For many concert goers, this was the first concert of the year; and boy was it a great energetic show to start off with! Breathe Carolina with guests Mr. Downstairs and It Boys had a free show on January 18, 2012 at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. Since the show was free and all ages, it was clear that it was going to be filled up to capacity. Starting as early as 1:00pm, a line started to form outside the venue and with the doors being opened at 6:30, The Troubadour decided to give out wristbands to those in line so they could get inside.
When the time finally came, the lucky fans who received wristbands went inside the venue, packing both the floor area and the seats that were upstairs. After Mr. Downstairs and It Boys pumped up the crowd, it was time for Breathe Carolina to hit the stage, which is what they did at 9:00pm
Camera men stood atop of speakers in front of the stage and around the venue and recorded the entire concert, possibly for a DVD. Breathe Carolina, a pop, electronic, rock band came onstage, the crowd howling for the two singers, David Schmitt and Kyle Even. Kyle Even being the screamer in the group made the experience a lot different than regular electronic, pop show. Schmitt, singing melodies and Even screaming, encouraged a lot of crowd surfing which lasted throughout the night. The constant strobe lights were great affects when the singers were jumping around, which was really interesting to watch and further persuaded the crowd to do the same.
The great thing about club shows is there are no security guards in the pit and no barricades; the fans took complete advantage of that. From song to song, girls and guys crowd surfed their way toward the stage, Schmitt and Even helped them up. The fans got a few seconds to enjoy the moment, dancing and hugging the band members before being ushered off stage by security.
Both Schmitt and Even constantly reached out to the crowd members and in the middle of one of their songs, Even walked off stage only to be seen about 2 minutes later, floating his way back up from a sea of hands that were holding him up. As fans pulled at both the singers’ shirts, Even finally ripped the remainder of his shirt and threw it into the crowd, which fans intensely fought for.
Austin Carlile from Of Mice & Men was seen on the side stage and finally said to his friends, “I’m going in!”. Even walked over to him and handed him the microphone and the trio sang along to the song. Not much later, Carlile’s shirt was also being ripped and pulled but he didn’t seem to mind. He jumped into the crowd and laughed as he crowd surfed.
As the bands set was coming to a close Schmitt and Even thanked the crowd and said
“Only because of you guys are we here! You are the ones who got Blackout to go gold- it’s because of you!”
They went straight into their most popular hit- Blackout which everyone and I do mean everyone, danced and sang along to. They thanked the crowd again and walked off stage, fans cheering and shouting for an encore.
Breathe Carolina puts on such a great show and even if you don’t know them or like their genre, it’s really an amazing thing to experience because they keep you entertained the entire time. Crowd surfing, catchy electronic, dub-step, rock beats and tunes; and only if you see them live, will you get the full experience, none of that YouTube! When they’re in your town, check them out!
