Fan Video for AFI’s “This Time Imperfect”

Around the release of Sing the Sorrow (AFI’s major label debut in 2003), I created a music video for “This Time Imperfect”, a hidden track on the album. It’s been getting a lot of positive responses, so I thought I’d share it here.

The footage is taken from the Playstation remake of Final Fantasy VI, a game originally released in the early 1990s on the SNES. (Note, the closing credits need to be modified, as it still contains the URL for my old website, TimeFall–I’ll be updating it to refer to inTuneMusic shortly.)

Bayside / Straylight Run / Four Year Strong / Tokyo Rose / Measured in Grey @ Poughkeepsie 1/28

Nearly as much as I enjoy checking out new bands live, I enjoy visiting new venues. My first time out to Poughkeepsie to see a show, the Chance is a small, intimate theater; growing up with shows in Philadelphia, I’d liken it most to The Trocadero in China Town. Unfortunately, we arrived late, catching Tokyo Rose’s final song (and missing local act Measured in Grey entirely).

We caught stood out of the pit for Four Year Strong, a dual-vocal punk-pop act mixed with hardcore elements and a synthesizer. A watered down (and much less talented) version of the excellent Set Your Goals, the I Surrender Records five-piece from Massachusetts was energetic playing in front of a crowd that knew every hook. The entire evening’s sound was exceptionally lacking in the treble range–and being new to the venue, I’m not sure exactly if that’s normal–but Four Year Strong’s drums sounded extremely lackluster, despite a strong performance from drummer Jake Massucco. The frontmen certainly can’t sing–at least in a classical sense–but they did a decent enough job performing the gritty, hardcore-inspired vocals. Synth player Josh Lyford is extremely out of place; the band does not need the trite keyboards and synthesized melodies on top of their guitars. Moreover, he spent most of the time awkwardly dancing, since most of the songs don’t require his Korg. The band’s live performance suffers more from a lack of well-written songs than lack of dedication or energy, as they seem to pour their entire souls into the music. Unfortunately, the songs they’re putting so much heart into aren’t anything to write home about.

In stark contrast to the energetic and crowd-involved Four Year Strong, the evening’s next act, Straylight Run, was incredibly dull and lackluster. I enjoy Straylight Run’s two albums (and, of course, their original demos), but tonight’s live performance was completely lacking. They performed the songs I wanted to hear (among others: Existentialism on Prom Night, It’s For The Best, Soon We’ll Be Living In The Future, Take It To Manhattan), but John Nolan’s vocals started off extremely rough and never really settled; Michelle Nolan’s vocals came off exceptionally weak, and boring, but she did manage to sing in key the entire night and sounded wonderful when she put the extra ‘umph’ into her performance. Most disheartening was the band’s extensive use of overdubbing/sampling; guitars, drums, horns, and keys were all sampled for most of the evening. Live sampling is sometimes necessary or a strong enhancement to a live show, but in Straylight Run’s case it ruins the performance. While well-written and certainly strong, the band’s songs do not need samples to come off live, and the band would do well to ditch the crutches and become a real live act.

Bayside took the stage a little before 10PM, opening with “Carry On” from 2007’s The Walking Wounded. The band played thirteen songs, eight of which came from their first two full-lengths. I’m still hoping “I and I” and “Choice Hops and Bottled Self-Esteem” make their way into future setlists; tonight they played (not in order) [this should be correct]:

The Walking Wounded
They’re Not Horses, They’re Unicorns
Duality
Carry On
Dear Your Holiness
Hello Shitty
Devotion and Desire
They Looked Like Strong Hands
Montauk
Blame it on Bad Luck
Don’t Call Me Peanut
Masterpiece
Alcohol and Altar Boys

Bayside played great, engaging the home-state crowd the entire time. Songs from their 2005 self-titled album seemed best received, perhaps the reason behind it making up a bulk of their set. The crowd attempted to start a few pits, but the bulk of the crowd didn’t quite understand the basics behind it, resulting in large push-mosh pits. I spent a few songs just protecting some of the younger girls from being completely trampled, but eventually “Don’t Call Me Peanut” settled the crowd down. I’ve written about this band a few times before, and I stand by what I said earlier: Jack O’Shea is an excellent guitarist with a clear metal influence. From his subtle guitar work on the largely acoustic “Don’t Call Me Peanut” to his ripping solos, it’s impossible to see the band without his signature licks.

Anthony Raneri is a great frontman, and he was on top of his game this evening. Painful lyrics like those on “Blame It On Bad Luck” are delivered with emotion and heart. “Devotion and Desire”, the band’s most well-known single, closed out the evening as part of their encore, and the crowd finally opened up a few decent pits for the song. This tour continues into March, if it comes your way don’t miss out, if only to see a great set from Bayside.

