Brevity is the soul of punk rock (or maybe some sort of sub-souly bit around the outer part of the spirit, like the ectoplasm or something). Many a band has made a fine point quickly, and often with liberal use of exclamation points. This “rule” was proven, both in a good and a bad way, on Friday, April 14, when punk rock champ Alkaline Trio, and everyone’s favorite underground hero/mainstream sellout (depending on your perspective, you cute little anarchist, you) Against Me!, came to the Electric Factory for “The Occult Roots of Alkaline Trio Tour.” Guitars were distorted, vocal chords were shredded to pulp and fists were raised. Also, a lot of kids just kind of stood around. So it goes.
The maxim of brevity was evident right away, as the tour was simple and snotty. With only two bands, both sets offered were more than enough for eager fans. Against Me! played first, and the members walked on to the stage to the tune of their own music (the instrumental “A Brief Yet Triumphant Intermission” from As the Eternal Cowboy). This self-indulgent opening theme may have been a knowing wink and middle finger flip to former fans outraged over the band’s recent signing to mainstream label Sire Records. Or maybe the band just thought “Intermission” is a good song, and they would have been right. Either way, the band still plugged in and confidently and joyously ripped into the fan favorite “Pints of Guinness Make You Strong.”
Soaked in old school rock ’n roll drumming and folk-punk strumming, “Guinness” set off AM! fans into a tizzy. While a decent portion of the sold-out crowd didn’t know any AM! songs, there was a strong contingent of unwashed and emphatic folks up front, screaming every line. Most of the band’s set consisted of material from the more widely known releases, Cowboy and last year’s Searching For a Former Clarity. Tunes like “Miami” and “T.S.R.” were played with the utmost aggression, but always with a smile. Drummer Warren Oakes especially kept up a bearded grin throughout the band’s 45-minute set.
Having provided a righteous, raucous racket, Against Me! bowed out with Reinventing Axl Rose’s mission statement, “We Laugh at Danger and Break All the Rules.” Frontman Tom Gable stomped and shouted himself into oblivion, Rumpelstiltskin-style. The band members also tossed their instruments to each other for the last chorus. That was awesome, too.
Brevity was key to AM!’s performance. All of the band’s songs attacked head on, and the 45 minutes of rocking were quite adequate. This would have a vast contrast with headliner Alkaline Trio, who stoically played for over two hours.
Alkaline Trio’s performance can be broken up into three sections, and the first portion showed why the tour was geared towards the band roots: Trio played its first album, Godammit!, in its entirety and in album-order. The group played numbers like “San Francisco” and “Clavicle” literally by the numbers. The performances were assured, but they were also a little sterile.
The band, though clearly inebriated, was able to play every song (more or less), though at the cost of stage presence. There was little movement and crowd interaction. The crowd was equally, and surprisingly, tame.
Having finished playing Godammit!, Alkaline Trio moved on to the next part of its set: acoustic songs. Guitarist Matt Skiba brought out “Good Fucking Bye” from his solo split album with Kevin Seconds of punk act 7 Seconds. Bassist Dan Andriano converted the full-band effort “My Standard Break From Life” to an acoustic guitar for an intimate and self-deprecating moment with the crowd.
Then there was the final section of Alkaline Trio’s set, which was a mix of just about everything else the group has written. Four tracks from the lackluster Crimson were played, along with some cuts from the group’s self-titled album as well, such as “My Friend Peter.”
At one point, Skiba, in reaction to the show’s taking place on Good Friday, spouted some gibberish about Jesus being creepy or something. It was a cute theological point to make to young, impressionable folks. Thumbs up, bro; you’re a regular Brother Joe Dougherty [Only makes sense if you go to La Salle University].
The band capped off its over two hours of rock with an old fan favorite, “Radio.” Taken from the woefully underrepresented Maybe I’ll Catch Fire, “Radio” brought out some real emotion from the band, as Skiba spouted a hateful diatribe against a former lover. The band did not come back for an encore.
The night was a mixed Hot Topic tote bag for fans. Against Me! rocked; Alkaline Trio was distant. Regardless, the crowd went home mostly happy, and rightly so. This is the first of many spring/summertime punk rock tours to come to Philly.
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