Concert Review: Brand New/Glassjaw @ Nassau Coliseum (11/28/09)

My first time to Long Island was for Brand New’s homecoming show at Nassau Coliseum.  I admit, the venue was smaller than I expected.  I don’t know, maybe it’s hearing the word “coliseum” that makes me expect a huge amphitheater like the one in Rome.  Instead, Nassau Coliseum was a beaten down and old arena that seats a relatively low 16,000 for an Islanders game.

We arrived at the venue approximately at 6 p.m. and didn’t go in until 7.  In that time I missed the sets for Kevin Devine and Manchester Orchestra.  Once we got in, we took our seats in Row A of Section 209 and got ready for Thrice.  Dustin and company came out and played a lot of newer tracks from their collection.  Since I haven’t seriously listened to Thrice since the first Alchemy Index Volume, I was not familiar with most of their songs.  I enjoyed “The Earth Will Shake” off of Vheissu and rocked out during older hits like “The Artist in the Ambulance” and “Silhouette.”  But overall, Thrice disappointed me with their new sound that crawls at a snail’s pace compared with my favorite album of theirs, Illusion of Safety.  Bring back the speed-core please.

Next up were another Long Island band, the post-hardcore Glassjaw.  Led by Daryl Palumbo, it’s been a while since I’ve seen these guys play.  This just made me even more excited.  Opening up with their brutally energetic “Tip Your Bartender” and continuing Worship and Tribute with “Mu Empire” Glassjaw tore the stage down with their screeching vocals, heavy riffs, and loud melodies.  After calming things down a bit with “Ape Dos Mil” they exploded right back into their final three songs:  “(You Think You’re) John Fucking Lennon”, “Pink Roses”, and “Siberian Kiss.”

Overall, these guys haven’t lost a step from when they were big during their release of Worship and Tribute.  I hope these guys can record a new album soon and I look forward to seeing them two more times by the end of this month!

Glassjaw’s Setlist:
1.  Tip Your Bartender
2.  Mu Empire
3.  Star Above My Bed
4.  Ape Dos Mil
5.  The Gillette Cavalcade of Sports
6.  (You Think You’re) John Fucking Lennon
7.  Pink Roses
8.  Siberian Kiss

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And finally, the band that everyone came to see.  Brand New was finally back in Long Island to play in front of their hometown crowd.  With two screens on both sides of the stage, broken town into a 4-box split screen, that was their special arena addition to their concert.  Though, it was useless because half the show was in almost complete darkness.

The band opened up with a number of tracks off of The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me, along with “Sink,” a song off of their latest album, Daisy.  Then Brand New progressed into their stand-out songs from Deja Entandu, “Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don’t” and “Sic Transit Gloria… Glory Fades.”  After those two songs, the crowd was entirely up and moving around, but as Brand New has shown over and over again, they like to change the mood.  By playing “Limousine” they did just that.

After mellowing the crowd a bit, Brand New ripped into their loudest and most vicious songs “Vices”, “Gasoline”, and “Sowing Season.”  As like I said before, the band broke up their energy with a ballad.  This time it was “You Stole.”

Brand New then played three of their strongest songs off of Devil and God: “Luca”, “The Archers Brows Have Broken”, and “Jesus Christ.”  It was really good to hear them play so much off of (imo their best album) The Devil and God.  To finish of their set, they played their single off of Daisy, “At the Bottom” and then “Play Crack the Sky” and the classic off of Your Favorite Weapon “Seventy Times 7.”

Overall, I was a bit underwhelmed by Brand New’s hometown concert.  I might’ve been wrong thinking the way I did, but I expected something a little bit more from the headliners since they were playing in a sold-out arena.  Instead, it felt like any other Brand New concert I’ve ever been to.  There was nothing memorable about this show.  Brand New sounded great and their performance was tight as usual, but I was disappointed how that was all there was.

Brand New’s Setlist:
Welcome to Bangkok
Sink
Degausser
You Won’t Know
Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don’t
Sic Transit Gloria…Glory Fades
Limousine
Vices
Gasoline
Sowing Season
You Stole
Luca
The Archers Bows Have Broken
Jesus Christ
Bought a Bride
At the Bottom
Play Crack the Sky
Seventy Times 7