Thursday / Circa Survive / The Gaslight Anthem / Innerpartysystem @ Sayreville 12/31

New Year’s Eve began formally by meeting up outside Sayreville’s Starland Ballroom with a handful of friends from around the country; this was quickly followed by happy hour with the guys in Thursday. It wouldn’t be for a few hours until the show began, but it was relaxing sitting at the bar for a bit while the bands soundchecked and set up on stage.

Philadelphia’s Innerpartysystem opened the evening, setting the tone for what would quickly become an incredible New Year’s Eve party. Best described as some sort of hybrid between Head Automatica (vocalist Patrick Nissley could be mistaken for Daryl Palumbo) and Men, Women & Children–somehow mixed with a heavier dance and electronica influence–the band didn’t interact with the crowd, instead focusing their brief time slot entirely on a light show-induced dance party with catchy hooks, pulsing beats, and surprisingly strong vocal deliveries.

Set changes were brief, and New Brunswick’s The Gaslight Anthem took the stage shortly after. Fans of older Alkaline Trio records take note, this could be your new favorite band. I had only briefly listened to the four-piece going into the evening, but their incredible live performance convinced me to pick up a copy of their debut, Sink or Swim. Lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist Brian Fallon’s stage presence was incredibly strong for such a young band, and the rest of the band locked together tighter than any other band of the evening. Choruses became immediately crowd-singable the second time through each song, a remarkable feat considering most of the crowd was experiencing the band for the first time. Near the end of their set, they kicked into a solid rendition of Tom Petty’s classic “American Girl” before closing with “We’re Getting A Divorce”.

Circa Survive, Equal Vision Records’s progressive-rock tinged five-piece featuring ex-Saosin and This Day Forward members, came out as direct support to Thursday. The band played ten songs:

Wish Resign
Living Together
Mandala
Oh, Hello
In Fear and Faith
The Only Difference
Holding Someone’s Hair Back
Semi Constructive Criticism
Stop the Fucking Car
Kicking Your Crosses Down

A great setlist mixed evenly with tracks from Juturna and On Letting Go, vocalist Anthony Green engaged the crowd the entire performance albeit stumbling through a few lyrics from time to time. A band I’ve seen quite a few times, this was easily their strongest performance, though–it was nice to see them stick to their strongest older songs as well as mix in cuts from their latest effort. Songs like “Semi Constructive Criticism” come off as tame on the album when compared live, and “Kicking Your Crosses Down” received incredibly delicate treatment. On Letting Go songs translate so much better live; I’m now rethinking which Circa Survive album is actually my favorite.

Hosts Thursday took the stage around 11PM, their first New Year’s Eve show in exactly one decade; fans of the band will quickly recite that Thursday’s first show ever was in vocalist Geoff Rickly’s basement, December 31, 1998. Much has changed in ten years, and this particularly evening the band kicked off with Kill The House Lights’s “Dead Songs”, an interesting (but more importantly, refreshing) take on opening a Thursday show. Newly rejuvenated and reinserted into live shows, “Between Rupture and Rapture” followed, and anyone who didn’t know band’s new lyrics on the previous song certainly woke up to the War All The Time track.

“The Other Side Of The Crash/Over And Out (Of Control)” followed, and I quickly realized that the only people in attendance were actually Thursday fans–unlike many concerts where it’s something to do on a bored evening, or fans who enjoy one album or one single, the entire crowd sung along to a track that normally only saw limited audience engagement on previous tours. Met with interesting responses, A City By The Light Divided divided Thursday’s fan base; on this New Year’s Eve, however, it was the true fans who passed up other parties and attended the show, singing every word of the newer songs.

Partner to “Other Side”, “Understanding In A Car Crash” was next (as always), and the fans were treated to the first of three Full Collapse songs that evening, though unfortunately, staple-songs like “Paris In Flames” and “How Long Is the Night?” didn’t make it.

Eerie sounding, faith-questioning “Sugar In The Sacrament” came next, and it’s no question Geoff feels every haunted word sung. In contrast, the brash and abrasive “At This Velocity” kicked the crowd into a frenzy; the final drum roll segwayed into the pounding drums of “Division. St”. Not one of my favorite Thursday songs–I find it too personal and direct–I did listen to Geoff speak candidly about the song (and how important it is for him) for some time earlier in the evening, and it’s not shocking the band plays it at every show.

