Kevin Devine and Goddamn Band

After performances by The Dig and Bad Veins, Kevin Devine and Goddamn Band began their nine-song setlist with “Brother’s Blood”. Along with “Carnival” and “Another Bag of Bones”, the Goddamn Band extended the songs to include extraneous jams and solos. The older “Cotton Crush” went fairly straightforward, as did Devine’s current single “I Could Be With Anyone”. The four-piece’s highlight came in the final song with a truly incredible cover of LCD Soundsystem’s “New York I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down”.

Brother’s Blood
Carnival
Another Bag of Bones
Cotton Crush
I Could Be With Anyone
Buried By the Buzz
Just Stay
She Stayed as Steam
New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down (LCD Soundsystem cover)

Thrice

Thrice kicked things off with “All the World is Mad” and “The Weight — the first two songs from Beggars — before shifting gears and tearing through the title track from their 2003 Island Records debut, The Artist in the Ambulance. Two Vheissu cuts followed: the spiraling “Of Dust and Nations” and the pulsating “The Earth Will Shake”. The Alchemy Index‘s “Firebreather” sounded great — drummer Riley Breckenridge nailed the song’s strange time signatures.

Thrice

The crowd responded well, but many fans clearly came to hear only the band’s older, metal-influenced material. Frontman Dustin Kensrue interrupted cries for “Deadbolt”, from 2002′s The Illusion of Safety (paraphrased): “Ah, the “Deadbolt” issue. We can talk about it if you want — “Deadbolt” was tired; it’s taking a nap. If you’re patient we’ll play one later from that album that has similar metal qualities.” Kensrue’s speech quieted the crowd, and, for the first time at a Thrice concert in recent memory, no one screamed for the song for the rest of the evening.

Thrice

A series of slower songs followed, including a solid rendition of the piano-led “For Miles”, which was absent the night before. “Silhouette” promptly returned the band to their heavier roots, with bassist Eddie Breckenridge’s guttural screams (“Your eyes!”) accenting the song’s already-pummeling breakdowns. Two heavy, fire-themed songs from The Alchemy Index followed (“Burn the Fleet”, “The Messenger”) before Thrice returned to their relatively softer side with the newer “Doublespeak” and “In Exile”.

Thrice

“Image of the Invisible” briefly featured spastic vocals from Kevin Devine before Kensrue thanked the crowd “for their patience”, making good on the earlier promise to play a cut from The Illusion of Safety. Thrice tore into “To Awake and Avenge the Dead”, sending the audience absolutely wild. The encore drained that energy, though, with “Stand and Feel Your Worth” just a few moments later — the track just does not work as the first song in an encore. Fortunately, Thrice concluded with a wonderful performance of “Beggars”, the title track from the band’s latest full-length.

All the World is Mad
The Weight
The Artist in the Ambulance
Of Dust and Nations
The Earth Will Shake
Firebreather
A Song for Milly Michaelson
Circles
For Miles
Silhouette
Burn the Fleet
The Messenger
Doublespeak
In Exile
Image of the Invisible
To Awake and Avenge the Dead
Stand and Feel Your Worth
Beggars

Thrice

Thrice performed a similar setlist in New York City (dropping “Hold Fast Hope” and “Come All You Weary” and replacing those cuts with “Burn the Fleet” and “For Miles”) and sounded fantastic in back-to-back nights. The band’s eighteen-song performance touched on the band’s last nine years as a band, appeasing fans of both the band’s heaviest moments as well as their softest. Few bands carry out setlist dynamics as well as Thrice; the quartet is nearly unparalleled in their live performance.

The Dig

The Dig began at 7:30PM, supporting their latest album, Electric Toys, released earlier this month. The four-piece tightly cut through twenty minutes of indie/dancey hooks and melodies, but did little to distinguish themselves in a genre overpopulated with similar acts. Still, the band’s brief setlist sounded tight, and their crisp live performance was certainly enjoyable and refreshing for an opening band.

Bad Veins

Ohio’s Bad Veins played just after 8PM. The duo — vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Benjamin Davis and drummer Sebastien Schultz — performed well, playing a variety of cuts from their self-titled debut, released last summer through Dangerbird Records. As just a two-piece, much of their sound was pumped in through “Irene”, a backing tape player positioned in the middle of the stage that provided additional keys, bass, and other sounds to the band’s live set. Despite the use of pre-recorded sound, though, Schultz’s solid drumming brings the music to life and makes Bad Veins an interesting act to catch in a live environment.

Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band

Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band kicked things off at 8:50, opening with a jam-enhanced version of the title track from their latest album, Brother’s Blood. The band stuck heavily to that disc, continuing on with “Carnival” and “Another Bag of Bones”; the former was extended with a brief portion of Leonard Cohen’s “Democracy”. “Cotton Crush”, from Devine’s 2005 effort, sounded strangely thin and out of place compared to the more fleshed out cuts from his newer album. The Goddamn Band performed only as a four-piece, so the Brian Bonz-lead intro of “I Could Be With Anyone” was dropped, and the song actually sounded much less gimmicky without its beat-boxed intro.

Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band

Brother’s Blood bonus track “She Stayed as Steam” surprisingly made the nine-song setlist, but it was the closing cover of LCD Soundystem’s “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down” that highlighted Devine’s forty-five minute performance. Devine transformed a less-than-impressive original into a beautiful work of art, essentially eliminating any need for the studio version found on LCD Soundsystem’s Sound of Silver. A fine complement to Devine’s own “The Burning City Smoking”, lines like “your mild billionaire mayor’s now convinced he’s a king” echo with a weathered wisdom that Devine somehow manages to convey at only thirty years old. The song remains a live-only cover in Kevin Devine’s catalog for now, but with a history of recording a number of covers throughout his career hope remains that the song might one day be available for purchase.

Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band

Guitarist Mike Strandberg followed Devine’s lead through most of the set, spicing up the normally straightforward singer-songwriter cuts. On songs like “Buried by the Buzz” it worked great, with drummer Mike Fadem providing a foundation to The Goddamn Band’s jams; cuts like “Just Stay”, though, work better with Devine alone with an acoustic guitar. With a more focused-attack, Devine could be unstoppable with a backing band. Unfortunately, though, his precisely written songs wander when he picks up an electric guitar — with such an extensive collection of remarkably executed studio cuts, it’s hard not to want more out of Devine’s live act.

Brother’s Blood
Carnival
Another Bag of Bones
Cotton Crush
I Could Be With Anyone
Buried By the Buzz
Just Stay
She Stayed as Steam
New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down (LCD Soundsystem cover)

Thrice

Beginning with the bassy rumblings of “All the World is Mad”, Thrice wasted no time jumping into material from the band’s latest full-length effort, Beggars. Pushing forward towards the stage, the audience sang along to the song’s catchy chorus in deafening numbers: “Something’s gone terribly wrong with everyone, all the world is mad / Darkness brings terrible things, the sun is gone, what vanity, Our sad, wretched fires”.

Thrice

“The Weight” was executed with precision, and, like most of Beggars, sounds much better in a live environment than recorded. Powered by guitarist Teppei Teranishi’s cutting lead, “The Artist in the Ambulance” was the blast that finally got the crowd dancing. The night’s highlight came early in “The Earth Will Shake”, one of Thrice’s strongest cuts; the song showcases the band’s terrific storytelling, dynamic song structures, and riotous singalongs. “Firebreather” and “The Messenger”, from The Alchemy Index‘s fire disc, went back to back and concluded Thrice’s opening assault of heavy songs.

Thrice

The reworked “A Song for Milly Michaelson” and “Circles” slowed things down temporarily; for “Doublespeak” frontman Dustin Kensrue grabbed a tamborine, and, despite its softer, piano-anchored verses, the song once again sparked the crowd’s fury with it’s heavy chorus: “There’s a jackboot toe tap keeping time while the children dance and play / Honey, if you think you’ve seen a crime, you just look the other way”. The abrasive qualities of “Hold Fast Hope” only sounded better in a live setting, and launching right into “Silhouette” only confirmed what the entire crowd was thinking: Thrice is nearly unparalleled in their genre when unleashing their heaviest songs. Whereas many heavy bands rely on blurred distortion and general cacophony, Thrice executes with maddeningly precise accuracy.

Thrice

“Come All You Weary” showcased the band’s slower, bluesy side; “Image of the Invisible” and “To Awake and Avenge the Dead” wrapped up the band’s setlist with back-to-back full-crowd singalongs. Thrice’s encore began with a surprisingly bland take on “Stand and Feel Your Worth” but concluded with a stellar performance of “Beggars” at 11:30. Kensrue poured his heart and soul into the song’s final words: “Tell me what can you claim, not a thing – not your name! / Tell me if you can recall just one thing that’s not a gift in this life?”

