Brand New, Anathallo – Live (May 11th, 2007)

For the weeks leading up to this show I was continually thinking about Brand New‘s performance and changing my expectations. I’d watch a few live videos online but they weren’t anything special and I had never been a huge fan of Deja Entendu (although the past week I’ve grown greatly accustomed to it) so I had a few doubts in my mind on whether the show would be good or not. On the other hand, I had been told by numerous friends that they were great live and I was beginning to gain a deeper appreciation for the band’s records so I slowly started to become very anxious for the show. When the show finally arrived I was able to see that everything I had been told about Brand New‘s live show was right.

First up was the sole opening act, Anathallo – a rather large eight piece band who weren’t the most energizing but were quite interesting. Their music was slow and soft, similar to Hundred Year Storm but their musicianship was amazing. The eight members swapped instruments every song going from guitars to drums to giant drums to trumpets and piano and xylophone and more. They had the regular drum kit set up along with three giant marching band drums to add an extra layer to the sound. The show was very mellow and the songs very long, making a sound that I think I’d like on CD during the right occasions – live, they kind of dragged on but were still interesting to watch.

After a thirty minute wait, Jesse Lacey and Brand New came on and put on a show I won’t soon forget. Opening up with Okay, I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don’t the stage was dark with only a spotlight glowing up each face before exploding during the final verse. The show never let down from there as they started with their older material and moved to The Devil & God Are Raging Inside Me later in the set. Playing tracks like Seventy Times Seven, The No Seatbelt Song, and The Quiet Things No One Ever Knows the band stayed away from their more pop-punk tracks of Your Favorite Weapon and focused on the mellower tracks. Lacey even stripped down for an acoustic cover which merged into The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot. Throughout it all Lacey’s vocals were slightly harsh but passionate and strong, he put in some slight twists during the tracks chopping the vocals up and putting in some small live changes.

However, the show didn’t really start until they broke into The Devil & God tracks. During those tracks they brought on a second drummer to play on the set that was facing Brian Lane to help play the same beat but even stronger. Kicking it off with Sowing Season (Yeah!), they also played Millstone, The Archers Bows Have Broken and Jesus. During the tracks members of Anathallo came out and helped move the beat along by playing the marching band drums while a roadie played a third guitar in the background. Ending the show was a passionate and powerful rendition of You Won‘t Know followed by one of the best show closing instrumentals I had ever seen. Joining the quartet were eight other musicians, a combination of roadies and members of Anathallo making for a chaotic and phenomenal sound. It was definitely the drumming that made it though,as at one point there were eight people drumming on two drum kits and and random drums scattered around the stage.

It was definitely a show to remember, Brand New lived up to their reputation of being a great live band and had the crowd eating out of their hands.