Concert Review: Punk band proves naysayers wrong
Against Me! has had a difficult year with its fans.
With its major label debut, “New Wave,” featuring a more polished, Butch Vig-produced sound than past records, the band has been accused of selling out and betraying its punk and folk roots.
But its show Tuesday at Stoney’s proved that regardless of changing musical direction, Against Me! remains an incredibly energetic and infectious punk band.
During the two opening sets, the audience of mostly teenagers in emo punk garb trickled in, taking up most of the floor by the time Against Me! hit the stage.
The first opener was singer-songwriter David Dondero, whose acoustic, Dylan-esque story songs didn’t at all reflect the band to come. Aside from the presence of a musical saw player, it was a low-key and unremarkable beginning that induced relative boredom in the crowd.
The second opening band was an electronic-rock duo named Matt and Kim, who were possibly even more frantic than the main event. Kim beat her drums into the ground and nearly shook the entire venue while Matt sang and played catchy keyboard lines in the vein of bands like Hellogoodbye and Motion City Soundtrack. This practically set the audience on fire, with the majority of them dancing for the whole set.
When Against Me! finally took the stage, the crowd surged forward.
The set list relied heavily on its new record – the band played over half the songs from it. If the fans noticed, they weren’t phased. They moshed and screamed to every lyric.
The band oozed energy the entire time. Lead singer and guitarist Tom Gabel’s yelp was even more powerful than on the record, to the point where one could worry about the health of his vocal chords. The rest of the band was as tight as can be, which pumped extra tension into the epic “The Ocean.”
Songs that contained a heavy sheen production-wise on “New Wave,” such as the title track, were vastly improved and nearly sounded like hardcore punk songs when translated into the live setting.
Even one of the weaker songs, “From Her Lips to God’s Ears (The Energizer),” attained a newfound sense of urgency during the show, beyond the bizarre and somewhat invigorating sight of a bunch of punk rock kids collectively screaming “Condoleezza!”
Regardless of the surprising acceptance of the new material, the old garnered the greatest reaction from the audience. During the anthemic “Pints of Guinness Make You Strong,” Gabel’s vocals were almost entirely overpowered by the audience. The band closed with “Baby, I’m an Anarchist.” In between Gabel descending into the crowd during the song’s rousing chorus, several fans hopped onstage to sing a few lines before security kicked them off.
Near the end of the concert, Gabel dubbed Reno the band’s “home away from home,” referring to the incredibly positive reception.
The reaction of the audience shows that, despite accusations, fan support remains strong as Against Me! tries new things with each album.
And if Against Me! continues to deliver such impassioned concerts, it’ll never really “sell out.”
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on Tuesday, September 25th, 2007 at 12:39 am and is filed under Arts & Entertainment, Concert Reviews.
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September 25th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
I was wondering how you get involved in taking the pictures for this site of the paper because I was there for the band and took pictures that were as good or better than the one shown. I am very interested in photography. Any response would be great. :)