Brand New
w/ Donnie Dureau (Blueline Medic)
» Serj Tankian - venue, Sun, January 25
» Lupe Fiasco - venue, Tue, January 27
» Prodigy, The - venue, Thu, January 29
» Cold war Kids - venue, Wed, February 4
» Anberlin, Chiodis, Sliverstein and Finch - venue, Thu, February 26
» Birds of Tokyo - venue, Thu, March 12
» Cradle of Filth - venue, Tue, May 26
» Brand New - Palace Theatre, The (formerly The Metro), Vic - January 31, 2008
» Brand New - Enmore Theatre, NSW - January 24, 2008
» Kisschasy - May 29, 2008
» Dillinger Escape Plan - May 16, 2008
Wow.
I approached tonight not knowing what to expect, had it been too long between releases (the last being 2006’s “The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me”)? The answer is a resounding no. Arriving outside The Metro to line up gave me my first taste of the electricity that would remain in the air all night. Of Brand New’s dedicated fan base, about 1500 (my best guess) showed up tonight, and I bet a lot more are wishing they did now!
The evening was kicked off with an acoustic set by local hero Donnie Dureau of Blueline Medic. The set consisted songs that had been finished three days prior to the gig, and classics like ‘Making the Nouveau Riche’. Donnie is the consummate entertainer, the crowd were eating out of his hands, and I walked away from the set wondering where I’d left my Blueline CDs (I think they’re in Brisbane somewhere).
Which brings me to the special guest for the evening, and perhaps the worst kept secret of the night, a solo acoustic set by Brand New’s front man Jesse Lacey. Highlights of the solo set were ‘Soco Amaretto Lime’ and ‘Moshi Moshi’, complete with full crowd participation. The best track though was the cover of ‘Web in Front’ by Archers of Loaf. Consider my mind blown.
While I was picking my mind up off the floor, the pleasurable experience that was Brand New started. Seriously, they started with 2 drummers (and 2 drum kits) and another 5 people on stage playing guitar or bass. The sound that came from that stage filled the room better than The Shins did, and the shifting between a 4 piece and a 7 piece (with various incarnations in between too) was seamless. Add to that the fan base getting vocal, singing along, crying and smiling. Yep, there were people in the crowd crying!
My highlights were ‘Millstone’, ‘Me Vs. Maradona Vs. Elvis’, and ‘Luca’. They played heaps off their last album, and the rest of the set list failed to disappoint. The Metro reached fever pitch at the start of ‘Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don’t’. This was obviously the crowd favourite, and deservedly so. What a song! It bought all the “Deja Entendu” memories flooding back, damn that was a good year.
Finally, the boys pulled out an impressive and bewildering, totally instrumental, 15 or so minute encore. Absolute bliss!
It was a glorious night. The sound was awesome, the band were charismatic, the crowd were vocal, and I can’t wait until they hit the studio again – bring on a new album!
