The Vein-Popping Sonics of Brand New

Brand New w/ The Front Bottoms & Modern Baseball
Revolution Concert Hall & Event Center, Garden City, ID
10.28.16

Earlier this summer, epic screamo rock band Brand New went on a co-headlining tour with Modest Mouse. It was after an entire spring of cryptic announcements about the band calling it quits – there were t-shirts printed with a 2018 demise – and subsequently about a pending final album. And then they announced a headlining fall tour with support from The Front Bottoms and Modern Baseball. Rumors flew about when the new album would come out, and whether this new tour would feature more new work.

On September 21, a typewritten letter was posted to Brand New’s social media accounts. It stated, in brief, two things. First, that they would not release a new record in 2016, and second, that the fall tour would be a celebration of their third album, The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me, a work “that ten years later we still use as a measuring post with which we compare the music we make now.” They would be playing the seminal, much-loved record in its entirety each night of the tour run.

Finally, the letter ended as cryptically as ever with a final sentiment of, “What’s left should be a strange demise, but hopefully one as loud and fun as the rest of our time together has been. All are invited. Please send flowers.” Well, the band brought their own flowers, and the crowd brought the love. And we traversed the winding roads to Garden City, Idaho just in case this really was the last run for a band that meant, means, so much. To so many.

At Revolution Hall, a cavernous former grocery store, in a suburban strip mall at the edge of Boise, a sold out crowd showed up early to catch Philadelphia rockers Modern Baseball. The quartet with a social conscience and an unpretentious presence delivered bright guitars and signature approachable lyrics. The crowd surfing started right off the bat, and continued through the entire night, and there was plenty of singing along.

They were followed by New Jersey pop-punk outfit, The Front Bottoms. Their eclectic sound had the audience jumping. There were great bass solos, some tinkling keys, and a trumpet. House lamps adorned the stage, casting a weird vintage vibe. Their confessional-style lyrics were delivered with enthusiasm both by the band and the crowd alike, as they shouted back the chorus of “The Beers,” “And I will remember that summer/As the summer I was taking steroids/Because you like a man with muscles/And I like you.”

All this energy was the perfect build up to Brand New’s set. It’s a certain type of person that shows up to a BN show, in that there really was no discernible type. Just days before Halloween – the venue decked in fake spiderwebs, the staffed in full costume – everyone came together to celebrate a band known for an emotive everyman attitude. From the thirty-somethings in the overhanging VIP area to the kids rushing the stage, it seemed like every person knew every lyric. This is emo grown up. These are not kids, and they definitely don’t play pop-punk.

BN’s depth and maturity was on full display as the band, shrouded in thick fog, started off the set with their recently released single, “I Am a Nightmare.” A few tracks from their airplay-generating breakout sophomore album, 2003’s Deja Entendu followed. For the acoustic “Play Crack the Sky,” lead vocalist/guitarist Jesse Lacey took a solo turn, in a blackened room, backlit by a single spotlight, while lighters and cell phones hovered over the crowd.

And then they launched into TDAGARIM. The majority of the seminal album was played in original recorded order, kicking off with “Sowing Season” still backlit, the band delivering on their signature mix of quiet and hardcore, the fans responding in kind. Fists pumped the air, lyrics were yelled, and bodies careened over the crowd. The band, per usual, didn’t banter during the set. They just did exactly what everyone came to see. They played hard, and played well.

The four-piece band played – not unusually – with the addition of a second drummer and an extra guitarist, filling out the full sound of their music. Fans were excited to hear tracks rarely played live, like “Welcome to Bangkok,” with its heavy sonic soundscape and minimal lyricism, or album closer “Handcuffs.” From Lacey’s vein-popping screams to guitarist Vinnie Accardi letting loose epic riffs, bent backwards at the waist, the band gave it their all including a beautifully extended version of “Untitled” to close the show. Lacey gave a brief, genuine thank you to the fans and the opening bands, and that was it.

While the set felt over far too soon, and the band closed without an encore, it’s in their stoic mystery and sonic mastery that Brand New will live on in the hearts of their fans. Whether there’s a new album pending for next year, or they decide to leave their legacy as-is, they can rest easy knowing they’ve ushered in the current wave of alternative pop-punk bands with an undeniably solid foundation to build on.

Brand New Set List
I Am a Nightmare
The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows
I Will Play My Game Beneath the Spin Light
Okay I Believe You, but My Tommy Gun Don’t
Play Crack the Sky
Sowing Season
Millstone
Jesus
Degausser
Limousine (MS Rebridge)
You Won’t Know
Welcome to Bangkok
Not the Sun
Luca
The Archers Bows Have Broken
Handcuffs
Untitled (Extended Version)