Spring Break
Brand New is Brand Bad
Libby Segal
Issue date: 3/6/09 Section: Entertainment
03/06/09 - If one show could serve as the soundtrack to the current economic recession, Brand New's show at the Ryan Center last night would be the perfect pick.
The band entered the stage at 9:15 p.m., and that's when things went bad. Lead singer and guitarist Jesse Lacey seemed to have technical malfunctions right off the bat with his guitar and amp, the lighting was dull and the instrumental introduction was weak.
And when the band broke into song, the lyrics just seemed like annoying distracting sound added to instrumentals.
The crowd would have been better off with just the instrumentals, even if it was loud, bassy and too much at most points. This is a shame, because Brand New has always been known for their poetic lyrics. Unfortunately, that strength did not come through last night as many of the lyrics were muffled or lost somewhere in the mix of Lacey's screamo ballads.
Lacey attempted to connect with the crowd several times, including during an introduction of the band, a thank you for having them, and a "we will skip that song, because you don't know it," moment. At least he could tell that the crowd was only digging the older stuff.
During another encounter with the audience, Lacey seemed to ramble for a few minutes, but like most of his songs, no one could understand the words slurring out of his mouth as he spoke too close to the mic. One member of the crowd even yelled, "Stop being so boring."
Lucky for Lacey, he was able to regain the crowd's attention when he broke into a song, in which the lyrics were clearly understood. "I hope this song starts a craze," he said. Then the crowd seemed content, even if just for a moment.
For a majority of the night, even the floor crowd seemed subdued. Prior to the show, the announcer came over the loudspeaker and announced that anyone who was caught "moshing" would be removed from the show.
Apparently if kids wanted to mosh, they should have come to the Akon concert last year where kids were up on shoulders and Akon crowd surfed the entire time, not to the emo concert sponsored by the Student Entertainment Committee.
Some of the floor kids attempted to mosh at one point, but seemed to get distracted by Lacey's on stage screaming. Instead many of them just stood there like drones.
Needless to say, there were still people in the stands who showed up to the concert and cheered for Brand New as if they hadn't stopped putting out music for the last couple of years. But even Brand New's cult-like backing couldn't keep the band or the concert going.
There were points when Lacey and the band didn't seem to want to be there, and as the show came to an end Brand New was off in a hurry, and was just as quickly forgotten.
The band entered the stage at 9:15 p.m., and that's when things went bad. Lead singer and guitarist Jesse Lacey seemed to have technical malfunctions right off the bat with his guitar and amp, the lighting was dull and the instrumental introduction was weak.
And when the band broke into song, the lyrics just seemed like annoying distracting sound added to instrumentals.
The crowd would have been better off with just the instrumentals, even if it was loud, bassy and too much at most points. This is a shame, because Brand New has always been known for their poetic lyrics. Unfortunately, that strength did not come through last night as many of the lyrics were muffled or lost somewhere in the mix of Lacey's screamo ballads.
Lacey attempted to connect with the crowd several times, including during an introduction of the band, a thank you for having them, and a "we will skip that song, because you don't know it," moment. At least he could tell that the crowd was only digging the older stuff.
During another encounter with the audience, Lacey seemed to ramble for a few minutes, but like most of his songs, no one could understand the words slurring out of his mouth as he spoke too close to the mic. One member of the crowd even yelled, "Stop being so boring."
Lucky for Lacey, he was able to regain the crowd's attention when he broke into a song, in which the lyrics were clearly understood. "I hope this song starts a craze," he said. Then the crowd seemed content, even if just for a moment.
For a majority of the night, even the floor crowd seemed subdued. Prior to the show, the announcer came over the loudspeaker and announced that anyone who was caught "moshing" would be removed from the show.
Apparently if kids wanted to mosh, they should have come to the Akon concert last year where kids were up on shoulders and Akon crowd surfed the entire time, not to the emo concert sponsored by the Student Entertainment Committee.
Some of the floor kids attempted to mosh at one point, but seemed to get distracted by Lacey's on stage screaming. Instead many of them just stood there like drones.
Needless to say, there were still people in the stands who showed up to the concert and cheered for Brand New as if they hadn't stopped putting out music for the last couple of years. But even Brand New's cult-like backing couldn't keep the band or the concert going.
There were points when Lacey and the band didn't seem to want to be there, and as the show came to an end Brand New was off in a hurry, and was just as quickly forgotten.
