Corporate Circus @ Dream Street, San Diego – 11/3/06
review and cellphone pic by James Sims
[kissing girl gif courtesy of the Corporate Circus myspace. ~Ed.]
Midway through a song in a set that, had I been slightly later, I would have arrived half-way through, bass player Todd stops to answer his cell phone while the rest of Corporate Circus continues to play. Suddenly I’m thinking: this is new-age punk rock at its finest. By the end of the show I was convinced that they may be the best thing to come out of Warsaw, Indiana since…well…ever.
When I arrived at Dream Street in Ocean Beach last Friday, there was scarcely what could be defined as a “crowd” at the venue, including the four members of the band. I pounded a Jack & Coke and wondered: am I in the right place? While the bass player was having an on-stage phone conversation, the rest of the band was obviously shit-faced and slaphappy and the spectators looked like a flashback to my sophomore year of high school at the skate park punk shows. Needless to say it was not the greatest of first impressions.
But then something strange happened. I realized that the band, even after having bent a few elbows already, hadn’t missed a single note; not even when the low-end dropped out momentarily did the set’s foundation crumble. And the fans, the venue, the objects of my nostalgic contempt, were all in fact—Jesus Christ—disturbingly reminiscent of some of the greatest punk shows I remember ever having seen in my youth.
Corporate Circus is an eclectic mix that the members themselves describe as “neo-pop-punk” or “new-millennium punk-rock.” With song titles like “Can We Leave Now,” and “Alcoholic,” they are reminiscent of early Green Day (but in fact I had to wrestle that concession from them—meanwhile they cite their biggest musical influence as some unknown band called “Marijuana”). They are very right in likening themselves to “the afterbirth leftovers” of the neo-punk movement, but in fact they are far from derivative.
Speaking with Corbin Arnett (lead guitar) after the show, I learned that not only have they been jamming since 1995, they’ve also played several distinguished venues, released several albums, and have been recognized as one of the “best unsigned bands” in the country.
The following is taken from their website on MySpace:
“Corporate Circus has released two full length albums, appeared on seven compilations, and toured the East Coast of United States, along with performances on the Vans Warped Tour, Summerfest in Milwaukee, Midwest Music Summit in Indianapolis and International Pop Overthrow in Chicago and Los Angeles. Corporate Circus recently recorded with noted producer/engineer Clif Norrell (No Doubt, Rollins Band, Weezer) in Ocean Studios in Burbank, California.”
In their own words, “…they’re pretty much what Willis was talking about.”
Check them out at their next show on November 24th @ Dreamstreet in Ocean Beach, at 10 PM, and be sure to get their latest album, “Music For The Hearing Impaired” (self-released) which is available through their website: www.myspace.com/corporatecircus.
Corporate Circus is:
Ryan Bettinger—Vocals & Guitar
Corbin Arnett—Vocals & Guitar
Ryan Hively—Drums
Todd Christenson—Vocals & Bass
