A Review of Go Radio’s Show at Soma

Waiting for Go Radio to begin to play, my anxiety for the band began to increase. Fans of hardcore music tend to be extremely judgmental of bands, especially in San Diego. It’s difficult being an opening band, let alone an opening band outside of the majority genre of the other acts set to play.

When Go Radio took the stage, I took a look around and saw my fears confirmed in the skepticism on the faces of various crowd members. There were, of course, the fans of the band up close to the stage, but further back it was all crossed arms and low expectations. Then Go Radio began to play. My fears at once were silenced as soon as I saw the passion and energy with which they jumped, or rather dove, into their first song, “When Dreaming Gets Drastic.” Not only were my fears forgotten, but one by one the arms became uncrossed as the heads of the crowd began to realize that this band actually deserved to be on that stage.

Upon finishing their first song and introducing themselves to the crowd, they were instantly welcomed with earnest applause, myself included. Their passion did not let up, but rather increased, feeding on the energy of the crowd as their 5-song set continued with “You Hold Your Breath, I’ll Hold My Liquor,” “Thanks For Nothing” and “Letters and Love Notes.” By the end of “Letters,” a much larger crowd had formed as people moved up from the back of the room, not only giving the band a chance but also getting lost in the music. I myself was completely enthralled by this group, feeling their love for the music and the emotion in the songs with every guitar chord and drumbeat as they carried on into their final song of the set, “In Our Final Hour.”

After their set was finished, they were praised with sincere applause and many enthusiastic nods of approval. Despite the fact that they may have been at a disadvantage performing with bands outside of their genre, they managed to not only please their core fans, but convert a good amount of new fans, among which I count myself. They proved to me that they not only deserved their spot on that stage, but also that they have most definitely earned their success in getting signed with Fearless Records, and I cannot wait to see what they will do next. I made sure to pick up their EP at the merch stand afterwards, and strongly encourage all of you to check them out on their MySpace, where all of their songs are available to listen to. You can also purchase the album, titled “Do Overs And Second Chances,” via iTunes.