Mest, Fall Out Boy, Matchbook Romance, Dynamite Boy and DV8

In the 1980s, a teenage metalhead's wet dream was the almighty package tour, where groupings like Poison/Ratt and Mötley Crüe/Whitesnake roamed arenas to overload fans with lighter anthems, raucous chords and pyrotechnics galore. Unsurprisingly, hair metal's modern mainstream counterpart--the nebulously defined "pop-punk" bands--carries the hairspray torch proudly when it comes to a tendency to travel in packs. In fact, a veritable gaggle of emo bands are tagging along with Mest, whose three major-label albums betray the band's perfect attendance record at the Good Charlotte school of ripping off Green Day. Austin's Dynamite Boy and the Chicagoans in Fall Out Boy practice a slightly rawer and less derivative variation of pogo-ing rock, with their reliance on twirling tempos and snotty, Blink 182-bright harmonies. Yet the New Yorkers in Matchbook Romance steal the show by flawlessly combining the driving choruses of Taking Back Sunday with the melodic sophistication of Brand New--crafting, in short, insanely infectious tunes that ensure that this four-pronged show will be nothing but a good time.