The first sign that the concert was going to be interesting was the attitude of those running the show. Held Saturday, April 24 at the University of Scranton, two Voice editors had the opportunity to watch Long Island-based alternative rock band Brand New play for a crowd of hundreds of rowdy college students. The students on staff, who made the show happen, consistently warned us of the dangers of crowd surfing, worried that someone would get hurt.
The opening act, Polar Bear Club, hardly incited much of a reaction amongst those gathered. It didn't help that throughout their first few songs, sound problems prevented most of the audience from hearing the lead singer's vocals. The band had an incredible amount of energy, however, and definitely tried their best to get the crowd going.
Polar Bear Club is an indie-rock and hardcore punk band formed out of the upstate New York area. Formed in 2005, they were signed a year later by Triple Attack Records, and will release their sophomore album, Chasing Hamburg, this September.
Despite a valiant attempt on the part of Polar Bear Club, the crowd quickly grew restless waiting for Brand New, the band they had really come to see. As the opening band left the stage, more and more fans quickly filled the auditorium. We were consistently reminded that we could only take photos in front of the barricade during the first three songs, after which we would have to move off to the side for our own safety. The crowd didn't seem that dangerous, at least not from our perspective. They seemed merely restless and ready for the show to start.
When the lights went out, the crowd went crazy. For what seemed like ages, the lack of lighting helped build up the already palpable anticipation. When the lights finally did come on, it was only to illuminate the band from behind, and only in flashes. Without a single word to the audience, Brand New launched into their first song, "Gasoline", off 2009's Daisy, their most recent album.
The second song, "Sink", also from Daisy, kept the crowd excited and gave fans a chance to hear the newer music that they aren't as familiar with as the band's classics. The next two songs, from their previous album, The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me, gave the audience an instrumental piece with "Untitled" and the fan-favorite "Sowing Season." The fifth song once again was a newer song, "Bought A Bride," from Daisy.
As an intro to their next song, guitarist Vincent Accardi played chords from the National Anthem, harkening back to Jimmy Hendrix's classic performance at Woodstock. The next song, "The Archers Bows Have Broken," an upbeat song from the album The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me, really got the crowd energized and pumped for their one of their most well-known songs, "I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don't," from their gold-certified sophomore album Deja Entendu. The crowd got involved with this song, with many singing along at the top of their lungs to the catchy, upbeat tune.
With the crowd so excited and ready for more, it seemed natural that this would be the time for them to get over-excited. Various crowd surfers rode the wave of the mosh pit to the barricade, where security was waiting to keep them in check. One memorable fan jumped the barricade and leaped onto the stage, running towards the band, before turning and stage diving into the crowd. Impressively, no one was hurt, and the show went on.
Afterwards, lead singer Jesse Lacey explained how he wasn't expecting the guy to dive. "Every now and then, someone will come up and punch me in the head, so I was kinda waiting for that, or for him to come up and start singing," Lacey told us. "But this guy, he just came up and went for it, he really looked like he just wanted someone to hug."
As if the crowd could get any more excited, the band launched into "Sic Transit Gloria… Glory Fades," a song from their sophomore album. Interesting lyrically, the song describes a young boy who is coerced into sex by an older woman and regrets the feeling of emptiness the experience gives him. The crowd then relaxed into "Seventy Times 7," the show's only song from the band's first album, 2001's Your Favorite Weapon. The audience sang along, and more than one person was visible with their arms in the air.
Brand New then played three back-to-back songs from The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me, fan-favorites "Jesus," "Degauser," and "You Won't Know." They then played two new songs, You Stole and At The Bottom, the current single from their new album and the last song of the show played as a band.
As a finale, lead singer Jesse Lacey performed "Play Crack The Sky" as a solo. This ended the concert on a mellow note, leaving the audience in a thoughtful, pensive frame of mind. Backstage, one Voice editor approached drummer Brian Lane and requested an interview. They were really relaxed and happy to speak to us, after, of course, they'd showered and had a chance to chill. We watched as the audience filed out in an orderly fashion, leaving the auditorium with no concert casualties, only good memories.
We were honored to join the hard-working students, who made the concert happen at their school for a meet-and-greet backstage with the band. Lead singer Jesse Lacey, guitarist Derrick Sherman, and drummer Brian Lane mingled in a hallway and were happy to answer questions and sign posters and t-shirts for the staff. Despite their shy appearance on stage, the band was friendly and talkative when not in the spotlight. Brian Lane joined us for a quick few questions before joining his band and family for some after-show downtime.
When asked about their future touring plans, Lane told us that they aren't going to tour as much as they had in the past. "We're planning on taking the summer off," he said. "It seems weird, we've only been touring with this record [Daisy] for about four months, but [guitarist and vocalist] Vin [Accardi] just got married, and we all want to take some time off to just chill out. We'll see where it goes from there, we can't really think ahead more than an hour."
It may seem, from the way he was talking, that the band had lost their passion, but that isn't the case at all. Lane said that he honestly enjoys playing both past and present material.
"Obviously the newer stuff is my favorite [to play], because it's still a challenge and I love to be challenged when I play," he said. "There are some songs that we all love to do, like "You Won't Know" and "Degauser," which we always play back-to-back for some reason."
Some songs, he said, "Don't really fit who we are anymore, like "Seventy Times 7," but people want to hear them and we don't mind playing them. I don't think there are any songs that I really hate, but there are a lot that we've forgotten. I want to bring some older songs back [when we tour], but we're going to have to relearn how to play them first."
All in all, Brand New had a lot of fan expectations to live up to, and musically they delivered admirably. A band noted for their quiet stage presence, they may not have put on a show of the same type as the world's Lady Gagas and Ozzy Osbournes, but they didn't fail to put on a great performance for everyone at the John Long Center in Scranton.
is a member of the 
Be the first to comment on this article! Log in to Comment
You must be logged in to comment on an article. Not already a member? Register now