The Influents, plus Sean Na Na - @ bottom of the hill Bay Area Buzz Mag (July 2002) One of the Bay Area's more under exposed bands, The Influents, made a stop at Bottom of the Hill while in the middle of their tour with Sean Na Na. The Influents' album, Check Please. Is a mix of melodic rock n' roll and punk simplicity, and their sound is familiar yet fresh, just like their live show. Every time I've seen them play, the set has been energetic while sounding as tight as they do recorded. The Simple Things started off to a nearly empty club. The sound fit in with the other bands on the bill, but nothing about it stood out to me or most of the club's patrons, who didn't seem to notice that there was a band was onstage. Shorty there-after, The Influents grabbed their instruments and the crowd's attention with "Chain Parades," a song that is reminiscent of old Replacements. From there, they played three new songs in a row - "Takin Time," "Time To Kill," and and unnamed song which didn't stray from their sound, but at the same time demonstrated growth in their songwriting skills and stage presence. The set was very upbeat and lead-singer Jason White kept urging the crowd to get into the swing of things by shaking it up on the dance floor, as he did when they played the ever-so-catchy "Simple Girls," but the crowd was a little too preoccupied with their cameras to do anything. Despite the lack of movement from the crowd, the band continued talking like they were happy to be home from a world tour, not just a short West Coast one. Trombonist Jeanne Geiger, who plays on various tracks on the album, joined the band for "Where I'll Go" and the closer, "Give the Anarchist a Cigarette." Her playing both recorded and live, compliments the music perfectly, finding the right balance between being and in significant addition and taking over the songs. And "Give the Anarchist a Cigarette" is a great set-ending song with its chorus, "Take me out to the edge of town / Drop me off at the lost and found / Tell everyone just keep waving to the crowd," that already makes you begin to miss the band while they're still on stage. After a brief intermission, Sean Na Na from Minneapolis took the stage. "Are you ready to rock?" and was bombarded with woos and yeahs, to which he non-chalantly replied, "fuck you" He had a few other gems in there, but none of that could help his band's lackluster set. As much as I wanted to like them, Sean Na Na was a kind of let down after the fantastic set by The Influents. So the next time The Influents take the stage in the Bay Area, do yourself a favor and go...and don't forget your dancing shoes! -Brian Chambers 
