From the sound check to the last note of the night James Dewees, front man and creator of Reggie and The Full Effect, held the audience in his palm.
Former keyboardist The Get Up Kids and drummer Coalesce started messing around with a side project in 2000 and Reggie and The Full Effect was born.
Promoting their newest album Songs Not To Get Married To Reggie and The Full Effect gave an amazingly personal show for their fans at Tremont Music Hall in Charlotte, N.C., over spring break.
Known for their humor and witty way with words as well as musical abilities, Reggie and The Full Effect came out for their sound check dressed in mime attire and welcomed the crowd with playful jokes and treated them with two older songs from his album Promotional Copy, one being “Mood 4 Luv” with the fun lyrics “when I smell your perfume it smells like D O O M doom and doom backwards is mood.”
Say Anything was the first official act and they brought their super catchy, taboo and witty lyrics with them. They were not nearly as tight and on point as they are on their debut album Is A Real Boy.
This of course is quite common, but nonetheless always a disappointment. Their set tended to drag on, but at last they captured their fan’s attention and got hips shaking with “Every Man Has a Molly.”
They ended their set with “Admit It!” their angst-driven lash out at superficial scene kids anthem.
Reggie and The Full Effect graced the stage for the second time and started their set with “Thanks For The Misery,” which deals with his recent divorce and was one of the only serious and somber moments of the show.
Taking a complete 180 they played “Love Reality” which has a techno feel to it.
Before performing “F.O.O.D. a.k.a. Aren’t You Hungry,” Dewees made fun of MTV for using clips of the song on Real World Paris when cast member Ace missed American cuisine, but not actually playing any of the video.
The man of the night, James Dewees, ended the set with a first time ever performance of all three Common Denominator songs from his past albums.
Claus is James Dewees alter ego personality from who is front man for Finnish metal band Common Denominator.
In character James dressed in leather shorts and had fake blood dripping from his body and spoke in a seriously hilariously Finnish accent between each song. “Dwarf Invasion,” my personal favorite, was saved for last with the truly ridiculous lyrics “this is not a friend, you are very small, you can barely stand up to me, you can’t play basketball, this is dwarf invasion.”
All around the show was an amazing night for any Reggie and The Full Effect fan, and I have a feeling he made some new fans as well.
Dewees was persistent to be in every aspect of the show and made it extremely personal and fun.
It was evident he was trying to make the event as entertaining as possible, and he succeeded.

Author