Hoobastank

[Chris]

Hoobastank – Thursday, July 15

Doug Robb – Lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Dan Estrin – Lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Chris Hesse – Drums, percussion

Hoobastank (then Hoobustank), formed in 1994 in Augora Hills, CA and developed a strong local following. The band, singer/guitarist Doug Robb, guitarist/keyboardists Dan Estrin, drummer Chris Hesse, and bass guitarist Markku Lappalainen, recorded a short album titled Muffins and a full-length album titled They Sure Don’t Make Basketball Shorts Like They Used To, the latter of which featured saxophonist Jeremy Wasser. The band then recorded another album titled Forward and signed with record label Island Records. The label, however, didn’t like the ska feel of Wasser’s saxophone and the record, and Wasser, was scrapped. The band hit the studio and recorded their major label debut album, a self-titled effort, in November 2001. The album was a platinum selling hit behind three Modern Rock Chart hits, led by “Crawling in the Dark” at #3 and “Running Away” at #2. Both songs also cracked the Top 100 Billboard chart. After a lengthy tour, the band returned to the studio to record The Reason, which was released in December 2003. The single “Out of Control” was a moderate hit for the band, reaching #9 on the Modern Rock Chart. However, the title song (“The Reason”) was a major hit for the band, reaching #1 on the Modern Rock Chart. Even more impressive, the song hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band’s highest charting song to date. These songs, along with two more Modern Rock hits, helped propel the album to double platinum sales and #3 on the Billboard 200. The band co-headlined a tour with Velvet Revolver in 2005 before returning to the studio. Their third album, 2006’s Every Man For Himself, was considered a slump for the band. Although the album had three songs chart on the Modern Rock Chart, the album only reached gold selling status. The band would try to return to form with 2009’s For(N)ever. After debuting at #26 on the Billboard 200, the album quickly fell off the charts. “So Close, So Far” reached #24 on the Adult Top 40 Chart and “The Letter,” a duet with Australian Vanessa Amorosi, reached #39 on the Australian Chart. The band will be making their first appearance at Moondance Jam.

Billboard Hot 100 Songs
2001 Crawling in the Dark #68
2002 Running Away #44
2004 The Reason #2

Modern Rock Hits
2001 Crawling in the Dark #3
2002 Remember Me #23
2002 Running Away #2
2004 Out of Control #9
2004 The Reason #1
2004 Same Direction #14
2005 Disappear #24
2005 If I Were You #23
2006 Inside of You #27
2008 My Turn #24


Did You Know?
“Crawling in the Dark” hit #1 on the MP3.com download chart.
The song was featured in a Mountain Dew commercial.
“The Reason” was featured in the final episode of the TV show Friends.
The song “Losing My Grip” was on The Scorpion King soundtrack.
“Running Away” is on Now That’s What I Call Music! 11.
Their 2009 song “The Letter” features Australian singer/songwriter Vanessa Amorosi.
They also recorded a version of “The Letter” with Japanese performer Anna Tsuchiya.
That version of “The Letter” was released on a Japanese only greatest hits album.
The band released an iTunes exclusive live album Live from the Wiltern in December 2009.
Singer Doug Robb is married to Christiana Lund, herself a singer in the band Shorty 101.
The song “Never Be Here Again” was exclusively for the AT&T Team USA Olympic Soundtrack.
The band recently toured with Creed on their reunion tour.
There were rumors of a feud between Robb and Scott Weiland when Hoobastank was touring with Velvet Revolver.
The song “If I Were You” supposedly was based on the feud with Weiland.
Hoobastank’s The Greatest Hits: Don’t Touch My Moustache is available in Japan.
The band released a new song, “We Are One,” for the Music For Relief compilation, which benefits victims of the Haitian earthquake.
The band recently made a video of a version of the theme song from “Ghostbusters.” See it here: http://www.youtube.com/hoobastank#p/a/u/2/YKECUMEQC5Y.
“Did You” is on the Spiderman 2 soundtrack.
The scrapped Forward album was eventually found online on various peer-to-peer sharing sites.

Setlist
August 8, 2009 in Chiba, Japan
Just One
Born to Lead
Running Away
My Turn
Did You
Same Direction
Inside of You
All About You
Remember Me
Connected
The Reason
The Letter
Out of Control
Pieces
Crawling in the Dark

Videos
The Reason - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV4DiAyExN0
Out of Control - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E17HnEMloDc&NR=1
Running Away - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxwsu8JfvVU&NR=1
Crawling in the Dark - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOHxtOLfvIo&NR=1
My Turn - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8igfKFZl ... re=related
Remember Me - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96pLgLuwNOI
Same Direction - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_UOL1-weMc
Disappear - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUV2DroyeRI
If I Were You - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5kTkzK4B-4

My Take
Ok, when I first heard that Hoobastank had signed for Moondance Jam 19, my first reaction was “What?!?!” I knew of the band (how can you forget that name?), but couldn’t remember what their hits were. I searched and the first song I found was “The Reason,” which just so happened to be a song I heard somewhere (skating rink with my kids maybe) and wished I knew who it was by. However, I forgot the lyrics and never looked it up. Upon more research I probably heard it many times as it went #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was a mega-hit for the band. It turns out I knew many songs by the band – “Crawling in the Dark,” “Remember Me,” “Out of Control,” and “Same Direction.” The main reason I think I never really paid attention to the band is because of their name. To me the name is corny and in no way reflects the talent of the band. I have since picked up their first two albums, and while I still wouldn’t consider myself a big fan, the hits off those albums are really good songs. It says something that they have had a platinum and double platinum album in today’s music world. With all the pirating of music today, those numbers would probably be at least double in another music era. They also have had a career that is now over 10 years old, which I think is another statement about their talent. I think them at 5pm, on what is shaping up to be a modern rock day at Moondance, is a solid start to the day, especially if a major modern rock headliner can be signed. My advice to skeptics is to not dismiss their performance. Their sound will be the most modern of any band on the stage at the jam but I still think people will be surprised at the number of songs they know. Heck, with a different band name, I probably would have become a fan long ago.

[pink flamingo]

Got a kick out of the Ghostbusters video... wonder what the significance is of the sideways 8... might be listening to this band from the campground...

[Chris]

Not sure of the significance of that sign - it is infinity. I really like The Reason, Running Away, and Crawling in the Dark.