The Bouncing Souls Home for the Holidays Night Three

The Bouncing Souls “Home for the Holidays”
December 28th, 2009
The Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ

Despite its ocean front location and spacious boardwalk, Asbury Park, New Jersey will never be mistaken for one of the prettier places in the world. On this bitterly cold December day, it was downright eerie.

All that was missing from the barren beaches and parking lots was rolling tumble weed, but even that would be hesitant to brave the arctic conditions that marked the end of 2009.

The cold weather proved no match for the Bouncing Souls or their fans, who packed the venerable Stone Pony for the third of four “Home for the Holidays” performances. Like the venue itself, the Bouncing Souls are a blue collar, no frills type of band that have earned their spot in punk lore. With help from some like-minded acts, the band would put on an outstanding hometown performance.

The night began with a short set from Static Radio NJ. The band played a mix of hardcore and melodic punk that that wasn’t all that well received by the crowd. Next up was P.O.S. The Minneapolis hip-hop artist who stuck out like a sore thumb in the show’s lineup. By poking, prodding, and borderline insulting the audience, he was somehow able to get the crowd involved as those at the near the front of the stage were waving their arms and chanting along towards the end of the set.

The main support came from Bayside, another no-frills act with a history of opening for the Bouncing Souls. The band almost always puts on a solid set, and this night was no different as the crowd finally had a chance to move and sing along. The only compliant I had was that the set list was very familiar to anyone who had seen them in the past. The quartet continues to shy away from material off Shudder, their most recent, and arguably strongest record.

While the Bayside set was enjoyable, it couldn’t compare to the energetic, sweaty, nearly perfect show put on by the hometown heroes. From the opening one-two punch of “Here We Go” and “Never Say Die/When You’re Young,” until the closing notes of “The Freak, Nerds, and Romantics,” the show moved at break-neck speed.

The set list came courtesy of a local charity that was present as the show, and boy was it a good one. Celebrating 20 years as a band, it would be almost impossible to satisfy everyone, but with a perfect mix of old and new, the quartet seemed to do just that. While favorites such as “Mantham,”  “Hopeless Romantic,” or any of the five songs off 1996’s Maniacal Laughter inspired giant circle pits, it was newer material that shined, including the very appropriate “Ghosts on the Boardwalk.”

Even up on stage in front of a sold-out crowd, you would think the band was playing a basement show in front of family and friends. To an extent, they were. The group had scheduled meet and greet events throughout the week, including after parties, “hang sessions,” and record store visits. They joked with those in the audience between songs, and even stopped one song to make note of how badly they had botched the opening. The group’s lack of “rock star” image or ego is another reason why they have managed to endear themselves to so many fans over the past two decades.

After closing the show with a four songs encore, the band would leave the stage having thoroughly exhausted those in the crowd. Half the fans slowly filed out onto a quiet and cold Ocean Avenue, while the other half rushed the merch table looking for a shirt or cd to help commemorate the night. Whether you walked out with souvenir or not, the show would be hard to forget. While a veteran band at the top of their game in front of an adoring hometown crowd at an intimate venue is always going to yield good results, this show was something special.

Better Late Than Never: Best of ‘09

End of year lists have become a holiday tradition for me. I love reading them, and this year has been better than any other because not only have I been buried in an avalanche of “best music of ‘09″ list, I’ve also been barraged with “best of the decade” lists. I normally disagree with these countdowns. In fact, the lists form major publication like Rolling Stone and Spin usually come off as laughable at best.

This year, however, I’ve read through all of these different “best of” lists, and haven’t had much of a reaction. While trying to compile my own list, I realized I could barely remember any great albums that had been released in the past 12 months. This worried me, because it’s not like this hasn’t been a good year for music, at least according to all the critics.

Anyway, here’s what I could come up with:

1. Morrissey – Years of Refusal
Great album, definitely the most pleasant surprise of the year.

2. AFI – Crash Love
This record definitely benefits from the fact I saw them twice this year, and they’re my favorite band. This isn’t the group’s strongest effort, but songs like “Veronica Sawyer Smokes,” “Darling I Want to Destroy You” and “Cold Hands” were among the best of the AFI’s career. Lead single “Medicate,” however, was one of the worst.

3. New Found Glory – Not Without A Fight
Wow, I’m really surprised this is so high up on my list, because it also falls short of their earlier work. However, even a mediocre album from New Found Glory is more enjoyable than most records for me.

