Brand New: Emo Punk Circa 2003 Isn't Dead

photo by Ryan Vestil

It’s been a week since I saw Brand New in concert, but, to be honest, I’m still a little bit sore from the amount of people that I found myself becoming one with over the course of the night.

Modest Mouse & Brand New have been co-headlining a tour across the nation the last month, and I was lucky to attend a show along with 17,000 other people packed into The Forum in Inglewood, California. I’m a relatively reserved person and the expression of any excitement is something strange, especially to myself. That’s why it was a bit surprising to find myself in the middle of a mosh pit yelling every lyric four songs into Brand New’s set. However, this level of emotion that I had during this show made me realize something: for as many fantastic new bands that there are coming out with great music, the one’s that we grew up with will always hold the place closest to our heart and seeing them live will bring back a flood of memories comparable to nothing.

I was lucky enough to avoid the influx of terrible pop music that was prevalent during the mid 2000’s. Rather, I grew up on a steady stream of bands such as The Strokes, The White Stripes, and Manchester Orchestra. However, out of all the bands that I spent hours locked in my room listening to as a young teenager, Brand New will always be my favorite. The first time I heard their music I was 12 and in my brother’s car. Something just caught my attention with the amount of anger expressed in the line:

“I’ve seen more spine in a jellyfish”

“I’ve seen more guts in eleven year old kids”

This line was found on their album “Your Favorite Weapon” and was released when I was only six.  From that first punk album, the band rapidly involved into a genre-breaking group who’s only standards seemed to be to remain as honest, aggressive, raw, and poetic as possible.  Considering that I was a bit of a late-comer to the band’s music I was able to listen to their next two albums within the course of the same day as discovering their music  I found that their music had changed from their first album into something much more mature and though provoking.  They had grown up before I even had a chance to watch them do so.  Although their style of music changed drastically with their next two releases, one thing remained the same: they connected to me as a teenager in a way that nothing or no one else had.  The music found in these three albums was right beside me through every high and low of my teenage years (and, as I’m sure you know, being a teenager brings plenty of these).  I was only able to experience the thrill of a release of a new album from the band one time and that was with 2009’s “Daisy”.  To be honest, the album was a bit of a disappointment.  It seemed to be telling of what had to be an unavoidable end for the band.  It was an impression that I didn’t like thinking and was luckily put to rest upon seeing them live. 

     

Regardless of how I felt of the band’s most recent release seven years ago, I had never been so excited to attend a show. I went along with my three brothers, all of whom had grown up listening to the band. Considering that we had been planning this show for months, we should have been more prepared for the typical L.A. traffic. I can’t remember a time when I was more stressed than when we were sitting in stopped traffic and I was praying we wouldn’t miss a single note. I love my brothers, but we wouldn’t have talked for a good year if they made me late because they wanted to get dinner beforehand. People need to have priorities.

photo: Ryan Vestil

Luckily, we made it to the show in plenty of time and we found ourselves in the middle of the general admission standing area. The show began and it took me three songs of standing still appreciating being there before it hit me that I was finally getting a chance to experience these songs live. By the fourth song, I realized that this show was actually happening and I couldn’t resist the urge to do whatever I could to get closer to the stage. I left my brothers (too old to spend the next hour getting shoved around) and soon found myself in the midst of a pit of twenty-something year old guys sweating, shoving, and yelling.

Let me tell you, this isn’t really my thing. I hate sweat, I like my personal space, and I maintain a constant monotone voice. That all went out the window. I soon found myself jumping around, bumping bodies with random people, and yelling the same lyrics that were my best friends when I needed consoling as an angsty teenager. All those feelings came back during the show in a rush of emotion that I had never experienced before, and it was evident that everyone there was experiencing the same things. It was special and something I will never forget.

One of the songs performed at the show contained the lines:

“I hope this songs starts a craze

The kind of song that ignites the airwaves.

The kind of song that makes people glad

To be where they are,

With whomever they're there with.”

As I was yelling along with these lyrics I saw the power of the music come to life. It wasn’t just a futile hope that the band penned hoping it would sound good in a song, but it was something I was experiencing right in front of me.

photo: Danielle Gornbein

I wish I could remember more of the details of the show and be able to explain them in a way that accurately portrayed why this was my favorite show I’ve ever been to, but that’s just not possible. However, there was one thing that I will always remember clearly. The final song of the encore was “You Won’t Know” and includes a interlude containing barely audible lyrics followed by a deafening three minutes of instrumental outro. During the outro, frontman Jesse Lacey made his way literally onto the drum set. Before, destabilizing the entire set and crashing back to the floor, I noticed for the first time what shoes he was wearing. They were orange New Balance’s. Not cool at all. Because I care entirely too much about what I wear, it caught my attention for a while. Then I realized something, this band just performed a sold-out show in front of 17,000. They didn’t need to worry about what they were wearing. They’re not a band of flashiness, style, sensation, or gimmicks. They simply make good music in a way that connects to people in an unbelievable way.

Most people grow out of their teenage feelings and stuff them behind a combination of maturity and diminished hormones. They forget the feelings they experienced as a teenager that grew them into the person they've become because they seem to believe there's no room for those feelings anymore. I don't ever want to do that. I know I wouldn't be the same person I am today if I didn't have this band's music to listen to growing up. For that reason, regardless of whatever new indie bands I'm listening to at the moment, Brand New and the rest of the bands I grew up on will always have the place closest to my heart. Some kids connect with music more than anything else and it shapes them into the person they are. I always have been and I always will be one of those "kids". I found it refreshing to reconnect 8 years later with the same kid who fell in love with a band and see that regardless of whatever issues I'm dealing with now, a month away from turning 21, that kid deep-down hasn't really changed.

The show ended with an ominous backdrop foreshadowing the band's end in 2018, but I know that for everyone their music has touched, their influence will last for much longer.