All the World is Mad
The Weight
The Artist in the Ambulance
Of Dust and Nations
The Earth Will Shake
Firebreather
The Messenger
A Song for Milly Michaelson
Circles
Doublespeak
Hold Fast Hope
Silhouette
Come All You Weary
In Exile
Image of the Invisible
To Awake and Avenge the Dead
Stand and Feel Your Worth
Beggars

Thrice

With about eighty minutes to pick and choose from nearly one-hundred songs in their catalog, Thrice did an exceptional job of mixing up new cuts — six from Beggars — with older, heavier favorites like 2002′s “To Awake and Avenge the Dead”. With such an extensive catalog of top-tier songs, there will undoubtedly be unfortunate omissions in any setlist the band constructs, but Thrice structured things well to showcase their diverse songwriting style. With first-class musicianship executing such a quality discography, Thrice easily surpasses their peers in a live environment and remains a must-see band.

All Thrice and Kevin Devine photos by the amazing Erica Livoti.

Crime in Stereo kicked off the evening set with a new song, but the mix was muddy and the vocals weren’t clear enough to make out most of the track. The band drew heavily from 2007′s Crime in Stereo is Dead on Bridge Nine Records, though the crowd seemed indifferent to the band’s performance. Drummer Scotty Giffin was powerful and clear during the band’s brief set, but vocals from Kristian Hallbert and guitarist Alex Dunne were unfortunately too bass-heavy and poorly mixed to appreciate or enjoy. The full set:

(new song)
Small Skeletal
XXXX (The First Thousand Years of Solitude)
Third Atlantic
…But You Are Vast
(new song)
Almost Ghostless/Above The Gathering Oceans
Orbiter

California quartet Thrice opened with Vheissu‘s “Of Dust and Nations” and played a burly set of ten songs, heavily leaning on their excellent 2009 effort, Beggars. “Silhouette”, the oldest cut of the evening, was punishing, with frontman Dustin Kensrue’s brutal scream as strong as ever. Newer songs “All the World is Mad” and “The Weight” received excellent live treatment, and “Helter Skelter” was a welcomed surprise.

Shifting from lead guitar to keys, Teppei Teranishi provided the foundation to an excellent performance of “Doublespeak” before the band leaped into a new interpretation of The Alchemy Index‘s “A Song for Milly Michaelson”. A spine-tingling performance of the 2009 title track, “Beggars”, closed the evening with frontman Kensrue pouring his heart into the song’s final moments: “Can you hear what’s been said? Can you see now that everything’s grace after all? If there’s one thing I know in this life: we are beggars all. “

With such an enormous collection across so many different genres, it’s hard to find the right ten-song setlist as a support act, but Thrice seems to have nailed it. Songs from Beggars were the night’s highlights, the region’s first chance to hear these songs live as Thrice rarely tours the Philadelphia or its surrounding cities. The band’s performance was spectacular, and with a longer set the band could have easily upstaged headliners Brand New. The full setlist:

Of Dust and Nations
Silhouette
All the World is Mad
The Weight
Helter Skelter (The Beatles cover)
In Exile
Doublespeak
A Song For Milly Michaelson
The Arsonist
Beggars

To a roar of three thousand eager fans, Brand New began with the familiar chords of “Welcome to Bangkok”. Daisy‘s “Sink” was strong, and the back to back performances of “Degausser” and “You Won’t Know” sounded great. “Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don’t” was a welcomed return to the band’s sophmore album, Deja Entendu, though the song suffered from frontman Jesse Lacey’s new found over-use of screaming instead of singing the song’s melodious parts.

“Sic Transit Gloria..Glory Fades” was surprisingly strong, as the band usually struggles through the song’s offbeat rhythm and Garrett Tierney’s bumpy bassline. “Jude Law and a Semester Abroad” and “Seventy Times 7″ went as songs seven and eight, respectively, with Lacey noting that it may have been the first time the band has played those songs without the crowd shouting to hear them.

