Fletcher’s is probably my favorite “”small”" club, a place that holds no more than 350 people. With it’s tiny, but ample stage, a room that provides good sight lines from any position, and a killer sound system, when this place is packed, the excitement level is impressive. With that said, and this show’s line-up, full on theatrics could have been expected.

AUTOPILOT OFF cranked the night open, and as compared to their show here with H2O in May of 2001, there were a lot more people paying attention to this band and getting into their music this time around. As I’ve said before, and will definitely repeat again, these guys are really one of the premier acts in that melodic, fast, slick, poppy punk rock style. With boisterous vocals, a booming rhythm section and stellar songs, the overall tightness of this band is fun to watch. APO’s set was consistent with what they’ve been playing around lately, including a new song from their upcoming EP on Island Records, and some oldies from their debut “”Looking Up,”" (“”Dawn to Dusk,”" “”Looking Up,”" “”Missing the Innocence”") as well my favorite tune, “”Clockwork,”" from their split with SLICK SHOES. As expected, they ended with “”Friday Mourning,”" which had me test my vocal chords for the first time of the evening. During the bouncy, semi-breakdowns in a few APO songs, you could see the crowd beginning to get into the music, as the band demonstrated properly how to move all around the stage. With a little bit of extra attention, and some time for the word-of-mouth to sink in, I hope that it won’t be before long until the whole crowd starts going wild for these guys.

It was a good year since I had seen RIVER CITY HIGH last, and now that they are armed with a dangerously catchy full-length, I was looking forward to seeing the new stuff live. And the verdict? Real good. All of the bands at this show had great stage presence and unbridled charisma, but RIVER CITY HIGH just looked like they were having a blast, especially with the band-member to band-member interaction. It’s always great to see a band genuinely look like they are thankful to be playing in front of you, and RCH was definitely getting that feeling across. Not only were these guys dead-on in their song executions, they played without a set list, which was pretty neat. As expected, they played the ridiculously catchy, “”Just Wonderin,’”" and the place went nuts. I’m not too familar with their entire back catalog, but the crowd certainly knew those songs well. The highlight of their set however was when both the drummer lit his cymbal on fire, and when one of their guitarists lit his guitar on fire and then while flaming, just tucked it in right in front of shirt (oh those silly tricks…) – now that was neat!

Considering the fact that this was my 15th time seeing H2O (and loving each time), I had put most of my focus and energy on seeing THE MOVIELIFE (for only the 5th time) and of course, they were amazing. Vinnie had admitted early in the set that this was their second to last night on tour, and after being on the road for almost three straight months, they were more than looking forward to heading back home for the holidays. To be honest, the band seemed a little tired, kinda frustrated (maybe not), and weary, but as their set moved forward, the band began to feed off the insane energy (things were close to chaos now in the club), and the band seemed right on track. A lot of people, including myself have been a bit mixed on their new EP, with it’s poppier material, but for those who have dismissed those songs in recorded format, just wait to you hear them live. As with many bands THE MOVIELIFE play their entire set on a much faster speed, and the new tunes, especially “”Walking on Glass,”" sound furious live, and ten times heavier (especially at the aforementioned song’s conclusion). These guys ripped through almost the entire track listing on “”This Time Next Year”" (closing with the epic, “”Another Friend”") and even threw in “”Dead to the World,”" from their debut disc on Fadeaway Records. Vinnie’s vocals are a lot more coarse and energetic live, which gives the band a more frenzied sound and when placed in a fairly tiny venue, the resulting atmosphere will make even the most stoic bystander draw a sweat.

Frankly, I’m getting a bit tired of reviewing shows with H2O, heh. I never get bored seeing them, and they consistently create one of the best live sets, but what else is there to say about these guys anymore? I’m sure that even on their worst night live, they still perform better than 99% of all other bands out there. Toby showed up this evening in a Santa suit (that was a tad too large) and the rest of the band sported nice holiday clothes (shirts and ties) for the occasion. Drummer Todd Friend has perhaps the largest flat-top that I’ve ever seen since the days of KID-N-PLAY. It’s gotta be at least five inches. Damn. Although I like hearing the new songs from “”Go”" live, it probably wouldn’t hurt H2O to include some more older stuff as their back catalog is vast and awesome. “”Role Model,”" “”Out of Debt”" “”Underneath the Flames,”" “”Shine the Light,”" and “”Reliable,”" all got their turn this evening, which was suprising to me in that they left out the ultra bouncy, “”I Want, I Want.”"

As expected, H2O didn’t touch “”Spirit of ’84″” (which they haven’t in either of the past 5 times I’ve seen them, why?!?!?!?), but hit up “”I Know Why,”" and all of “”Five Year Plan.”" From the Epitaph years, “”I See it in Us,”" “”Faster than the World,”" “”Guilty By Association,”" “”One Life, One Chance,”" and “”Liberate”" all showed up. Just like Lou of SICK OF IT ALL, Toby is a master showman. H2O had to deal with hordes of people flinging themselves on stage all night, including a few girls who always happened to be waiting to stage dive as a song would end, thus prompting Toby to install the $5 penalty for being stuck on stage, and at one point, commanding these same girls to sing a Christmas carol. Speaking of the holidays, Rusty lead the crowd in the much appreciated, “”Dreidel,”" for all of us Jews (yeah, all 10 of us) in the audience. As the set drew to nearly an hour long, H2O sported two U2 covers in their encore, only to close with the sterling cover in MADONNA’s “”Like a Prayer.”" Ya know, I think I’d pay a good deal of money just to watch H2O do covers of 80s pop songs. We all know how important a good venue is to the results of a show, and I’m glad that this one took place in the sweaty boiler room known as Fletchers, instead of the sterile, warehouse environment of some of the DC venues. Anyway, these bands all rule, go support them, you crazy kids.