Melee

Before we get into it, I have to say that music and I are not in a good place right now. Besides trying to find a job, NovaFest is also slowly breaking my spirit. I am the Director of Musical Events at Villanova, and we are currently trying to program NovaFest, our spring fling concert. The good news is that all of the other schools in the area have already booked their talent so we don't have any competition. The bad news is that this is the hardest thing to do--try to filter everyones' thoughts on music (good and mostly bad) in an attempt to make the most amount of people happy...oh, while staying under budget, keeping the act clean (a signed Augustinian waiver is a must), and keeping the big secret out of The Villanova Times. I hate the Villanova Times...but that is another story.

At this point in the process, I'm about to quit and let the advisors do all of the work because they aren't listening to our feedback and decisions anyway. Did I mention that I withdrew my application for NovaFest Director? I wonder why...

It's time for some piano rock...

Melee is a rock/pop/soul band from Orange County, CA. Their latest album, Devils and Angels is amazing. Sometimes it's a bit sugary for me, but hands down, still a great album. The band is now on Warner Bros Records, but started out on Hopeless/SubCity Records (known for launching musical careers for Thrice and Avenged Sevenfold to name a few). That is a cool label because all of their bands donate a portion of their profits to a cause chosen by the band. Melee supported Orangewood PALS to help fight child abuse and neglect in Orange County. I don't know how big that problem is in the OC, but still an honorable effort.

Their last album, Everyday Behavior, captured me, and the big single off that album, "The War," really left an impact on me. Not to go into too many details, I remember leaving Villanova after my freshman year listening to "The War" and deciding it was my anthem for that year/summer/point in my life. They actually re-recorded it making it a much more musically heavy song. Check out the video...I'm kind of obsessed with the fact that they pitch blue cherries against red lightning bolts...

LOVE it!

The band has been doing a few small tours lately and traveled to Japan last October to celebrate their number one single overseas, "Built To Last," off of Devils and Angels. I'm not quite sure what they are doing right now, but they need to tour on the east coast again. It's been too long!

The first time I heard this band was at the first Bamboozle in 2005. They plays an amazing song that caught my attention. I can't be sure, but I think it was "Perfect Mess." After Bamboozle, I caught the guys opening for Lucky Boys Confusion in Cincinnati and did an interview. The guys are hilarious--I tried to sit down with Ricky, but he was too shy to do it alone, so he brought the drummer, Mike. Then Ryan was lonely, so he came to sit down. Then Chris, the singer, who was swarmed with girls, got jealous and felt left out. I ended up with all 4 guys with indistinguishable voices--a ton of fun, but I ended up having to scrap the interview, otherwise it would have been 'Melee Dude #1 said...' I saw the guys this summer--not the best tour--with Bowling For Soup and QuietDrive. QuietDrive has been getting some attention for their cover of "Time After Time."

I'm excited to see this band continue to grow. On top of writing their own great songs, they do great covers. Once I saw them do Elton John's "Tiny Dancer," and they also covered Hall and Oates' "You Make My Dreams" as a hidden track on Devils and Angels.

Listen to the H&O cover here (you may need to turn off your pop-up blocker): http://play.napster.com/track/19552622

That's it for now! Hope you enjoy Melee!

Abbey