Springtime is finally here. The birds are chirping, the flowers are blooming and everybody’s music is blaring from the rolled down windows of their cars. The music from inside many local night clubs and bars of Johnson City is blaring as well as springtime also seems to bring with it many local concerts.

If you’re a fan of going to concerts and live in the Johnson City area, you’re in luck. There has been at least three good concerts in the area per month as of late, with more exciting concerts to come. (See our concert calendar, in the archives at www.easttennessean.com.)

The most recent of these concerts that I have attended has also been dubbed my personal favorite.

On Wednesday, March 24, Chrome (located at 820 West Walnut Street) featured the band Chevelle, with openers Within Reason and Down from Up.

Chevelle originally formed back in 1995 in Illinois and consists of brothers Pete (vocals/guitar) and Sam (drums/percussion) Loeffler, with brother-in-law Dean Bernardini (bass/vocals). They have give albums released to date.

I will start off with a disclaimer that I am not a complete concert fanatic; I have only been to a handful. However, that number seems to be growing at an exponential rate. Because with any event – be it attending football game, going to a live talk show or attending a concert – no matter how much it is enjoyed watching on TV or listening to it at home, being there is infinitely better.

From the anticipation of waiting in line (and trying to avoid those who are completely strung out) to being in an atmosphere of fellow concert-lovers, attending any event live is an indescribable experience.

That being said, the Chevelle concert began the same as most concerts. My roommate and I got there about 30 minutes early and began the long wait in line, and got in some quality “people watching” time. (This is something a concert is always good for, since about half the people there have “pre-partied” a bit.)

Once inside, it took some debating to decide where to actually stand for the concert. Don’t get me wrong, Chrome impressed me as far as a venue, but something about the inside seems like a strange place for a rock concert, and even the lead singer, Loeffler of Chevelle, commented on the “weird” stage.

Being that the dance floor of Chrome is enclosed with a bar and seemed like a scary place for a mosh pit, we picked a spot a few steps up from the dance floor, to the side of the stage, with another stage right in front which was roped off (at least for the opening bands).

Within Reason was up first. Opening bands never really receive much enthusiasm from the audience since they’re usually not nearly as big as the main band, but Within Reason did a good job getting the crowd excited as they played songs from their latest album “Bloodshot Life” such as “Hero,” and “Favorite Sin,” which had a good sound and are definitely worth checking out for alternative rock fans.

Although another thing about going to concerts, at least for me, is that it’s hard to understand many of the lyrics to songs that I haven’t heard before.

However the next band, Down from Up, fixed this problem when they played covers to Led Zeppelin, songs of course everyone knew very well. They also played their some original songs, which, again, had a good sound but hard for me to understand most of the lyrics. Their latest album is called “From Ashes to Empire,” and it is also worth checking out if you want to check out an up and coming band.

The longest wait between bands was of course right before Chevelle. Even so, they came out on time, a little after 10 p.m., surprisingly, as promised.

Right before Chevelle came out, security took down the ropes that were blocking off the side stage, right in front of where my roommate and I were standing, which enabled us to be right in front of the stage.

This, combined with the fact that Chevelle sounded amazing live, was what made the concert one of the best ones I have ever been to.

Also, Chevelle made a smart move when they played mostly hit songs from all five of their albums, including the most recent, “Sci-Fi Crimes.” If you’re not a Chevelle fan, I recommend looking up the songs “Jars,” “Still Running,” and “Vitamin R,” just to name a few of my favorites of the songs that were performed that night.

The lead singer also interacted with the fans well, as did the guitarist, Bernardini, who took cell phones from the fans. At first I thought he was going to take up-close pictures of videos of the band, but he simply took them and left them on stage for staffers to later return them.

Chevelle will be returning to the area next Tuesday, April 12, to play with Three Days Grace and Adelita’s Way in Knoxville at the Civic Auditorium.

For more information on the bands mentioned above, check them out on Myspace or the official Web sites at: www.myspace.com/withinreasonband, www.myspace.com/downfromup, and www.chevelleinc.com.

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