Show Review

Brand New recently came through with Dashboard Confessional, but in alignment with their new music video and sudden fan explosion, it is only appropriate they headline their first tour. The show was simply everything I had hoped it would be, and Brand New put on simply a flawless set, which was as compelling as it was refreshing.

Eisley, a 5 piece girl-fronted band (2 males, 3 females), opened, and simply blew me away. Their wonderfully sewn melodies combined with their beautiful keyboard and guitars provided for an incredible sound. Eerie, but simply beautiful, Eisley's compelling talent was incredible, and I really can't wait to hear an album from those girls. If you get a chance to make it to this show, be sure to go early enough to catch what I'd call one of the best girl bands out there!

I've never seen Hot Rod Circuit but they were exactly as I imagined: serious rock and roll. With a little humor and a pleasant stage presence, the guitarist's orange jumpsuit was interesting, and the singer did a good job as well. The new songs they played sounded great, and though I wanted to hear more from "Sorry About Tomorrow," (a lot of their set consisted of older and newer material than that), they had a lot of energy and solid performance.

Finally, Brand New took the stage, with a huge banner behind them. Lots of good light work complemented the band's amazing new sound; Jesse played with more confidence than I have ever seen him play, and their set consisted entirely of songs from both albums (no unreleased or compilation material). Still, the sound they put out was stunning, backing vocals solidly sung, and the acoustic "The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot" was accented by the Hot Rod Circuit guitarist's pedal steel. Jesse simply amazed the crowd, and their nearly 1.5 hour long set consisted of some 20 songs, all done flawlessly and with more professionalism than I have seen in a long time. This band really deserves to get the attention they are finally getting, and to not see this tour would be utterly dumb.

All in all, Brand New performed at their highest potential, as far as I could tell, and their set was the most amazing set I have ever seen. Go see this show, or be forever regretful.

review by Andrew Martin