Throwback Thursday: Honor Society 7/22/09
Katie 
Headliner: Honor Society
Opener(s): Jesse James
Venue: Blender Theater
Cost: $34
Setlist:
Throwback Thursday: Jonas Brothers 7/21/09
Headliner: Jonas Brothers
Opener(s): Honor Society, Jordin Sparks, Wonder Girls
Venue: Nassau Coliseum
Cost: $50
Setlist:
Throwback Thursday: Honor Society 8/27/08
Headliner: Honor Society
Opener(s): na
Venue: Oakes Park Old Tappan, NJ
Cost: free
Setlist:
Throwback Thursday: Honor Society 8/15/08
Headliner: Honor Society
Opener(s): na
Venue: School of Rock East
Cost: $10
Setlist:
Honor Society – Serendipity the Tour
Friday night, Honor Society played a free show at iPlay Live in Freehold, NJ. I had never been there before, but my friend Kim lives nearby so we decided we’d pick up some VIP tickets and check it out. VIP entitled us to early entry, a photo with the band, a poster and a 4hour play card for iPlay’s rides. The guys had been promoting a Serendipity poster, so when we got there and we got a different 11×17 poster from the box office, I was bit bummed because I LOVE the Serendipity tour artwork!
We were let in and watching some of what I guess was considered soundcheck. They played a couple of songs that they intended to play, attempted a couple of songs that they couldn’t remember how to play… and even sang the new remix of Happy Birthday – Happy HALF Birthday.
After the performance / Q&A / whatever… we all lined up to say hi to the guys and get solo pics with them. I had been stressing over who to stand near now that there was only 3 of them – but Andy pulled me between him and Mike so that pretty much solved that issue! 🙂 Then we found out that we’d ALSO get the poster that I had wanted – Andy said they didn’t know anything about the ones that the venue had done up and that he had wanted one. After the group pics the guys mingled and signed the posters so I told Andy to go to the Box Office and tell them he was in the band and that he wanted the poster and he said “PLEASE” lmao because I had left that out of my instructions. Such manners. Kim had been talking to Alex on Twitter about going to White Castle after the show and when I said I had never been, he gave me a history of the burgers and how they are square and have wholes in them because of WWII.
Then it was time for everyone else to be let in and shortly after that This Is All Now took the stage. I remember not liking them in Boston last summer, but they were not as bad as I remembered (and re-reading my old reviews, I came to the conclusion he was sick in Boston so I should probably stop basing my opinion of them off of that performance!) They did a cover of Michelle Branch’s “Everywhere” which I thought was really weird. But pretty cool too – I mean, I’d prefer that over a Katy Perry or Ke$ha or whoever else.
Next up was Deleasa – who is Kevin Jonas’ brother in law. He hurt his foot playing soccer while on tour opening for the Jonas Brothers recently, so he sat for his set and played some songs on his guitars. The crowd seemed to love him. There were some girls in the back with light up “WELCOME HOME” signs too. I only caught the tail end of his set when he opened for Nick Jonas and the Administration, so it was nice to see a full set from him. He was really funny chatting with the crowd throughout his set.
Then it was time for Simple as Surgery. They had two guys on stage in masks with signs trying to get us hyped up. Kind of weird. I actually really liked SAS to the point where I considered making my way over to their merch table to pick up an EP but ultimately was too lazy. They had a keytar which was awesome, I mean, can a keytar be anything other than awesome?
Then it was time for Honor Society! Since the last time I had seen them, Jay has left the band. Their set up on the stage was a little bit different and I have to say there were a couple of times where I really felt Jay’s absence but over all they sounded just as great as ever and while it will be weird without Jay, I’ll eventually get used to it and hopefully his new project does well. (The Smoke Season – check them out.)
