BRAND NEW (with THE XCERTS, I AM THE AVALANCHE), Manchester Academy 09/02/12, Southampton Guildhall 10/02/12, London Roundhouse 11/02 and 12/02/12, Newcastle O2 Academy 16/02/12
Following a band’s tour can be something of a sobering experience; watching as the same four or five musicians toil away night after night on a series of identikit stages, pouring out their hearts and souls to thousands of overeager fans in a variety of different cities, can have the undesired effect of depleting the show of its magic. What may appear to be a once-in-a-lifetime performance, aided and abetted by a lively, energetic crowd, quickly snaps into focus when it’s followed by an identical experience the night after; we’re all guilty of hoping that the show we’re getting, in our home town, is better than what has gone before, that we’re getting that little something extra so we can trot out the “I was there”s in a few years time when the gig has passed into the annals of rock history. And of course, this hope, this belief, is inevitably quashed when, after two or three more shows, you realise that it’s all just part of the act. That these are guys and girls like you and I, doing their jobs night after night, with the added bonus of loving every minute.
Thankfully, following Brand New as they trudge the length and breadth of Great Britain is nothing like that at all. Somehow, some way, the Long Island five (sometimes six) piece make every successive show feel like their last, like this is the most important gig they’ve played in the fifteen years since their formation. And they do it with such monumental gusto, sweating energy and aggression from every pore, that every city is magical, every 100 minutes makes you feel like there is nowhere else on this Earth you’d rather be, that there are no other words you’d rather be screaming at the top of your voice and that there is no other band you’d rather watch annihilate the fuck out of their own music.
This determination and intensity creeps into the marrow of the support bands’ bones too: Aberdeen three piece The Xcerts are on fire every night, delivering a deliciously intense thirty minutes of highlights from Scatterbrain, their most recent release (plus, let’s not forget, In the Cold Wind We Smile favourite Do You Feel Safe? as an opener), with a brilliantly visceral, yet impressively catchy, new tune thrown in for good measure. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Brand New’s fanbase take to them instantly and copies of their frankly bloody excellent albums are seen clutched tight in hands as the venues empty. It’s the same set each night – at the band’s own admission during the two successive London shows – and it’s arguable that it could do with a few more from Smile, but this is a minor quibble. New Yorkers I Am The Avalanche, meanwhile, do get round to changing one or two tracks in their eight-song set, although they rely rather heavily on pre-established set pieces, such as Vinnie relating the same tale about metaphorically burying his girlfriend each night. Their show speaks for itself, however, with a superbly crafted amalgam of songs from recent release Avalanche United and their eponymous debut working together in perfect harmony to produce a blistering half hour of purest punk rock thrills, with the closing trio of New York Dodgers, Gratitude and I Took A Beating a particular highlight.
And then, of course, there is the main event. Sauntering onstage every night at 9.20pm sharp with absolutely no fanfare whatsoever, casting bombast to the wayside, Brand New warm themselves up for their two hour odyssey with a vicious Welcome to Bangkok, – or, in the case of their second night at the Roundhouse, Tautou – the eerie minor chords emanating from Vinnie’s acoustic guitar slowly giving way to ear-splitting feedback and two sets of almightily crashing drums. It’s the perfect opener, setting the tone for the evening, and before long, we’re careering through a further series of highlights from 2007’s The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me, Jesse risking destroying his vocal chords every night during a brutal, unforgiving Sowing Season and giving his adoring crowds the opportunity during an anthemic, soaring Millstone. In a shrewd move, the band bookend the show with tracks from this record, throwing the crowd-pleasers and golden oldies together in the middle of the set, suggesting a quietly assured confidence in their own material. Frankly, it’s a confidence that’s well deserved; you only need to listen to the first few seconds of Jesus Christ, with that gorgeous, lilting riff, or the aggressive middle eight of a heartwrenchingly melancholic Limousine, to realise their inherent genius. The Devil and God is undoubtedly Brand New’s greatest work and it only grows in stature when the songs are given more space to breathe in a live setting.
And of course, having now had more than a decade of experience, the band breathe whole new life into their older material too, with perennial fan favourites from 2001’s Your Favourite Weapon benefitting from a more studied, yet heavier, sound. Pleasingly, for all it is apparent that Jesse and co. have outgrown songs about teenage jealousy and heartache, they still give emo big-hitters Jude Law and a Semester Abroad and Seventy Times Seven an airing during every night of the tour, and, perhaps more importantly than that, invest 110% in them, guitarists leaping around the stage, Jesse goading on the riotous masses. Predictably, audiences respond in kind, moshpits swirling in unison, bodies flying overhead, particularly at Manchester’s Academy 1 and the Roundhouse in London. There’s a superb solo rendition of Soco Amaretto Lime too, a significant proportion of which Jesse barely has to sing as his fans do it for him. He adjusts the final line to a poignant “I’m just jealous cos you’re young and in love”, eliciting a standing ovation in every city. It’s a humble move, underlining the feeling that the band are playing for rather than at us; in Manchester, Jesse states that they’re over here because they love playing, not because they have a record to promote, and in Newcastle, he personally thanks everyone who has given up an evening of the life to see them on tour, stating that they’ve had the fortune to “play to some of the best audiences we’ve ever had”. It’s a sweet gesture – one far removed from what the media might have you expect from the band – and it’s one that leads to a few pleasant, spur-of-the-moment surprises, such as Jesse throwing a once-in-a-blue-moon solo run through of Moshi Moshi into the set at Newcastle, or, indeed, the changing of more than half of the set at the second Roundhouse date, with Guernica, The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot, Mix Tape and Flying at Tree Level (of all things) replacing some of the more standard tracks.
It’s a few of the staples that provide the finest moments, however. The brain-meltingly intense Vices/Sink combo nearly blows the roof off during Roundhouse night one; Southampton goes batshit crazy during Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades; Manchester sings the entire first verse of Okay I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don’t on its own (that’s a whole minute, folks) and Jesse just smiles on, arms folded; and the brilliantly visceral closing duo of Degausser and You Won’t Know descends into an orgy of unparalleled insanity and destruction in Newcastle, with Jesse throwing one guitar around like a crash test dummy and then strapping on a second and playing/abusing both simultaneously, Vinnie trashing his bass and then setting about the second drumkit and Brian collapsing headfirst into his kit after Jesse launches one of the two guitars at him, sending cymbals, hi hats and snares tumbling down onto the stage. And there really is no discerning between the performances. It would be unfair to rate one city against another as each show is filled with the same level of intensity, each night brings its own litany of highlights. Suffice to say, these 100 minutes are some of the finest that the good people of Manchester, Southampton, London and Newcastle will ever experience; these shows may well be some of the best the band ever play; and right now, at the top of their game, Brand New are quite probably the best live performers on the planet. If you missed out this round, buy yourself tickets for all of the dates on the next tour. You will not be disappointed. We promise.
No comments:
Post a Comment