3OH!3 Bring Party Jams

Warped Tour alumni Family Force 5 and 3OH!3 brought their unique flavours of dance rock to 2,500 people at the sold-out show headlined by Phoenix, Az. band The Maine.

Atlanta's Family Force 5 went on third after A Rocket To The Moon and Hit The Lights (I didn't mean to miss the openers, honest. But no-one told me Kool Haus was located somewhere between Mordor and Timbuktu). They began their set with "Dance Or Die," the synth-driven title track from last year's LP. Although it's catchy, the song seemed a little slow-paced for an opener and the audience didn't really start moving until the crunk rockers began "Fever." The bass-heavy number created the perfect environment for the sea of teen scenesters to dance their multi-coloured Nike high-tops off.

During "Drama Queen," a rock-rap song from 2006's Business Up Front/Party In The Back, frontman Solomon "Soul Glow Activatur" Olds strutted around the stage like a bantam rooster in his red button-up shirt and white pants, posed for photos and called out "Toronto!" at all the appropriate times.

Solomon wasn't the band's only showman, though. There was lots of headbanging on the part of bassist and younger brother Josh "Fatty" Olds and Spinal Tap-esque moves by guitarist Derek "Chap Stique" Mount, which created full visual impact. Despite a recent injury, Mount made it through the set with little indication of his condition.

"Supersonic" brought all five members to the front of the stage to rap and back up singer-turned-MC Solomon. Jacob "Crouton" Olds, twin to Josh, left the drum kit and Nathan "Nadaddy" Currin pounded away on the keytar while crowdsurfers made their way into the arms of waiting security guards. The band ended an all-out, balls-in performance with the Red Hot Chili Peppers-flavoured "Earthquake."

Boulder, Colo. electro-rap duo 3OH!3 were up next, and the audience was ready for them. MCs Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte brought their fightin' words to the stage. Judging from their tongue-in-cheek lyrics about women, they've been men scorned on more than one occasion. The pair combined gangsta beats with aggressive vocals and winding synth riffs for a sound that was truly all their own.

"Don't Trust Me," the single from 2008's Want, was a crowd favourite. But it was "Don't Dance," which featured a refrain of "Three oh three oh three my people," that had everyone putting thumbs and index fingers together in the band's trademark hand sign.

Foreman and Motte had no trouble filling out the stage, and jumped and threw it down with impressive coordination for the duration of their too-short 40-minute time slot. The end of the set saw Family Force 5 frontman Olds dive on stage and dance like a madman. I found out later this was a nightly occurrence, as the two bands have formed an oddball relationship since getting together during Warped Tour last year.

I skipped out of watching The Maine, high on adrenaline and drunk on the thick, sweaty air.