Brand New - Cardiff Great Hall Feb 17th Review

A beautiful haze, but dream like...

By Morgan Roberts /

The first, and last, time I saw Brand New was a haze. A beautiful haze, but dream like. Possibly something to do with coming into consciousness in London; with the only memory prior to the blackness before that being a house party the previous night, at my own student house in Cardiff. After arrival in London€™s night, having worked out where I was, who I was, who I was with and why we were here. It soon became clear that it would require a substantial amount of substances to counteract the after effects of the previous nights concoction for me to appear to seem fit to be allowed in to an upstanding venue like Wembley Arena. I€™d already been warned if I couldn€™t get in, there would be no sympathy, I€™d be on my own until the gig was over. This was fair enough. http://youtu.be/v2_TuzK0ESw Suffice to say I did get in and my dream like fugue was granted its dream like wishes. An arena of fans each more loyal than the last, given the grand pleasures of the sets on offer that night from Thrice, rare to these shores Glassjaw and of course a powerful back lit set list from Brand New themselves. So two years later and they€™ve returned, not with a new album in two or a preliminary testing the waters of new material, no, they return for the gigs and for the fans. Delivering a different set each night that displays what you could describe as best of sets; featuring equal lashings of each album. When pubs local to the venue are being jukebox hijacked with Brand New tunes before this sold out last night over the tour, you begin to appreciate hopes are high for many attending tonight. Surprisingly the sold out venue fills slowly, but these may be in part due to the fact that the support acts are nowhere near as seminal as those for Wembley. Though also in part to the fact some people will always only want to see Brand New. http://youtu.be/fvo73wvAHE8 First up are Aberdeen€™s own The Xcerts with their own brand of distorted pop that comes across somewhere between fellow Scots Biffy Clyro€™s mid period (between weird and chart conquering) by way of a little Tubelord and Weezer. It€™s a tight and energetic performance that shows some potential in this three piece particularly when set highlight Slackerpop comes around. True to last night on tour the camaraderie has clearly built between bands with last night pranks. During The Xcerts last song a roadie comes on starts to take apart drummer Tom Heron€™s kit, as the members of I Am The Avalanche and Brand New pelt the stage with toilet roll and anything to hand. Next up we have I Am The Avalanche, currently in support of last year€™s sophomore effort Avalanche United. Most notable to most for being the mainstay act for former The Movielife vocalist Vinnie Caruana, this being well documented in conversation amongst the crowd. It€™s been a little while since I last gave I Am The Avalanche a listen, but testament to the strong songs in their artillery I€™m immediately familiar with opener Holy Fuck and the set that follows. A fast and loose blend of classic American punk rock, pop punk and hints of melodic hardcore. The band give it an all or nothing performance and win round many an unfamiliar in the crowd, it€™s an enthusiastic and enjoyable set that goes some way to showing that these songs cut it live as well as on record. With some notable album highlights making their presence known. http://youtu.be/Z8a1ityx7s4 It€™s at this point in the evening€™s proceedings that the full capacity crowd all try to make their way as close to the front as the person next to them is, and some of Cardiff€™s musical celebrities make their presence known. As the hustle and bustle ducks and dives in between each other for the best spot, underneath the music streaming through the PA you hear tales of Brand New shared, gigs, meetings, tattoos, anything and everything and then; black out. The crowd€™s audible joy bleeds into the feedback and acoustic intro to Welcome to Bangcock, the slow burning and atmospheric instrumental centrepiece of The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me. With crescendo reached introductions have been made. http://youtu.be/cMIyyU3l1t4 Powerfully back lit and mostly in silhouette and darkness, it€™s down to business and the business is songs. After our dramatic introduction we€™re delivered some of the bigger hitters from Devil and God, and we€™re on to the highlights of Daisy. The crowd€™s excitement visibly building as the set goes on; singing everything that needs to be sung and nodding heads to the moodier and heavier guns in the bands repertoire. Though it€™s when Tautou is played and the third act of the evenings armoury if introduced that the crowd really get into their appreciative stride. This third act being the band€™s seminal second album Deja Entendu and with this portion of songs the crowd truly erupt, hands are held aloft, when they€™re not holding on to their partner in the masses trying to stay close as the whole floor bounces and interweaves with each other; pushing further to the fore screaming the lyrics until they break a sweat. http://youtu.be/cKDc2lkt_mE You€™d think this crowd couldn€™t jump or sing anymore emphatically then they already have been (myself included) but when the fourth instalment comes in the form of some of the key tracks from their debut Your Favourite Weapon. The euphoria of the songs themselves lift the crowd ever higher. With the last strains of Seventy Times Seven fading out, they€™ve touched all four bases and you think that€™s it. That is until, the opening notes of the hauntingly beautiful Limousine get the final segment underway, and it seems never before have an audience and artist been more in tune than Limousine€™s coda; I love you so much, but do me a favour baby but don€™t reply, because I can dish out but I can€™t take it. As it counts its way to climax. Next treated to Jesus Christ, Degausser and You Won€™t Know as a finale, both band and fans giving it their all. It€™s during this final act that you see the not often seen fun side of the group, as the support acts assault the stage with toilet roll, papers, anything they can get their hands on, Jesse Lacey tosses his sweat drenched hoody to the rabid fans, stage dives and even cracks smiles in the chaos ensuing at all angles around him. Leading to his inviting The Xcerts, I Am The Avalanche and stage crew on to the stage for the closing You Won€™t Know. This is the last night of the tour and it€™s clear that everyone involved has been having the time of their lives. As the set closes Jesse Lacey dives into his own stack of amps and trashes the kit. The crowd are left drained and awash with feedback. Elated. So here€™s to the eventual next album, the following tour, and to my remaining somewhat clear headed this time. Though we won€™t go into what happened afterwards.