I took my two oldest to a Big Time Rush concert this weekend. Hot Chelle Rae opened for them and I was pleasantly surprised!

They are very much in that manufactured industrial rock like Metro Station, the Killers, Boys Like Girls, Franz Ferdinand (do I need to go on? ). That said, there is a place in my heart for this type of music. It's very throwback, and has a lot of quality sound production. It's a done deal if the band brings solid energy. Hot Chelle Rae definitely delivered the energy. They did a tight 7 song set, and I really think they could have done at least another 15-20 minutes.

After the whole show, they had a "Meet the Band" at their merchandise tent, which wasn't much bigger than a guy, four big boxes, and a single fold out table. They signed autographs, took pictures with people in line, all the good stuff. We were pretty early in line and only had to wait like 20 or 30 minutes to get to the front, so after getting my daughter's shirt signed and taking a quick picture, we took off and had some fair food, walked around the rides for a bit and went back to the car. That route took us back into the grandstand area and by the tent, and wouldn't you know... like an HOUR later, the band was right there, putting the work in! Signing, hugging, taking pictures, answering questions... I think at least half of the people at the show stayed to meet the band. We walked right up and took a couple more personable pictures. A great capper for the kids' evening.

So I'm recommending them. Add them to your playlist, check them out in concert, etc. It's awesome to see kids actually WORKING to make it big. I'm not expecting them to be the next Red Hot Chilli Peppers or The Doors, but they went a long way toward the value of the $35 tickets and I feel completely satisfied with my $30 t-shirt purchase.

on an aside...

somebody needs to tell these 15-17 year old girls to NOT stand on their chairs at these kids concerts! between that and all the signs the little girls were holding up, I had to put my kids on my shoulders a lot so they could see the stage! I felt bad for the people behind me (we were at the very back of the ground level seats, with the bleachers behind us so it wasn't that bad), but damn!

Here's my daughter's favorite song which has made my playlist.

I think everybody in the modern world has heard Tonight, Tonight on the charts the last month, so I won't worry about posting it.