4-23-08 Columbus, OH @ The Basement

After seeing Cartel the previous year at a decent venue, I expected a great show from them. The show I attended was quite the opposite of the first one I had been to, but nonetheless was a good show. Compared to the first one, this show was very small. And even such a small show didn't sell out, unlike the large show the year before. The small venue made for a much better show however. There was a better interaction between the band and the crowd, though the crowd didn't seem like they were into it much. The stage exuded energy, whereas the crowd was more interested in the bar then the band. But this was no surprise to me, seeing as 90% of the crowd was made up of frat boys and their sorority girlfriends (No lie, most of the were wearing the shirts to prove it). Despite the crowd and the low quality of the venue's equipment the show the two bands put on a good show. I missed the first couple songs of the opening band, Ten Second Epic, but by the time I got there they had picked up speed and definitely put on a good show. After dancing around to TSE with a friend, they headed off stage and Cartel began setting up. Cartel put on a great show, right from the beginning of their set, straight till the end. The only thing that disappointed me was the fact that they didn't play some songs that were said to be on the set list. The highlight of the night though was the drunken frat boys next to us that proceeded to "mosh" and insisted that Wonderwall was a Cartel original, and that they play it. Aha. Frat boys make me laugh