Brand New & Thrice @ Arrow Hall

December 14th, 2007

Chris & I, along with a gaggle of other friends, ventured to the outskirts of civilization (aka Arrow Hall) last night to see mewithoutyou, Thrice and Brand New.

What follows is our joint account of what we saw.

Chris says: For me, Brand New was the big draw but I looked forward to seeing Thrice for the first time. mewithoutyou, I had not heard about until last night, so I had no expectations. The show was your usual Arrow Hall show, very punctual and very organized. The first band, mewithoutyou, went on around 7pm and played for 30-40 minutes. Overall, they put on a good show, but not for every song. Some songs were energetic enough to fill the Hall, but most were lost in the converted hangar. I would definitely see this band again, provided I can find them playing in a smaller, more intimate, venue.

Thrice took the stage at about 7:50pm and played until 8:40pm. Prior to last night I have only ever heard Thrice on mp3…I wasn’t too impressed. Their live show is much, much, much better. Their show did suffer from “Arrow Hall Syndrome” though…the sound tends to echo off the hangar walls muddying the sound. Lame. Thrice also fall under the category of: “If they play a smaller venue, I’ll pay for another ticket.” Maybe mewithoutyou and Thrice can play the Horseshoe for my birthday?

Finally I got to see what I came for, what I waited all Fall to see…Brand New. Musically, this made my week. I have been a huge Brand New fan for a long time and seeing them is always a special treat for me. That said, I do have a new beef with them that has nothing to do with their music and everything to do with their image. I’ll get to that in a minute.

They opened with Limousine, a departure from their last Toronto show where they played their last two albums more or less in order. I have mixed feelings on this song as an opener…However, I’ll give them credit, this worked at Arrow Hall where the slow opening of the song helped move the masses towards the stage. That was followed by Welcome to Bangkok, Shower Scene and Good to Know If I Ever Need Attention All I Need To Do Is Die. The acoustics of the Hall actually worked well with Bangkok. Shower Scene, the only truly old song they played, was a treat for me, Mark and Neil. I was disappointed, though, that it was the only old song. I had hoped to hear Soco Amaretto Lime or Seventy Times Seven…but I’ll take what I can get. The setlist in full:

Limousine
Welcome To Bangkok
Shower Scene
Good To Know That If I Ever Need Attention All I Have To Do Is Die
Degausser
Oh Comely*
The Archers Bows Are Broken
Okay I Believe You…But My Tommy Gun Don’t
Sic Transit Gloria…Glory Fades
Not The Sun
Luca
Millstone
Sowing Season (Yeah)
You Won’t Know
Jesus Loves Me
Jesus Christ
—
Untitled

I had a great time listening to all of these songs. The songs from The Devil and God… sounded most like the album versions. Songs from Deja Entendu had, in some cases, been updated. This made it tough to singalong during some part but the new presentation of the songs is a worthy pay off. All in all, a great show musically… but I have to mention it again, the Arrow Hall acoustics are dismal. Brand New, please, please play a more reasonable venue next time you come to town. You’re breaking my heart.

Finally, the reason I have no show photos to share with all of you. Brand New, apparently, does not like being photographed. Their photo rules, essentially, forced me to choose between taking photos or enjoying the show. In the end, Kat opted to leave the camera in the car so we wouldn’t miss any of the show. In fairness, this is not unique to Brand New. Plenty of bands place photo restrictions on their performances; it’s disappointing. My friends and I have been listening to Brand New since Your Favorite Weapon was released. We defended them from people who said “yeah, but Taking Back Sunday is waaaaaay better”. We pointed to Deja Entendu and the band’s growth into something much more mature as proof that we were right about them. And, we looked at The Devil And God… as the final evidence that this band truly had a unique talent for song-smithing. Taking photos for Much would have been like a dream come true for me. For now, it remains just a dream. Thanks Jesse.

Kat says: I agree that Limousine wasn’t the most ideal opener – at the Kool Haus show back in May, they sandwiched this epic builder somewhere in the middle of the setlist. If I could find the setlist for the May 17 & 18 shows (a truly impossible feat – if you can find a photo or documentation of the setlist for either show, email it to me @ redhot@muchmusic.com and I will personally send you a prize) I would tell you WHEN it was played among the other songs. But alas. And putting Welcome To Bangkok second was also an interesting choice – last time they encored with it and it was quite the closer. There were like a hundred people on stage by that point and the song seemed endless. I love epic closers!

It wasn’t until track 3 (Good To Know…) that people woke the fk up…everyone loves that tune! And there was a fairly epic progression of songs during the meat of the show (the progression between Tommy Gun / Sic Transit Gloria & then Luca (one of my most faves off the new album!) was incredible. It was quite the suckerpunch. And the lighting configuration during Luca was breathtaking – I wish I could have taken photos during that very song so you could see for yourself. Also, an accordion? Seriously?!

I missed hearing Me Vs. Maradona Vs. Elvis and Guernica (do they EVER play this song?! Not any of the times I’ve seen them, they haven’t) and also Handcuffs, which they did play back in May (once again, the absence of that pesky setlist prevents me from fact-checking this).

All in all it was a memorable show, but not unlike their two shows supporting the same album back in May. After Toronto only two NY state shows remain, and then the tour’s done!

*P.S.: Oh Comely is a cover of a song by Neutral Milk Hotel. I hate this band with the fiery passion of a thousand burning suns. Somehow when Jesse sang it though, it wasn’t so bad. I think I really just can’t stand NMH’s vocalist.

Posted on Friday, December 14th, 2007 at 2:52 pm by Alison and is filed under Concerts & Events.