On the rainy May 7 night in Hollywood, Calif. pop-punk band Cartel took the stage at The Roxy Theater to perform their 2005 debut album “Chroma” in its entirety, 10 years after its initial release.
Starting out the night was Hydra Melody, a five-piece alternative rock band from San Antonio, Texas. Jumping on the West Coast leg of the Chroma tour, this sold-out Los Angeles show was their second date opening up for Cartel.
Lead singer and guitarist Jordan Berlang played songs like “Honey” and, fittingly, “California”. The stage presence of Hydra Melody grabbed the attention of the room. The band agreed that California was basically their second home and treated this like another hometown show.
By this time, The Roxy was filling up with concertgoers that battled the Southern California traffic thrown off by the rain storms overtaking the road. Let’s be honest, we all know someone that forgets how to drive when the rain comes to town.
This concert brought out some other well known musicians to hang in the audience, like Sam Miller of Paradise Fears, Brian Logan Dales of The Summer Set and Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers.
Driver Friendly from Austin, Texas was the next band to take the stage. Bursting on to the stage with so much energy they got the crowd off their feet.
Driver Friendly includes the normal guitars, bass and drums but includes a little twist to the normal alternative rock band, a trumpet. It just so happens that this night was their trumpet player, Juan Lopez’s birthday.
The band jokingly told Lopez that they only booked this show so they could celebrate his birthday on Hollywood’s infamous Sunset Boulevard.
Up next was the band TEAM* who just so happened to be from Dallas, Texas. Once they announced where they were from someone in the crowd jokingly shouted that Texas was taking over Hollywood.
Singer Caleb Turman seemed to be hiding behind his hair until people started to recognize who he was.
Turman used to be a member of the pop rock band Forever The Sickest Kids. Throughout the set, more people started to recognize the other members of TEAM* consisted of members from other bands such as Boys Like Girls and The Almost.
The stage presence of TEAM* was unlike any other band that previously took the stage that night at The Roxy. They were definitely the proper choice for Cartel’s direct supporting band. At one point throughout their set, singer and guitarist, Turman got down on the floor and rolled around on his back while playing his guitar riffs.
After their set, the curtains at The Roxy came down and next was the highly anticipated performance of Chorma in its entirety. Some fans have waited 10 years for this moment.
Cartel is a four-piece rock band from Atlanta, Ga., that formed in the early 2000’s. The set started out with fog and backlit silhouettes. Starting their set with the first song off their first full length album, “Say Anything (Else),” the crowd went crazy.
Keeping the crowd engaged with the energy that was radiating from the stage. Each member of the crowd was singing these songs at the top of their lungs being reminded of the memories that come flooding back when they hear these songs from their adolescence.
“If I never get to see them live again, I’m so happy I got to see this show,” said concertgoer Jessica Jacobo, 24, who grew up singing Cartel songs at the top of her lungs.
Even though everyone knew what order the songs were being performed screams escaped their mouths with the first guitar riff of each song. The view of fists in the air moving to the beat was absolutely heart warming.
This night was one to remember for many of the attendees, many who got to see the album that got them through years of teen angst performed live and in person.