4. White Lies To Lose My Life
Dark, desolate, depressed. The English trio picked the perfect year to release their debut EP.

5. Brand New – Daisy
Heavier Material like “Vices” and “Sink” were great, and single “At the Bottom” matches up to anything they’ve done in the past. As a whole however, this record doesn’t equal the greatness of their two previous efforts.

6. Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
I’ve been surprised to see this record absent from nearly every year end list I’ve read. The former indie darlings produced what I thought was their most consistent release to date.

7. Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown
Keeping with the current trend, this album wasn’t as good as their last, 2005’s American Idiot, but it was another solid effort.

8. Anti Flag – The People or the Gun
Half of this album was great, the other half was forgettable, and overall, it was much better than The Bright Lights of America.

9. Thrice – Beggers
This record isn’t higher on my list because I haven’t listened to it enough, a testament to the fact that it’s the type of album that gets better with every listen.

10. American Steal – Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts
While their last effort, Destroy their Future, was a politically charged masterpiece, the band seemed to lose some of their edge on this record. Still a fun listen.

Honorable mentions:
Thursday – Common Existence
Every Time I Die – New Junk Aesthetic
Silverstein – A Shipwreck in the Sand

Brand New Returns Home With Mixed Results

Brand New, Glassjaw, Crime in Stereo
Oakdale Theater, Wallingford CT
November 25th 2009

On the night before Thanksgiving, Brand New would make a stop in Connecticut on their way to a homecoming show on Long Island. While it would have been easy to mail it in knowing home was less than two hours away, the band put in another great effort, ripping though old favorites as well as the majority of tracks from their latest effort, Daisy.

Just like in Boston a week earlier (read my review here), new songs received only a luke-warm reception, while cuts such as “Jude Law and a Semester Abroad” and “Okay I Believe You but my Tommy Gun Don’t” had the crowd up in arms. The only disappointing aspect of the set was that it was about 15 minutes shorter than their Boston effort and excluded other fan favorites such as “Mixed Tape” and “The Shower Scene.”

The shorter set shouldn’t take away from the fact that Jesse Lacey and Co. were once again first-rate, proving that even when they should have one foot out the door, they’re still one of today’s great live bands.

Brand New, Glassjaw, Thrice, Manchester Orchestra, Kevin Devine
Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale New York
November 29th 2009

You would think this one would deserve its own review, wouldn’t you? Unfortunately, Brand New’s  biggest ever headlining show didn’t quite live

Glassjaw's Palumbo

up to expectations. With support from a hand full of their favorite bands at an arena just minutes from where they grew up, I think everyone who made their way inside the Nassau Coliseum was expecting something special. What they got was something very ordinary.

The main reason the show wasn’t the rousing success it should have been was the time constraints placed on each band. Five acts on one stage is too many, and it became quite obvious when openers Kevin Devine, Manchester Orchestra, and Thrice were all limited to very short sets. Main support Glassjaw was allowed to play longer, and put on the type of show that has made them Long Island legends, at least to those who mixed it up on the floor of the cavernous arena. Daryl Palumbo was at his deranged best, singing and screaming his vocal cords to shreds.

The best way to describe the headliners set would be “loud.” The speakers which towered above the stage pumped out the type of sound that could finally do justice to tracks such as “Sink” and “Gasoline.” The band did their part by turning in the frenzied performance all of their fans have come to expect.  There was very little between song banter for a hometown show, which wasn’t much of a surprise considering Jessey Lacey is rarely one to wax poetic in such situations.

The most memorable moment of the night was not an individual song, but was when the band finally paused to look around at the thousands of occupied seats stretching high up the rafters. Understated as always, Lacey simply said “This is big… Bigger than my bedroom.”

The band closed the set with “Seventy Times 7″ much sooner than the crowd had hoped, most likely due to a curfew imposed by the venue. While the thousands who filed out of the arena left satisfied, this should have been the type of show that is talked about for years to come, but I doubt that will be the case. The second acoustic stage featuring old favorites Vinnie Caruana of The Movielife and Andy Jackson of Hot Rod Circuit was a very nice touch, as were the four bands who opened on the main stage. However, the next time Brand New returns to Long Island, hopefully they will keep the focus where it belongs, which is squarely on themselves.

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