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Punk music is easy to write and play. The lyrics aren't noted for their poetic subtlety, and it doesn't take a great voice to sing the stuff. The major attraction of the genre is the high-speed energy at which it's performed, and a punk band proves their worth best at a live show. The Huntingtons released their superb live album, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, earlier this year, and now label-mates MxPx are following their lead. MxPx has five studio albums worth of material to draw from, and they make good use of it, grabbing songs from all of them, from Pokinatcha ("Want Ad") to Let It Happen ("GSF"). All in all, they blast through twenty-three songs in just under fifty minutes, which is pretty darn fast. Very few of the songs are over two minutes long, and "Forgive and Forget" is a infinitesimal twenty-nine seconds. Lead singer Mike Herrera doesn't chatter much from onstage, either, apparently choosing to let his music speak for him. (Perhaps this is a good thing. On one of his few monologues, the introduction to "Party, My House, Be There," he says, "This song's about having a party, my house. So do yourself a favor and be there." Deep thought, Mike.) Live At the Show was cropped from two shows in Philadelphia, PA and Washington, DC, in the middle of a tour with Blink 182. MxPx is a surprisingly tight band live - most of the songs sound very similar to their studio counterparts, only with the added energy a live setting provides. All this only goes to show what a superb band MxPx really is. If you're a fan of punk music, or you want to hear what a live album should sound like, pick up Live At the Show. Michial Farmer 9/24/99
It has taken a long time for MxPx to finally do what many have expected for a while--A live album. MxPx finally delivers with At The Show, a best of live collection recorded in Washington DC and Philadelphia. After touring for three years, its evident that this band is tight. There abilities are not in question. The production is not bad for a live album, and does a good job of capturing MxPx live. The one problem with it is that the songs do not blend or flow together. There is no live feel to the album because the tracks abruptly stop and start, and it doesn't give that "concert" feel that many live discs have. Overall, this is a great disc for fans but not the best introduction to a truly talented punk band. Aaron Bell 10/23/99
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