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The Starting Line, Finch, Brand New
The Globe, Milwaukee, WI
6/1/2002
Reviewer: Andrew
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It has become a more rare occasion for me to be truly excited for a show these days, but finally, that feeling had returned during the drive to Milwaukee. I began listening to Brand New way back in October, and after one or two listens to their debut full length, "Your Favorite Weapon," I was completely hooked. The band has some of the best lyrics in today's music, insanely catchy guitar riffs and hooks, and some of the most infectious choruses. Needless to say, this was enough to excite me. But, to top that off, Finch was also playing this show, and as you may know after reading my review of their latest album, "What It Is To Burn," I really enjoy their music. All this being told, I finally found myself with butterflies in my stomach as I waited for these two bands to take the stage.
Any Day Now, probably a Milwaukee based band, was first to take the stage. They played some pretty typical pop-punk, with the catchiness of some of today's more popular bands, but it seemed to lack much originality. The guitarist/singer showed some skill on the guitar, even though he handled almost all of the vocal duties, and the second guitarist, drummer, and bassist created a pretty tight sound overall. The crowd didn't do too much moving during their set, and the band seemed pretty timid on stage, but they did a decent job of getting everyone ready for Brand New. If Any Day Now were to throw something new into their music, we may hear something from them in the future, but as it stands now, they just don't quite have what it takes to hold many people's interest.
Open Hand wasn't able to play the show, so we were all treated to the awesome stage presence of Brand New much earlier than expected. Upon taking the stage, Brand New broke right into song, and had a few of us loyal fans just bouncing off of the walls. The band's sound was quite nice, and was only intensified by their energy and passion on stage. They managed to throw in a good amount of talking and humor, and also explained to the crowd that they were dropping off of the remaining dates of the Starting Line tour to play some shows with Dashboard Confessional, because he is "more rich than The Starting Line." That got a chuckle out of the audience, but none of us seemed to worry too much, because we were lucky enough to catch them on their last date of the tour. Brand New played quite a few songs off of "Your Favorite Weapon," such as "Jude Law And A Semester Abroad," "Sudden Death In Carolina," "Mix Tape," "Seventy Times Seven," And "The Shower Scene," inspiring plenty of sing-along action from those who knew their music. The guitarists and vocalist didn't fail to use the padded walls as platforms to bounce off of, and the vocalist Jesse broke out some wild moves, hit himself in the head numerous times, even with his beat-up guitar in hand. The overall sincerity, intensity, and fun that Brand New brought to the venue was insane, and by the end of their set, the crowd really got to moving around and the interaction never stopped. To cap off their set, the band really tore apart their trapset, and we can't forget to mention the splattering of blood that covered one of the fallen cymbals. If you ever get an opportunity to see Brand New live, please, go see them. Much fun will be had.
After a mildly short setup time, Finch came onto the stage, and instantly rocked the crowd with "What It Is To Burn." The first screams of vocalist Nate got everyone right into the action, and those of us right in the front got to experience the intensity of Finch in a live setting. It was obvious, from the very beginning, that more people knew the music of Finch, as they drew much more crowd interaction and singing than the previous bands. It was quite difficult to resist throwing a fist and screaming some words with the music, and I was definitely not the only one feeling this way. Finch roared through "Perfection Through Silence," "Grey Matter," and "Stay With Me" among others and didn't take too much time for unnecessary talking. The band seemed very relaxed, yet intense on stage. The lead guitarist was constantly getting his end of the stage involved with the music by leaning over everyone and singing along with us all, while Nate was prancing around the stage singing with passion. The atmosphere only complimented the band, and though the venue was really quite small, everyone got deeply into the music, and gallons of sweat were probably lost to the floor during the band's set. Finch will probably continue to grow in popularity over the next few months, and it was really a great experience to see them in such an intimate setting after releasing their first full length album. They definitely proved themselves to be Drive-Thru's best act.
The Starting Line were the headliners of this show, and I am not a fan of this band. The whole pop-punk genre is staying alive because of bands like Brand New, but The Starting Line, though seemingly talented, are nothing new. After seeing Finch and Brand New, I was completely drained of all energy and liquid in my body, so I found myself just watching the band from a stool, while dripping with sweat in the Milwaukee summer heat. The Starting Line played songs off of their past records, and also performed their tune off of the recent Punk Goes Pop compilation. The crowd was bouncing around up front, but I honestly think that Finch should have received the headlining spot on this tour. If you like the most poppy of pop-punk, The Starting Line will definitely satisfy, but I don't. Luckily, the Brand New vs. Starting Line battle reached its climax at this show (because Brand New was dropping off of the tour, some silly wars took place between the bands--nothing serious here, don't worry), which added something missing from The Starting Line's set. While Brand New played, members of The Starting Line proceeded to cover Brand New members in peanut butter and flour, which didn't prove to be enough to slow them down too much. Brand New, though, struck back with a couple of large, raw fish, raw eggs, syrup, and bread while The Starting Line played, and obviously got to the vocalist who had trouble singing over his gagging reflexes. Things were pretty hectic when the toilet paper appeared, and I think it was safe to say that Brand New won the battle. Funny stuff.
Any old way, the intimacy of The Globe Theatre in Milwaukee and the interaction from the audience made this one of the, if not the, best show that I have ever attended. Seeing Brand New live was an experience by itself, but to top that off, was the presence of Finch. The crowd was actually quite friendly and not overrun by 12 year old kids (at least during Brand New / Finch's sets), and made for a great time. Sweat flowed like water, odd kitchen ingredients flew through the night, blood was shed, and bands played with tons of intensity. Do yourself a favor and catch Finch or Brand New live. It will be well-worth whatever you have to pay. Easily one of the best shows I've ever attended.
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