Brand New @ House of Blues Boston 11.17 & 11.18

Brand New played two shows at the House of Blues in Boston last week. The first night, I went with my brother and our friends Matt, Simon and Bulldog Leonard. So, lots of beer and sweat and shouting and jostling. The second night I went with @melissachusetts and sat up in the balcony with a hangover and a Coke and took it all in. I think this is the way to do it. Get your drunken, sing-along catharsis with the boys on night one and the your sober thoughtful cozy time with the girl on night two.

The last time I saw Brand New was in the intimate confines of the 600 person capacity Middle East downstairs. I was so close I could bottle Jesse Lacey’s sweat and sell that shit on ebay. I loved seeing them in such a small venue but they also scale really, really well to the 2500 capacity HOB. The visual experience consisted of well-managed white lighting and dual grainy (mostly) black-and-white 16mm-ish projections on a three story white backdrop. And the sound in this place was amazing. As good as they were on the tiny stage at the Middle East, this is the way to see Brand New. A spectacle befitting the epic grandeur of their music.

The set lists varied slightly between the two nights. It seemed a lot more audibles were called the second night and most of the additions skewed toward older stuff. The only songs I didn’t hear on either night that I missed were “Jaws Theme Swimming” from Deja Entendu and “Daisy” from their new record of the same name.

In interviews, the band has said that the new album was written with an eye toward live performance and seeing the Daisy numbers in their intended context really bares that out. The new songs are taught and lean and muscular and surgical compared with the bombastic city-levellers of the previous album. With guitarist Vin Accardi playing a larger role in the writing process for Daisy, it’s difficult to tell who is responsible for penning which lyrics but “You Stole” is the best thing (lyrically) the band has written yet and the live version is shiver-inducing. Also, “Gasoline”, “Bought a Bride”, “Vices” and “At the Bottom” were barn burners. Jesse Lacey’s vocal stamina is impressive.

Meanwhile, a few songs off of The Devil and God were treated with a bit of contempt on the second night. “Sowing Season (Yeah)” became “Sowing Season (No)” and “You Won’t Know” sounded like a cluster fuck to me. Both nights Jesse did an almost-solo rendition of “Limousine” that most people really dug. I liked aspects of it but it also completely neutered the “So green” bridge section that is my favorite moment on the album. However, “Archers”, destroyed. This song is awesome live. It’s also fantastic on the album but is often overlooked because of it’s poor track placement (between “Untitled” and the terrible “Handcuffs”). Live, it’s devastating.

Most requested song both nights: “Seventy Times 7″ . I heard some dude requesting it the first night like three songs after they had already played it. I guess everyone just really loves shouting “I hope you choke and die!”. In other news, oldest guy at the show: me.