Concert Review: Puddle Of Mudd

photo courtesy of Brandon Wu Photography

Puddle Of Mudd’s show was unlike any other

Scribed by: Erin Keller and Chelsea Panin

Puddle of Mudd’s performance at The Outpost was, well, interesting. The headliners had multiple opening acts before leaving fans waiting around a half hour between each set to take the stage.

Vendever
Vendever started the night of with a mediocre cover of Blink 182’s “Dammit.” The four members stood stationary throughout the first song with almost no stage presence whatsoever. The band went on to play a few originals including “She Doesn’t Like You,” “Memory Lane,” and an untitled track. They became more comfortable with each song as they started to gain the small audience’s attention. Overall I would describe Vendever as your typical high school band. With that said, there is always room for improvement.

Bones of Giants
Honestly, Bones of Giants didn’t really stick out with any particular talent or originality. They closed with an original, “Catch 22” which was pretty mediocre.

Seldom Fade
Seldom Fade covered “Feels So Close” again. It would have been great to see them cover something different since the last time they played at the Outpost, they covered the same thing. On the upper hand, they played more original songs and felt more comfortable with their presence on the stage and with the crowd. They closed with three original songs: “Closure,” “Distance” and “When You’re Gone.” When describing how hot it was up on the stage, lead vocalist Trent Pryor, described himself as “sweating like a hooker in church.” When it comes to closing the show, no one does it like Seldom Fade; before going off the stage they all break out into a 30 second jam session with each member giving it all they got.

Gold By Fire
All band members dressed entirely in black and gold. The band’s drummer was my favorite drummer of the night. He had so much energy and just genuinely looked like he was having a great time. He was smiling the entire time he played.They also did something different and incorporated tracks on GarageBand. They sounded similar to Good Charlotte and a little bit of Fall Out Boy. The band explained how their name comes from The Bible, specifically from 1 Peter 1:7; the band’s hopeful outlook on life is that no matter what, you will come out gold.

Puddle of Mudd
After leaving fans waiting nearly a half hour in between sets for Puddle of Mudd, the band finally took the stage around 11:00. It was immediately clear that lead singer Wes Scantlin had been drinking and maybe even using some form substance (aside from alcohol.) His performance was filled with constant drinking beer and smoking cigarettes along with blank stares into space. In the beginning of the first song, Scantlin opened his mouth to sing but no words came out. Unfortunately, this continued throughout the set. The singer mentioned he was already feeling “wobbly” as he gave out beers to the crowd and toasted to them in between songs. He seemed more focused on taking sips from a green Solo Cup. With that aside, he still has that one-of-a-kind, raspy voice and sounded great when he did sing. It was just the constant distractions that took away from the overall performance. Being a fan, it was sad to see this happen to someone with so much talent.