The “Too Fast For Love” tour has started just started, and the lineup of 3OH!3, Cobra Starship, Gym Class Heroes frontman Travie McCoy and I Fight Dragons made for quite the entertaining bill for the mostly teenage crowd of 2,200 or so at the [...]]]>

3OH!3's "Streets Of Gold" is out June 29th.

The “Too Fast For Love” tour has started just started, and the lineup of 3OH!3, Cobra Starship, Gym Class Heroes frontman Travie McCoy and I Fight Dragons made for quite the entertaining bill for the mostly teenage crowd of 2,200 or so at the Fillmore Detroit on Cinco De Mayo. The tour showcased some of the more popular and catchier bands out there on the fringe of Top 40, and kept things light and easy going throughout the night.

Chicago based group I Fight Dragons were first up to bat, and their set had a flare of nostalgila as the old school Nintendo gaming system played a big part in their system. Power Gloves, Power Pads and blips and beeps were the main themes during their 25 minute set. It was a tongue in cheek niche that this reviewer thought would be lost on the young crowd- who probably weren’t alive when the video game system was popular- but they ate it all up. The songs off their EP, “Cool Is Just A Number” seem catchy enough, but can the band embrace a larger fanbase with their gimmick? We’ll see.

Travie McCoy (of Gym Class Heroes) was next, and two things are for certain- 1) his solo album drops June 8^th and 2) Gym Class Heroes is not breaking up. McCoy’s solo debut is about a month away from release, and through his 30 minute set- he may have delivered the most constantly good tunes of the night. The new albums seem to alternate between bouncy, upbeat hip-hop lite tracks and more introspective, moodier tracks (one tends to think these songs could have been written after his breakup with Katy Perry- but you never know). The new songs were good, but to show off some of the GCH tracks would have been a nice bridge between his older stuff and the new stuff.

Cobra Starship was next, and during their 55 minute set- fun was the name of the game. Lead singer Gabe Saporta and company seemed to have a blast in probably their most elaborate stage setup to date, with a gigantic ghetto blaster stereo as the main focal piece. Starting with “The City Is At War”, the crowd seemed to get into them the most throughout the evening. This reviewer was a bit surprised when McCoy didn’t join the band for their first track together, the highly energetic theme song to “Snakes on A Plane”, and opted for a girl in the audience to do it. Personally, after hearing her- I’d rather hear McCoy do it. The band ended their set with the title track from their latest “Hot Mess” and the band’s first major Top 40 smash “Good Girls Go Bad”.

3OH!3 headlined this show, and compared to Cobra Starship, their setup was a bit more sparse. Their hour long set was a good time as well, with getting into songs like “Punk Bitch” and “I’m Not Your Boyfriend, Baby”, but one tends to think that a little air was let out of the building after Cobra Starship performed. With two Top 40 hits in the past year, the once seemingly court jesters are aiming at making a huge claim on the pop charts. June 29^th’s “Streets of Gold” will be the real test if the group will be making that move or not.

Listen, if you’re expecting these groups to solve world hunger or please (most of) the critics during their show, forget it- Save that for Bono or Pitchfork Magazine. But if you are looking to check your brain at the door, have a few drinks and have a good time- the “Too Fast For Love” tour wasn’t a bad place to be at. To steal one of Cobra Starship’s song titles, if you’re out of high school and have a hankering for these groups- let’s call it for what it is- a “Guilty Pleasure”.

One of the more entertaining MySpace pages I’ve been on lately is for the Chicago based band I Fight Dragons. The site contains a interactive game that is done in the style of the video game system of my youth- the 8 [...]]]>

I Fight Dragons is down at the Fillmore tomorrow night.

One of the more entertaining MySpace pages I’ve been on lately is for the Chicago based band I Fight Dragons. The site contains a interactive game that is done in the style of the video game system of my youth- the 8 bit Nintendo NES. Even though there’s no Mario or Zelda game on the MySpace page, it gives you an idea of where the band’s non-music interests lie.

To give the band a tag like “Nintendo-core” seems a bit derogatory, seeing how bands like Horse The Band get that tag given to them, perhaps a bit unfairly. But that’s not to say that the video game culture doesn’t influence the band in some manner. The band’s debut EP “Cool Is Just A Number” came out last year, and is now signed to Photo Finish Records (home of tour mates 3OH!3)- not bad for a band who was just formed back in 2008.

The seven song EP is lead by the custom built for alternative and Top 40 radio tracks “No One Likes Superman Anymore” and “Money”. The video game sounds and bleeps are evident on the EP, but they dont really go overboard with them at any point on the album. There’s no denying that fans will eat up the catchy hooks and may be ascending up the tour hierarchy sometime very soon.

The band is currently out on the “Too Fast For Love” tour, which features 3OH!3, Cobra Starship and Travie McCoy (from the Gym Class Heroes). The tour rolls through the Fillmore Detroit this Wednesday, May 5^th. So, if you’re looking to start your Cinco de Mayo in a mood full of alt-rock with a dabbling of video game beats thrown in, get to the show early and check out I Fight Dragons.

I Fight Dragons opens up for 3OH!3 and Cobra Starship this Wednesday, May 5^th at the Fillmore Detroit. Tickets are $27.50 and are available at www.livenation.com. Additional tour dates and band info can be found at www.ifightdragons.com.