November 12th, 2009 
James Shotwell 
Artist: The Starting Line
Album: Somebody’s Gonna Miss Us
Genre: Pop Punk
Label: Image
It has been just over a year since we said farewell [for now?] to The Starting Line. The pop punk band who raise to Warped tour fame along with other early Drive-Thru Records bands like New Found Glory and Midtown, disbanded following three full length releases [as well as two EPs, one of which showcases some of the best acoustic songs of the last decade] and are now releasing their final live show for fans to enjoy forever. Recorded at Bamboozle 2008, the aptly titled Somebody’s Gonna Miss Us attempts to capture all the fun and skill the band possessed through visual and audio documentation [aka – there’s a dvd].
Personally, I was heartbroken when I learned of the group’s intentions to “take a break” last year. Their formation corresponds with the year I began to really devote my life to music and their passion, love, and drive to be in the music industry that was so perfectly displayed on the timeless Say It Like You Mean It has kept me going many times over the years. As I progressed in life, so did their music and Based On A True Story fit perfectly with where I was in life around its release. However, few album have or will relate to me like the group’s final [and most underrated] release, Direction. Frontman Kenny Vasoli simply gets being in your 20’s and living for music. That all said, I think it’s pretty obvious I had high hopes for this release.
It’s really hard to dive deeply into a live recording because there’s the fact that it’s indeed a live recording and mistakes/poor production moments/tuning issues/etc. are more than promised. However, it’s these moments that really put you into the crowd. Too many bands have this lack of confidence in their live sound and record studio tracks of the instruments or vocals and implant them into the “live” audio tracks, but that does not seem to be the case with this release. You get the real thing through and through. When things are heavy and the setlist is more than half over, there’s this exhausted swagger to Vasoli that radiates through the speakers and allows you to feel every bit of himself that he’s putting out there. There’s no flash or flare, just music played as best as it can possibly be performed.
Another important factor is of course the song selection of a live disc. This being the band’s final show, we’re given a pretty predictable setlist, but the glory comes in the fact that the list is 18 tracks long. More than an album and a half worth of material in under 80 minutes. The rock is fast and furious, but the group does find time to slow it down with passionate renditions of “The Drama Summer,” “Ready,” and “Something Left to Give.” The band also switches tempos and keys with flawless precision throughout and the closing crowd participation on their biggest hit, “Best of Me,” leaves you wanting nothing…but 18 more songs.
The Starting Line was one of the hardest working and most underrated bands that ever graced the pop punk scene. Sure, they were quite successful [every full length cracked the Billboard 200], but I already know a whole “younger generation” or pop punk fans who barely know of the contributions this group offered up. Somebody’s Gonna Miss Us is, without even needing to be said, a must for any fan of the group, but I think anyone who gives it a listen will be blown away. There’s just so much energy and passion throughout that one can only applaud the group’s efforts.
Buy this.
Score: 9.5/10
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