The show was a ton of fun (I expected nothing less) and I think I went a little over the top singing along at the top of my lungs (and for the last song Mike asked if we did know the words to sing along at the top of our lungs. Obviously that challenge was accepted by my very early on) They added a little Timberlake to the 99 Problems / Nobody Has to Know mashup. They did a variety of songs, some of which I hadn’t heard in a while (Gentleman After Dark) and then of course ones I’ve heard probably every show like See U In The Dark 🙂
After the show we got solo pics w/ all 3 and I was prepared this time when Alex didn’t have a sharpie and he was impressed! I told him how last time he asked me I didn’t have one and that I’d gone out and bought a pack the next day so I’d be prepared for the next time lol. (Shortly after he was brought one from the merch table so I got mine back)
The venue was in an arcade which was open until midnight, so we checked the place out a bit and hopefully when the guys come back it’ll be a Saturday so we can have the day to play around before the show!
Honor Society at The Space
Last Friday night Honor Society returned to The Space for a show for the first time in 4.5 years. This was actually the first show of theirs Lauren had invited me to, but I had to decline due to work 
This was also the first time I had seen them in CT since July of 2008!
Opening first was The Narrative. They weren’t bad, they were quite chatty with the crowd and their setlist had 7 songs on it but I think they ended up getting cut at the end. You can check out more about them at http://www.thenarrativemusic.com/
Next up was Kicking Daisies – their set didn’t include any of the older songs from when the girls were in the band. Also interesting was the beginning of 2011 I saw them at the space and they sold it out – so I thought for sure they’d get a huge crowd there, but the show didn’t seem even close to being a sell out. I’m still not a fan of their new lineup and it seems like they are changing their sound as well.
Then it was time for Honor Society! Their set was basically the same as the show in New York City with the exception of them not starting out the set with Empire State of Mind. We were able to get a spot right up front by Andy and Alex. I was glad Mike moved around so much this night so I could see him. (Wasn’t so glad in NYC when it was impossible to take a photo). The only bad thing about The Space is their lighting sucks. I don’t like to use a flash for photos but I had to if I wanted anything decent, but then I felt bad for being so close and using a flash constantly so I only took a handful of photos before giving up on the camera and just enjoying the rest of the set.
Afterwards we hung around to meet the guys and were able to get photos with all 4 of them, despite the people at the venue trying to kick everyone out twice. (We didn’t listen and neither did anyone else!)
Full Moon Crazy
See U In The Dark
Serendipity
Living for the City > Living a Lie
House on the Hill
Knew You Were Trouble > Here Comes Trouble
Two Rebels
This Bed Is An Ocean
Kaleidoscope
Obsession
Hurricane > Purple Rain > Where Are You Now
Run For Your Money
Teen Spirit > Nobody Has To Know
Wherever You Are
Honor Society EP release
Tuesday Honor Society played New York City to celebrate the release of their new EP, Serendipity. Opening up was Jillette Johnson and Love Via Dance Machine (LVDM).
Jillette is from NYC and I thought she had a great voice and interacted a lot with the audience. She did a few songs including Peter Pan, When the Ship Goes Down and Cameron. She was also accompanied by a cello, which was something I don’t think I’d ever seen before at a show.
LVDM was a group of 4 guys from Boston – Wiley, Izaiah, Alex and Jimmy. They were very animated on stage – but unfortunately I don’t think the crowd was all that into them. J14 Magazine was in the house checking on their performance – although their instagram photo caption made it seem like it was LVDM’s show – and not Honor Society’s.
About 9:30 Honor Society took the stage. This was my 35th show and I think that it was the best yet. There is always something so electric about their New York City shows since it is their hometown crowd (and where I first saw them perform too)
I loved how they did their opening – Jason came out and started the song on keys, then Alex on drums, then Andy on bass and finally Mike came out and started singing Empire State of Mind.
The setlist was fantastic – they threw in some great covers – in addition to Empire State of Mind they did Living for the City as a segway to Living a Lie, Knew You Were Trouble (which I guess is TSwift but I honestly had no clue what they were even singing) into Here Comes Trouble, Purple Rain mixed in with Hurricane and Smells Like Teen Spirit before Nobody Has To Know!
