This past Saturday night, I saw thatwasthen and The Hush take on the Troubadour again.  I arrived to venue under the impression that The Hush was taking the stage after thatwasthen, but as I walked in The Hush’s lead singer, Jazmine Giovanni, was winding down the set.  However, the two songs that I did catch were easily enough to remind me of the sheer power behind this band.  They have perfected the mainstream power-pop-rock feel, with all the killer vocals, guitar solos, and head-banging drum fills a concert-goer could ask for. Furthermore, I really cannot get over Jazmine.  She is a truly talented rock star, and I am perplexed as to how Ke$ha can fill stadiums but the crowd at the Troubadour to see The Hush was about 30 people.

After The Hush, thatwasthen set up their instruments to play their first West Coast show since their return from their East Coast live debut. They drew a warm crowd of friends and family for this relatively small show; however, the size of the crowd didn’t match the size of their music.  The five boys brought their usual charm and charisma to the small stage and made the wood walls shake. They played a tasty new song (I didn’t catch the title) full of plays on volume and pace that dangled a vibrant chorus before many eager ears.  The only problem with this fresh, Foo-Fighter-y feel was it made some of their other songs sound the same by comparison.  That’s my only knock so far on thatwasthen—their music can get a little repetitive when it comes to song structure. They’ll often play similar notes and melodies, only varying pace, tempo and lyric.  Granted, this is subtle enough not to detract from the quality of the music and is certainly a catchy formula, but after listening to them long enough and seeing them live a few times, this critique sneaks into the back of my mind.  Regardless, the guys are still killer and obviously talented with enough personality and heart to fill stadiums (again, Ke$ha, I don’t understand…).  By then end of the show, I caught myself smiling at the songs, the band’s interaction, and the feel of the night—I think it’s safe to say that thatwasthen has yet to disappoint me (let’s also just say that I will be proudly wearing my new thatwasthen t-shirt).