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Crash Kings and Rooney, Portland, OR
by Brianne Turner

Crash Kings and Rooney stopped by the Hawthorne Theater last week to bring a welcome taste of Southern California to Portland’s frigid weather forecast. With both set lists replete with rock-laden songs unconcerned with being overly self-serious, both bands played impressive and exciting sets that never felt boring or unnecessarily ostentatious.

With Crash Kings opening, the show began on the rock-iest note of the evening. The Los Angeles-based band showcased their ability to make both “intentionally sloppy” sound just as solid as “effortlessly polished.” With a piano taking the place of the lead guitar in the usual generic guitar/bass/drums three-piece rock band lineup, Crash Kings have developed a kind of piano-driven rock ‘n’ roll that can be based around a melody just as easily as any badass progression of piano chords.

Rooney played a set comprised of songs from both studio albums and their brand new EP, Wild Thing; the EP was created during the recording of their third and currently untitled album, which will be out at some point during the spring of 2010.

The crowd was notably young and squealy, so the lyric “You’re too young for me, but I can keep a secret” seemed a bit too candid, given the circumstances. Nevertheless, lead singer Robert Scwartzman worked the stage and was the perfect showman, seeming to have just as much fun as anyone in the audience.

Among the new songs from Wild Thing, “Wild One” offers a change of pace with drummer Ned Brower on lead vocals. The band also covered Del Shannon’s “Runaway” and brought out their famous Rooney state flag for two songs. (That thing makes picture-taking a frustrating and awesome experience, by the way.)

Tally Hall played the second slot of the evening, wearing matching outfits and singing songs about monsters and bubblegum. They did their entire sound check in fake mustaches. Here are all of the pictures:

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