Show Review

My first trip to New York City in about 6 years was to see the return of Brand New in their hometown. Tickets for the whole tour were sold out in a matter of hours, so expectations were extremely high. The first act up was Diamond J in the Rough which featured a violinist, dual keyboards, and two singers (a male that played the guitar/keyboard and a female that rocked out with a tambourine). I think there may have also been a maraca thrown in during one song. They sounded decent and the music was average, very easy to listen to but there was a lack of emotion from the crowd and surprisingly for a sold out show it was only half filled at that point. While I don’t know what the overall consensus of Diamond J in the Rough was, they felt more like a filler band that only helped to build the anticipation for the main act.

Up next was Men, Women, and Children and the only way to describe these guys is over the top. The guitarists came out sporting Steven Tyler-like bandanas on their guitars and one was clad in a transparent poncho (probably not the best idea when dancing around on stage in a 90+ degree venue, as he quickly shed it). On the stage were a few five foot florescent blue and pink light bulbs that were part of the epileptic light show that proved to be more annoying than entertaining. The band also featured a synth board with many different programmed sounds that added to each song. As the first song started, I knew this wasn’t a style of music I really listened to, but for a band that doesn’t take itself too seriously they were pretty dedicated to delivering an amazing live show. They had several moments in which there were synchronized dance steps while rocking out, during one song the singer belted away with a fake femur-sized bone in his hand, and at one point a few tour mates jumped out on stage to join in on the havoc (suspiciously with hoods pulled over their heads so the fans wouldn’t realize who they were). Despite all their efforts (multiple urges to clap/snap their fingers and one call and response song about monkeys) I only saw average fan participation as the venue was close to filling in by the end of the set. Only one track stood out, “Dance in My Blood,” as this seemed to be the only track a majority of people were familiar with.

At this point one could feel the anticipation/electricity in the air for the main act, Brand New. As the lights went out, Jesse Lacey came out to play the opening track off of Deja Entendu, “Tautou,” with the drums accompanying him in the background. Strange, he was wearing the same hoodie as one of the faceless nuts that ran out on stage with Men, Women, and Children. As the song wound down the rest of the band joined the stage and the mood was set for a great performance. While coming off a little distant to start, this band immediately felt that they were missed while they were away. Jesse came off as very humble but did manage to crack a smile several times to show his enjoyment. He also impressed me in that he didn’t take more than 5 minutes to go off stage before the encore and there was even one point in which he did some distortion effects alone on the stage to give his band mates a quick breather. The band played mostly tracks off of Deja Entendu with some from Your Favorite Weapon (from what I remember “The No Seatbelt Song” and a stirring rendition of “Soco Amaretto Lime”) and a few new tracks spread here and there. From what I heard of the new music, it is distinctly Brand New with a very dark sound to it. The sound system was on point and there was also an eye-pleasing light show in which they made use of backdrop to enhance the colors and for one song to give the image of looking out at the stars. The crowd was rabid throughout, singing at the top of their collective lungs, only to be fooled every now and then as Jesse would change the tempo of some of the lyrics. There was a several song encore that concluded with “Play Crack the Sky,” fittingly the final track on Deja Entendu. Expectations were met, a show not be missed as Brand New more than made up for the average beginning of the show.

review by Kevin St. Laurent