By snoadmin
Spring break is normally a time to relax at home, party at the beach or spend time with the family. But this year, I decided to do something different. I took what little money I had in my bank account, gassed up the Honda Civic, grabbed some friends and embarked on a slightly-obsessive journey, following Long Island, N.Y., rockers Brand New on a trio of sold out dates on their spring tour.
It’s very possible that many of you have never heard of Brand New, but the band’s lyrics have passed through the lips of hundreds of thousands of scene kids since the band struck emo gold in 2003 with its breakthrough album “Deja Entendu.”
Songs like “The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows” and “Sic Transit Gloria…Glory Fades” became staples on MTV and FUSE. After landing a three week stint on the Vans Warped Tour and an opening slot for Dashboard Confessional, it seemed like the band was going to be a mainstream mainstay for years to come.
It wasn’t. In fact, it was the opposite. After appearing on the cover of Alternative Press magazine’s “Most Anticipated CDs of 2005” issue at the end of 2004, the band literally disappeared from the music scene.
No new music was released, no shows were played and all media interview requests were respectfully denied. The band became a distant memory…until recently.
Early last year, the band’s dormant Web site came to life, in-progress demos were leaked, rumor of a new album hit message boards and a headlining club tour was announced. The new album, “The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me,” was finally released on Nov. 21, 2006, to mostly adoring reviews. The band returned to arenas with Dashboard Confessional last fall and is currently hitting large clubs on its spring tour.
Show 1 – Los Angeles
L.A. is always the dreaded tour date for any band. The venue is packed with hard-to-impress concertgoers, and the backstage areas are filled with music industry types. Brand New gets a double dose of this, playing sold out shows on back-to-back nights at the Avalon in Hollywood.
I was a lucky ticket holder for the first night’s show, and I got there just in time to see the second opening act finish. After about a half hour of setup time, Brand New hit the stage.
The band did something I have never seen in all my years of going to shows: It played longer than most movies (a little over two hours) and played its set in blocks, going chronologically from record to record.
Starting out with the first verse of “Jude Law and a Semester Abroad” acoustic, the band went straight into fan-favorite “Seventy Times Seven.” “The Shower Scene” came next, followed by the slower ballads “The No Seatbelt Song” and “Soco Amaretto Lime.” All five songs were off the band’s debut album, “Your Favorite Weapon,” which was released in 2001 and was full of pop-punk anthems.
Next, the band played the entire “Deja Entendu” album from start to finish, in order. This was something I have never seen done before, but there wasn’t a boring minute during the feat. Fans sang at the top of their lungs during “I Will Play My Game Beneath the Spin Light,” and “Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don’t” and started small mosh pits during “Jaws Theme Swimming” and “Guernica.”
After a short break, members of the opening bands and an additional guitarist joined Brand New onstage to start playing tracks off its most recent release. The instrumental “Welcome to Bangkok” kicked off the block, followed by “Sowing Season (Yeah),” “Millstone” and “Luca.” The songs are noisier than anything the band has ever done, and almost gives it a jam band vibe. “The Archer’s Bows Have Broken,” “Jesus Christ,” “Degausser” and “You Won’t Know” finished off the set.
As awesome as it was to see the band play almost its entire catalogue, I found myself getting anxious towards the end. While playing the album in order added to the dramatics, knowing what was coming next made the set seem longer. I was hoping for something different in Vegas.
Show 2 – Las Vegas
After a night off to relax, I found myself at the House of Blues at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for another attempt to satisfy my Brand New fix. House of Blues has a little-known-about early entry program that allows concertgoers who eat at the House of Blues restaurant to enter the venue before everybody else. My friends and I took advantage of this and claimed a coveted spot against the barricade.
Because of strict casino laws, the show started at an extremely early 6:25 p.m. Manchester Orchestra, an indie quintet from Atlanta, hit the stage first. Playing a set of six catchy songs, it’s easy to see why the members of Brand New chose the band to open for them. The band is filled with talented musicians who play Brand New-esque music.
Next up was singer and songwriter Kevin Devine and his backing “The Goddamn Band.” They played a seven-song set filled with Bright Eyes-style folk songs that got the crowd moving.
When Brand New hit the stage, I was attacked with a completely different set than I witnessed in L.A.
Dealing with a stricter time limit, the band elected for a shorter, 18-song set that drew heavily off of its most recent album. While I was bummed I didn’t get to hear some of my old favorites, I enjoyed that the set was mixed up and that I got to hear new tracks “Limousine (MS Rebridge)” and “Handcuffs” that weren’t played in L.A.
The band members had family in the audience, and they were performing with their highest level of energy. They were accompanied with an amazing light show. Shooting different colored lights against the back screen could totally change the atmosphere of the concert hall in seconds, and at certain points during the show real time images of the band members performing were projected onto the screen. The front row seat and the high energy of the band made this trip worth it.
Show 3 – San Diego
This was by far the worst show of the three. The band played the same 18-song set from the night before, but this time it was in the armpit of a venue known as Soma. In what appeared to be a hollowed-out movie theater, the band struggled with sound problems during most of the show. At one point, singer Jesse Lacey’s electric guitar was giving him so much feedback that he demanded stagehands to come fix it and sang an impromptu acoustic version of “Soco Amaretto Lime.” The venue was packed with more than 2,000 people. Owners apparently forgot to turn on the air conditioning and there were no elevated areas so everybody was pushing towards to the front. It was a not-so-perfect way to end my spring break.
Overall, all three shows were an adventure. There is something special about a band that disappears for more than a year, gets little-to-no media coverage and can still sell out 1,500 to 2,500 capacity venues every night it plays.
The band members don’t wear makeup, don’t have piercings, don’t wear costumes and don’t flaunt their tattoos. They avoid media coverage, refuse to take popular bands on tour with them and don’t even have their names or pictures in their CD jacket. For the four guys in Brand New, it’s all about the music. And these days, that is a concept that is truly brand new.