The first surprise of the evening came with “War All The Time”, a song Geoff often cites as too personal/emotional to play live. It’s been some time since I’ve heard the track live, and the band did absolute justice to the song. It tends to drag a little on the album, but live the song is explosive and more emotional than can be explained in text. There’s something defining about Thursday being a true “live band” with the lines “all those nights in the basement, the kids are still screaming: ‘on and on and on and on’” being screamed by everyone in the venue.

“Ladies and Gentleman: My Brother, The Failure”, a song featuring Cursive’s Tim Kasher on the album, comes off unfortunately weak live, though it could easily be one of Thursday’s strongest live tracks with an improved performance of Kasher’s lines live. As it stands, guitarist Steve Pedulla seems to handle the lines, but his delivery isn’t right, and his microphone is way too low. Perhaps letting keyboardist Andrew Everding handle the duties would fit better, though I’m not sure the band even realizes that it’s coming off so weak; someone should tell them.

By this time, Thursday is more than halfway finished for the evening, but it feels like they’ve just begun. Indeed, time flies when the band is on stage; there is never a dull moment.

Before kicking into the sexually charged (and setlist staple) “Signals Over The Air”, Geoff wished everyone a happy new year, and reasserted Thursday’s beliefs that every human being is equal: gay, straight, black, white, male, female, or otherwise; that to party with the band this evening should convey those thoughts. Like many Thursday songs, “Signals” comes off more powerful than could ever be recorded in the studio.

Two numbers from Full Collapse followed; “Autobiography of a Nation” first, one of the most intense tracks of the evening. The energy builds with a long instrumental before the crowd kicks off with “Write these words back down!”, and it immediately feels like 2001 again–and that’s a good thing.

“Cross Out The Eyes” featured Nathan Gray, vocalist of the now-defunct, but quite important post-hardcore outfit, boysetsfire (a band Geoff proudly joked that Thursday ripped off when starting out). Gray didn’t do much to help the song, and in fact routinely butchered the chorus. His talents would have been properly served screaming the song’s final lines, but instead the lines were omitted entirely.

“The Lovesong Writer” was the last song the band played of 2007; interestingly, I had a long conversation with Geoff about the song earlier in the day during happy hour. To get to that point, however, it requires a little back story:

Always puzzled by the first few lines of “I Am The Killer”, I asked Geoff what exactly is being said. He chuckled, but then began to think about it and in fact had no idea. He said that he was working out lyrics in the vocal booth during the recording of Full Collapse, and that he was mumbling them softly, and it was actually caught on tape. The lines were sped up, and eerily inserted into the beginning of the track–the band loved the unplanned result, and it remained during the song’s final mix.

I was forced to comment on my love of “Oh Comely”, the important eighth-track on Neutral Milk Hotel’s In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, and the nearly inaudible “oh shit!” being yelled at the song’s close, and how it seems quite comparable to the first seconds of “I Am The Killer”. Getting Geoff started on Neutral Milk Hotel (and consequently Jeff Mangum) was more insightful than possibly imaginable (or writable here, in fact, at his request).

I learned that “The Lovesong Writer” was Jeff Mangum; with a few more private facts in place, and another listen to the song, it’s undeniable. Geoff’s stream of consciousness in the song is undeniably Mangum-esque, and even its first lines draw reference to “Oh Comely”.

Concluding our discussion on a subject that we could have talked about for hours was Geoff’s recommendation of Zach Condon (as Beirut)’s Gulag Orkestar–he compares Zach to Mangum; I’m actually a few clicks away right now from seeing if I can get it on iTunes.

Cut back to Thursday’s show, and “The Lovesong Writer” hit me in an entirely new way that evening when the band closed the year with it. Taking a brief break (read: encore), they came back moments before midnight to countdown the new year.

As the the clock struck midnight, the unmistakable “Jet Black New Year” riff kicked in, balloons fell, and the Starland crowd exploded. For the first time in years, the song felt fresh, and important. The night–well, the concert portion, anyway–finished with the second part to “Jet Black New Year”: “Tomorrow I’ll Be You”, a song that the band attempted a few years ago during their annual holiday shows.

Once again, unfortunately, the band didn’t do the song justice. Not to lay the blame on drummer Tucker Rule (whom I consider an excellent drummer), but the song’s timing was completely off the entire song, and it was quite unfortunate that one of Thursday’s best live shows ended on that note. The song itself is one of the band’s best songs; if they manage to get it down, however, it could be one of their best live songs. The setlist at a glance:

Dead Songs
Between Rupture and Rapture
The Other Side of the Crash/Over And Out (Of Control)
Understanding in a Car Crash
Sugar in the Sacrament
At This Velocity
Division St.
War All the Time
Ladies and Gentleman: My Brother, The Failure
Signals Over the Air
For the Workforce, Drowning
Autobiography of a Nation
Cross Out the Eyes
The Lovesong Writer
Jet Black New Year
Tomorrow I’ll Be You

After the show, Starland held a 21+ party until 2AM. The DJs spinning left much to be desired, but the party was a nice way to still have the “out at a bar on New Year’s Eve” experience after the show. Watching the lightweight girls (and guys, surprisingly) take drunken spills was funny, and I had a few good conversations with fellow Thursday fans.

