Brand New (with live mp3s!)

Brand New
With Thrice and mewithoutYou
The NorVa, 30 Nov 2007

     I saw the King at the NorVa last Friday, I swear. No, not the Burger King, but Elvis. Really, that Elvis, the decadent rock n' roll pioneer from back in the era when my dad was riding tricycles with kids that looked like Theodore "Leave it to Beaver" Cleaver. Elvis was cleverly disguised as the much younger Jesse Lacey, singer of Brand New. He thought he fooled everyone. That is, everyone who didn't notice him sing the line, "No matter what they say, I am still the King". See, I wasn't fooled!

     On stage, Jesse did act like he was the King. It is true that the band and he are talented, but he maintained an air of superiority that a Hollywood celebrity would have. Understandably, the band has been touring for years and has built a significant, non-corporate fan-base. Relentless touring is stressful for a band to the point that performing loses its charm. Their performance on Friday was evident of this stress in that the performance, while physically energetic, seemed hollow at times.
     The performance focused mainly on their recent album The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me. With the songs on this album, Jesse and the band are caught in a midlife crisis of sorts. Without getting too far into a tangential album review, their latest material departs entirely from the raw angst of Your Favorite Weapon and elaborately expands the range of imagery in Déjà Entendu.  The Devil... is complex and mature. While this progression to maturity with the past three albums is logical and demonstrates the diversity and creativity of the band, it also shows their limit. It is difficult to try to be complex and profound while avoiding theatrical arrangements and pretentious lyrics. Brand New began as a raw punk band that is now seeking to achieve timelessness. Jesse probably wonders now if he will truly be great, like Neil Young, Robert Smith, or Morrissey.

     Great lead singers are arrogant but they have earned the right to be. Jesse is still not badass enough to get away with ending the concert with looped variations on an untitled track from their most recent album. It was an anti-climatic ending. I would have rather extended mewithoutYou's short 25-minute set and skipped the Brand New encore.
     Even though Jesse Lacey won't ever be this generation's Bruce Springsteen, the concert was loads of fun. I was two-steppin' the whole time. For those that missed out on the concert as well as those who want to relive the magical moments, here are some highlights from Brand New's set. It was recorded and carefully edited by an anonymous friend of mine. Thanks again, anonymous friend!

- Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't
- Sic Transit Gloria
- Millstone
- You Won't Know

And two random studio Brand New Songs:
- Mixtape
- Fork And Knife

The two opening bands mewithYou and Thrice put on better shows than Brand New's. I will post highlights from their sets as soon as I get the files.