At ease
Despite Long Island pop punk support I Am The Avalanche largely failing to bring anything new to a genre in serious need of rejuvenation, they at least tackle the Roundhouse with all the vigor and willingness you would expect from a band with a serious opportunity at gaining a very decent number of new fans. What the band lack in ingenuity they more than make up for it with decent songwriting and hooks in abundance. Featuring Vinnie Caruana (ex-vocalist of now defunct and much loved band The Movielife) is not going to do the bouncy quintet any harm at all and with more passionate performances like this they may find themselves at the forefront of the genre sooner rather than later.
Brand New are a band that, in their infancy at least, would have picked up exactly where I Am The Avalanche left off tonight. However times have certainly changed and the band long ago shed the sunshine choruses in favour of music far gloomier and increasingly in-line with Jesse Lacey’s introverted lyrical style. The fact that they did so (compare tracks off of 2001’s ‘Your Favorite Weapon’ with their two most recent albums ‘The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me’ and ‘Daisy’) and still managed to build up a fan base rabid enough to headline Wembley Arena in their last UK visit two years ago says a lot.
Tonight is the second of two sold out nights at the Roundhouse and will almost certainly mark the end of the touring cycle for 2009’s ‘Daisy’. Tonight the band seems much more at ease with themselves compared to their career-defining arena show two years ago. Back then they had, quite frankly, alienated a fair proportion of their audience with a record that saw the band at their unarguably darkest ebb and as a result the set felt jagged. Tonight, with the dust having firmly settled on ‘Daisy’, Brand New are able to circumvent their varied output with an awe-inspiringly cohesive performance.
As front man Lacey eases into ‘Tautou’ it is clear that near enough every word is going to be sung straight back at him with such intensity that in pockets of the crowd you can hear the mass throng more than the man with the microphone. ‘Deja Entendu’, an album that exhibits elegance in songwriting seldom few have been able to match, is the most represented tonight. Lacey playfully introduces crowd pleaser ‘Sic Transit Gloria… Glory Fades’ with the quip “I don’t know this one” whilst the solo ‘Play Crack The Sky’ provides the perfect respite to the chaotic noise and squealing feedback of ‘Vices’ and ‘Gasoline’.
The enigmatic lighting and smoke that envelops the band suggest that they are still very much intent on creating an ‘us and them’ relationship with their crowd – exhibited most obviously with Lacey reluctant to discuss the band or his personal life in interviews. Perhaps his astute lyric writing says all that needs to be said but whatever fans take from their experience with Brand New it is irrefutably a positive one. Faces across the room greet every song with beaming smiles and it’s clear that, regardless what sound the band decide to go with next, this is a group of highly inspiring musicians that have been in their listeners hearts for a long time and nothing is going to change that.
Words by Nick Calafato
Photo by Helen F. Kennedy
Click here for a photo gallery of the gig.
Brand New are a band that, in their infancy at least, would have picked up exactly where I Am The Avalanche left off tonight. However times have certainly changed and the band long ago shed the sunshine choruses in favour of music far gloomier and increasingly in-line with Jesse Lacey’s introverted lyrical style. The fact that they did so (compare tracks off of 2001’s ‘Your Favorite Weapon’ with their two most recent albums ‘The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me’ and ‘Daisy’) and still managed to build up a fan base rabid enough to headline Wembley Arena in their last UK visit two years ago says a lot.
Tonight is the second of two sold out nights at the Roundhouse and will almost certainly mark the end of the touring cycle for 2009’s ‘Daisy’. Tonight the band seems much more at ease with themselves compared to their career-defining arena show two years ago. Back then they had, quite frankly, alienated a fair proportion of their audience with a record that saw the band at their unarguably darkest ebb and as a result the set felt jagged. Tonight, with the dust having firmly settled on ‘Daisy’, Brand New are able to circumvent their varied output with an awe-inspiringly cohesive performance.
As front man Lacey eases into ‘Tautou’ it is clear that near enough every word is going to be sung straight back at him with such intensity that in pockets of the crowd you can hear the mass throng more than the man with the microphone. ‘Deja Entendu’, an album that exhibits elegance in songwriting seldom few have been able to match, is the most represented tonight. Lacey playfully introduces crowd pleaser ‘Sic Transit Gloria… Glory Fades’ with the quip “I don’t know this one” whilst the solo ‘Play Crack The Sky’ provides the perfect respite to the chaotic noise and squealing feedback of ‘Vices’ and ‘Gasoline’.
The enigmatic lighting and smoke that envelops the band suggest that they are still very much intent on creating an ‘us and them’ relationship with their crowd – exhibited most obviously with Lacey reluctant to discuss the band or his personal life in interviews. Perhaps his astute lyric writing says all that needs to be said but whatever fans take from their experience with Brand New it is irrefutably a positive one. Faces across the room greet every song with beaming smiles and it’s clear that, regardless what sound the band decide to go with next, this is a group of highly inspiring musicians that have been in their listeners hearts for a long time and nothing is going to change that.
Words by Nick Calafato
Photo by Helen F. Kennedy
Click here for a photo gallery of the gig.