I am really not sure what they are going to do for the set tonight in Hamden, but I don’t think there is anyway this show can be topped! It was really just amazing and I am so proud to call myself a fan of theirs and it ha been so fun to follow their career since 2008. I just hope someday soon they end up playing seated venues 
Empire State of Mind > Full Moon Crazy
See U In The Dark
Serendipity
Living for the City > Living a Lie
House on the Hill
Knew You Were Trouble > Here Comes Trouble
Two Rebels
This Bed Is An Ocean
Kaleidoscope
Obsession
Hurricane > Purple Rain > Where Are You Now
Run For Your Money
Teen Spirit > Nobody Has To Know
Wherever You Are
Honor Society – Ollie’s Point
With the success of their Kickstarter campaign, Honor Society was able to book some headlining shows during the Summer of Love tour. One was on Sunday night in Amityville, NY at Ollie’s Point. With how tired I was from the night before, I called to see about handicapped seating. I was told they had no designated area (ut oh) but plenty of areas with chairs existed. It turned out alright, as I sat at the bar all night and had a pretty decent view of the stage, with the exception of a support beam that blocked band members here and there.
The first band was Here’s To You, a local Long Island band. Big shocker – during their set I actually tweeted “Ok I like this opener. Favorite this tweet because I never say that!” They opened their set with the imperial death march (I think that is what it is called?) from Star Wars and they also did a cover of Bruno Mars Runaway Baby which is one of my favorite songs lately so that definitely won them some points.
The next band was This Is All Now, the one from the night before I didn’t like. They didn’t seem to be as bad at this show – but the lead singer did mention he was sick and in the hospital that morning – so maybe the Boston show was less than stellar because he was sick.
The 3rd opener was Kicking Daisies. This was my second time seeing them with the new all guy lineup and I still wasn’t that impressed. They also seemed to do a lot of covers in their set instead of original songs. I don’t know, I miss my hometown girls Carly and Caitlin in the line up!
Then it was time for Honor Society! I was excited that it would be a headlining set – so not the short 8 songs from the night before. They also promised new music so I was looking forward to that! I opted to stay at my seat at the bar for their set – even though I thought it would make my photos suffer. Well, if the lighting was just right I was able to get some decent shots (of everyone but Alex, unfortunately) so I decided I might as well just stay seated. (This ended up making me be “trapped” in the back and miss out on seeing the guys before I left, but that’s ok, because I had access to the bathroom which was the important thing lol) The show was on fire and it was really cool to watch the entire crowd up front do the Honor Roll to See U In The Dark. (But the fact that they now call this an “old song” makes me feel old haha)
I got some video of the new songs – Obsession, Serendipity and This Bed is An Ocean (not really new, but re worked a but and itll be on the next album! Hooray!) I will try to post them at some point if they did indeed come out ok.
Mike also started talking about Serendipity and the download cards they had (I meant to grab an extra or two to give away but forgot – sorry everyone!) and then Andy had to tell him that it wasn’t the next song. Then when there was 3 songs left Mike was teasing about how since he could read – he knew what the last 3 songs were. (And also mentioned that the show was called “The Hangover” because his birthday was the day before haha)
Word is that their new album will be coming out in September and there just may be a tour to promote it. *fingers crossed!*
Honor Society – Summer of Love Tour – Boston
Saturday Honor Society was back in Boston – this time as an opening act for All Star Weekend on the Summer of Love Tour. At first I wasn’t sure how I’d like them being an opening act as opposed to a headliner, but I think it worked out well for them. (And we got to leave before the show was over!)
Before the show, I got to participate in a VIP Experience with the band – where we took a tour of the historic 100 year old Fenway Park. Not something I probably would have done otherwise (and Mike agreed), but it was pretty cool to go through the oldest ballpark in the MLB! We walked almost all over the place – though never ended up on the Green Monster. They were also setting up the stage for Bruce Springsteen who is performing there this week so we got to see that going on as well. The VIP Experience was one of the rewards for Honor Society’s recent Kickstarter campaign – in which they raised 217% of their goal – which may just be one of the most successful music-related Kickstarters in the history of the website!
After our tour we grabbed a bite to eat and then headed to the House of Blues for the show. We asked for handicapped seating and they let us in early but then kind of had us fend for ourselves. We grabbed a spot by a rail but by the time Honor Society’s set was done my legs were really bothering me. We got a photo w/ Alex before the show and said hey to Mike and Jay after, but decided not to stick around for Allstar Weekends set. Typically I would stay, but there was no way I would have survived AND been able to go to see them the next night as well. (And I have concerts every weekend until Labor Day so I have to pace myself)
The first opening act I believe was called This Is All Now. I thought it was strange that even though they had banners w/ their name on it – they never bothered to say who they were or introduce any of the band members. I really wasn’t in to them at all… and them doing a Carly Rae Jepsen cover AND Katy Perry cover probably had something to do with that.
