Concert Review For Brand New/Thrice/mewithoutyou 11/07/07 Soma, San Diego, CA

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SHOW REVIEW: Brand New/Thrice/mewithoutyou
LOCATION: Soma, San Diego CA
11/07/07

Let me start by saying that Soma in San Diego California has become a very well put together venue, especially in their security. They took everything I had in my pocket from me at the door, including batteries. I thought it was a little extreme but I'm sure they must have their reasons for these practices.

As I came to the venue there was this eager excitement coming from the crowd but I have to say the majority of them were shouting for Long Island NY's Brand New. This alone made me all the more exited to so see them, since I've never seen the band perform.

The first band up was mewithoutyou from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It's overwhelming to see a band put genuine excitement and energy in to their performance, which lasted to the last minute of their set. If you've never heard a mewithoutyou record before, you're in for a surprise. You could make the assumption that their lead singer is just a blabbering idiot on stage, but if you listen closely and rid yourself of the whole traditional sing along and your chorus/verse structures, their performance is very moving and exiting. Their set was closed by a song with an awesome rhythm section. Lead by front man Aaron Weiss which was different for mewithoutyou because it was actually sung, unlike most of their songs. Overall mewithoutyou fan or first time listener, their performance is absolutely a show you would want to see again.

The next act was Thrice from Orange County, California. This threw me off because I thought they were the headlining band. The set was opened with a heavy number from their newly released album "The Alchemy Index: Volumes 1 and 2 Fire & Ice". Through the whole performance Thrice was just not there. I don't know if it was the new slower songs but they were missing the energy from their past performances. A good thing about their set was the way they placed the old and new songs throughout. Even though the new songs were not so memorable compared to their previous material, I was pleased to hear them play the songs you know the audience wanted to hear (Deadbolt, Staring At The Sun etc). I have to be honest but I wasn't impressed by the new songs, although I do respect the musicianship put toward them, for example Teppei Teranishi (lead guitarist) looked extremely concentrated into the parts that required keyboards as well as Dustin Kensrue (lead singer/guitarist) when it came to manipulating his voice with his Mike Patton like vocal pedals. The end of the set was closed with the crowd favorite "Deadbolt", and the whole place went nuts! Very nice way to go out.

Now the most boring part of this show was waiting for Brand New to set up. When you leave the stage area and step out for a little air, you sit down and time just goes by faster, and before you know it you're running back in because the band has started to play and you find your self struggling to reach the front, close enough to see the whats on the kick drum, but unfortunately my company didn't want to loose their spot. I can truly tell you that the wait was worth it. Brand fucken New stole the show and that is a fact! With an amazing new album (The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me) released not to long ago, this year most of the set was focused on supporting that disk. One of my first things I noticed about the band was the fact that they had three guitarist including the lead singer and two drum sets, of which one was only used. However their drum tech joined for a couple of the songs. With that in mind you know you can expect a real show stopper of musical proportions. Through most of the breaks between songs I was surprised by the crowds requests, they were shouting mostly new songs like their previous albums never existed. But that was quite alright because like I said their new album is worth listening to and should be purchased immediately.

The show had many a slow burners as well as fast paced tracks, with many sing along moments the crowd sure enjoyed. With that said Brand New impressed me and I recommend you check them out when they come to a city near you.

~Alain Santana

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