A so-so performance of “Limousine” solo acoustic by Lacey preceded an excellent one-two punch of “Vices” and “Gasoline”. For the rest of the night,  strange black and white footage played on the wall behind the band. “Sowing Season” was surprisingly strong; the penultimate “At the Bottom” was explosive before the quieting “Play Crack the Sky” finished the evening. The full set:

Welcome to Bangkok
Sink
Degausser
You Won’t Know
Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don’t
Sic Transit Gloria..Glory Fades
Jude Law and a Semester Abroad
Seventy Times 7
Limousine
Vices
Gasoline
Daisy
Sowing Season
Archers
You Stole
Jesus
Bought a Bride
At the Bottom
Play Crack the Sky

Despite the venue’s generally poor sound, Brand New performed extremely well and certainly put on one of their best shows in quite some time, up there with the stunning performance at The College of New Jersey earlier in the year. Guitarists Vincent Accardi and Derrick Sherman were tighter than normal, and drummer Brian Lane (and the guest percussionists that Brand New brings out on various songs) were rock-steady. Though Daisy may not be the band’s finest moment, after hearing seven of the album’s eleven tracks in concert it is clear that the album begs a live interpretation.

Brand New and Thrice touring together isn’t new, and the combination is always welcome, but it would be nice to see Thrice playing a longer set in the near future on an East Coast headlining tour of their own. Catching two of rock’s best acts on the same bill is always a treat, though, and the night’s show was no exception.

inTuneMusic is very interested in any submissions/corrections from this event including photographs, setlists, and audio/video. Please contact us, you will receive complete credit for any submission.

The Gaslight Anthem opened the evening with “Great Expectations”. Sounding as tight as the previous times I’ve seen them, they played for about thirty minutes, tossing in older songs in addition to new standards like The ’59 Sound‘s title track and “Say I Won’t (Recognize)”. On any other tour their performance likely would have stolen the show, but the young blue-collar punks were opening for some of the scene’s most talented veterans.

These veterans include Southern California’s Thrice, a band that has been redefining their sound for the last decade. The band opened with “The Messenger” from The Alchemy Index Vols. I + II, a hard-hitting track that set the tone for their set. Playing a fairly mixed set of cuts from as early as 2002 (“Deadbolt”), the band outshined The Gaslight Anthem’s incredible performance, even including a cover of The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter”. Songs such as “The Melting Point of Wax”, “The Artist in the Ambulance”, “Motion Isn’t Meaning”, “Of Dust and Nations”, and “Firebreather” found their way into the night as well before the band closed with a pummeling performance of Vheissu‘s “The Earth Will Shake”.

Chicago dark-punk stalwarts Alkaline Trio took the stage next. In comparison to The Gaslight Anthem and Thrice, the band sounded flat and uninviting, despite playing for nearly an hour. The first two bands seemed to lure the entire audience (fans and newcomers alike) into their sound, but Alkaline Trio seemed to only excite diehards. Their newer material is less edgy, and songs like “Calling All Skeletons” just don’t do the band justice in a live setting. A combination of sloppy renditions of great songs (“Radio”) and playing after two great bands marred what could have been an otherwise strong outting.

Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath.

In no uncertain terms did Rise Against make a case for why they should be headlining a tour of this magnitude. Their set spanned much of the band’s existence, moving from loud and inciting (“State of the Union”) to calm and reflective (the well-crafted and beautiful “Swing Life Away”). The latter is largely responsible for their huge fan base–and rightfully so. Rise Against thrives on writing hook-laced singles that are great live songs (“Prayer of the Refugee”, “Ready To Fall”, “Re-Education (Through Labor)”).

Perhaps the band’s essence was summed up while covering Minor Threat’s “Minor Threat”, during which the band was joined by NOFX’s Fat Mike. The song combined the band’s primal influences with the man responsible for signing the band to their first record deal. All of this as part of a second encore, illustrating the band’s current status in 2008.

Rise Against never sounded so sure or so potent live, easily their best performance I’ve had a chance to experience. Vocalist Tim McIlrath’s sincere vocals demand the audience’s attention, and singalongs are never more than a verse away. Laying down for no man or government, the band pulls no punches and continues to demonstrate that a superior live show starts with great songs and ends with honest energy.

ATTENTION: inTuneMusic was unable to acquire any setlists from this incredible evening. If you know the songs in order of any of the bands from this evening please post them in the replies and the article will be updated! Thank you!

Brand New‘s set list in Philadelphia:

Limousine
Welcome to Bangkok
Not The Sun
Archers
No Seatbelt Song
Shower Scene
Oh Comely (Neutral Milk Hotel Cover)
Luca
Sowing Season
Millstone
Tautou
Okay I Belive You But My Tommy Gun Don’t
You Won’t Know
Degausser
Jesus
Untitled