The second band was Namesake and I liked them a bit better than the first. They also stopped singing their last song because girls were getting pulled out of the crowd and the lead singer mentioned that he hoped they were ok and mentioned to the crowd to stay hydrated. Then they re-started their last song once the girls were safely out of the crowd.
The theme with the two openers seemed to be if you bought a CD you’d get a kiss on the cheek from a band member.
Then it was time for Honor Society! They did only an 8 song set, but it was an awesome set. I don’t know what happened to them but Mike seemed to reall settle into his role as the front man and kept things exciting. They seemed to have grown as a band leaps and bounds since the last time I saw them in November and I didn’t even think that was possible because they were so great before. (And everyone was saying their set was so awesome, better than usual, but I didn’t believe them. It totally was!)
The setlist was a little bit different than what I had read at the start of the tour – they did Here Comes Trouble, Two Rebels, Obsession, Serendipity, Run For Your Money, See U In The Dark, Nobody Has To Know, Wherever You Are.
Here’s a tip I learned. If you want the lead singer to look at you a lot during the set – go to a show on his birthday and then make sure his parents stand next to you!
Unfortunately all the standing did me in so we heard some of Allstar Weekends set when in the bathroom but didn’t end up sticking around for the end of the show. I don’t think we saw enough to legitimately say that I saw AllStar Weekend so they won’t be added to any of my counts.
Honor Society private party
Saturday after seeing Honor Society at Garden State Plaza, I went to the Paramus Park Mall and hung out with my friend Marisa who was selling cupcakes and cookies with her new bakery Semisweet. I had gotten a hotel for the night so I could go to a private Honor Society event on Sunday and thought it would be fun just to hang with her than in the hotel room.
I watched Eli Manning host SNL and then went to bed. At 3am I was awoken by a crazy noise and I was SO confused. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Turns out, it was the fire alarm at the hotel! I put my jeans back on so I wouldn’t freeze in my PJ pants and debated taking my stuff outside and then went outside by the car to wait it out. I didn’t see any fire or anything so I figured my things would be ok. About 15 minutes later a fire truck came and the alarms were turned off, but it was definitely rough getting back to sleep. (AND check out was 11 when I thought it was 12 from the site I booked the room on)
I then went to the Fireman’s Hall that the show was being held at. There were about 20-25 people there in total and Honor Society hung out from 12-3ish. They mingled, did photos, and then did a decently long set – although I guess it seems longer on paper because they “teased” clips of a bunch of songs that they didn’t want to perform or didn’t remember how to perform them lol For 2 songs a bunch of the girls went up to sing while the guys played, I have videos of it which I will be sharing hopefully before I head off to Tulsa! (Trying to balance work plus photos and videos when working extra hours is not easy!)
Somehow I ended up not talking to Jason at all, and I really don’t know how that ended up happening. Once he was coming towards me and said hi, but then a couple other girls started talking to him and a couple other times when I headed towards him he got pulled away by someone else too. I am not sure how it always ends up that I spend the least amount of time with Jason!
After the performance there was birthday cake for Alex (his birthday is the 21st) and he was singing happy birthday too and clapping and being all happy and then everyone went “Dear ALEX” and he was SO surprised the cake was for him. I hope someone captured that on video because it was hilarious.
The party cost $60 to get in to to help split the costs of booking them and I have to say it was the best $60 ive spent in a LONG time. So much fun! One of the girls there is booking them in August so I am hoping I’ll be able to make it to that one as well – it will be a blast!
See U In The Dark
Deserted (tease)
Run For Your Money
The Takeover
Heartache in the Suburbs (tease)
The Hunger
One of a Kind
Hurricane
When I Get Home
Livin a Lie
Jane Says (tease)
Where Are You Now (w/ the girls)
Over You (w/ the girls)
This Bed Is An Ocean
Here Comes Trouble