- Concert Review -

Trapt

Justin Barnes

Sports Editor

On a somewhat normal bland evening in Seattle, I found myself once again staring at my computer screen on a Saturday night with nothing to do. My Hanson CD's are worn out and I have stared at my Boyz II Men posters long enough to draw them from memory. Aside from illegally downloading music, I needed something to do.

Not long after, I got a call from a friend saying he had an extra ticket to a concert, and wondered if I would be interested in seeing a free show. The show would be Seattle-based Aphasia, Swedish band Blindside, and frat-boy rockers Trapt. After two seconds of deliberation I agreed, and he said he would be stopping by in a few minutes to pick me up.

Entering the venue just long enough to catch the last few seconds of Aphasia's last song, I made my way towards the front of the stage anxiously awaiting Blindside's set to begin. With Blindside's latest album just being released, fans were expecting to hear the majority of the songs played from "The Great Depression."

Fortunately, Blindside played a variety of songs ranging all the way back to their first major release, "A Thought Crushed My Mind," to the more recent "Silence," and "Thought About a Burning Fire." All of which were a huge hit to the fans who actually knew who Blindside was. The band was gracious enough to meet and greet hundreds of fans after their set while the headliners, Trapt, set up their equipment.

Trapt is another one of the horrible misspelled band names that has been popular from the late nineties(i.e. Korn, Staind, ICP). But although I've never really been a Trapt fan, I can't deny the fact they write songs that are simply impossible to get out of your head. With their one guitarist and bassist, Trapt had a very loud and full sound that was distinctly their own, and their music sounded very much like it does on the CD.

But after taking one look at the sea of fans gathering for Trapt's so-called 'mosh-pit,' I knew this was going to be a testosterone-filled cluster of guys aging from seventeen to twenty-five years old. I went towards the back of the crowd to rest from the Blindside show that I overexerted myself at, and decided to give Trapt a shot.

After listening to two songs from Trapt's self-titled debut album, they moved on to some newer music from their follow-up to their first record. It didn't take me long to realize that Trapt has been painting the same picture over and over again with their songs, and they all seem to be about the same thing. Nonetheless, their fans were going crazy and singing every word to every song, and that had to be recognized and appreciated.

Once Trapt played their 'last song' of the night, the crowd chanted the cliche 'one more song' until the band came out to play their biggest hit, 'Headstrong.' This being the absolute final song of the night, all fans gave it everything they had left, and sang every word until throats were scratchy and dry.

All in all, it was a decent concert that left most with a smile on their face. I was impressed by some things, and disappointed by other things, but good times were had by all. One thing I could have done without is muscle-bound frat-boys roaming around the venue singing about how "headstrong" they are.