to Breathe Carolina, I would do just the opposite. I would find myself holding my breath and waiting till the next artist came into town and again suggest you do the same.