The shenanigans began quite informally after 2AM, though. After a short drive from the venue, we arrived with the guys in Thursday to party at their nearby hotel. Drinks, wildness, and discussions about a wide array of topics (Sailor Jerry, Hillary Clinton, Led Zeppelin vs. The Who, Zeitgeist, Idiocracy, world-wide currency, Zodiac signs, Prince, and everything in between) highlighted the hotel party that spanned many rooms and, later, a nearby Wawa.

An excellent concert turned into a fun after-party is certainly my preferred way to ring in the new year. Thanks to Jess Garcia for greatly helping me out earlier in the afternoon, and special thanks to Geoff, Steve, Josh, Joshie, Tucker, and Dave for being especially hospitable and kind that evening. To everyone I met for the first time, it was fun, and I hope you all have a great 2008.

Brand New / Thrice / mewithoutYou @ Philadelphia 12/7

I just reviewed this tour’s stop in Atlantic City, so please see that article for extensive comments about the show, as there is very little to note that is different from the two shows.

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

Brand New / Thrice / meWithoutYou @ Atlantic City 12/1

The House of Blues in Atlantic City is always an interesting venue: the crowd is usually full of drunk males in their mid-twenties, and the crowd usually doesn’t know too much about pits, instead just pushing into each other over and over. While this was certainly true this cold December evening, it didn’t do much to distract from three bands who played extremely solid sets.

meWithoutYou opened the evening to a crowd that didn’t know much of their material. They played much from Brother, Sister, including songs such as “C-Minor”. It is my opinion that their spoken-type vocals are usually very strong lyrically, but the delivery gets boring on the albums after awhile. Luckily, the band is completely tight live, and singer Aaron Weiss performs with his entire heart, seemingly holding conversations on stage with people who aren’t there. Drummer Richard Mazzotta didn’t stop through the entire set, as the band seamlessly transitioned from each song to the next. The band played for about a half-hour before exiting from the stage, thanking the crowd numerous times for listening to them as they did.

Thrice took the stage next, surprisingly opening with The Artist In The Ambulance’s “Stare at the Sun”. Although most of the crowd was certainly in attendance for Brand New, Thrice and Brand New fans tend to overlap, so the crowd was very into Thrice as well. “Firebreather”, one of Thrice’s heaviest songs to date, followed before the band kicked into 2002’s “Kill Me Quickly”, an extremely energetic tune that certainly kept the crowd moving. The band didn’t slow up, continuing with “Silhouette”.

Some technical difficulties would follow through the set, beginning with setup issues before the band played “Digital Sea” live. It was extremely peculiar to see singer Dustin Kensrue on stage without a guitar–he instead used some sort of digital effects box and microphone. The song is certainly much stronger live than on the album, and Dustin’s energy and passion for it seem to be the clear reason. The full setlist:

Stare at the Sun
Firebreather
Kill Me Quickly
Silhouette
Digital Sea
Burn the Fleet
The Artist in the Ambulance
Flags of Dawn
The Whaler
Don’t Tell and We Won’t Ask
The Messenger
Deadbolt
The Earth Will Shake

I had never heard Vheissu b-side “Flags of Dawn” live; the band played the song incredibly, however–certainly better than the song is recorded. In fact, aside from “Firebreather”, all of the evening’s Alchemy Index songs were new to me live, and I was very impressed. Guitarist Teppei Teranishi took over keyboard duties when needed–and did so perfectly.

Surprisingly, the band played four cuts from their 2003 major-label debut , including “Don’t Tell and We Won’t Ask”, a song Dustin introduced the song as a song “[the band] all love[s]“. Thrice played staple “Deadbolt” before ending with “The Earth Will Shake”, which may be my favorite Thrice song. The song has always received great treatment live, but something about the song this evening made it even heavier than normal. Perhaps the bass and drums were simply clicking perfectly, or Dustin’s vocal delivery was better than normal, but the song sounded the best it ever has.

Thrice did play thirteen songs as direct support to Brand New, but the band certainly needs to get out on a headlining tour to support their latest disc so that they can play for a longer time. An incredible setlist, and arguably the best performance of the evening, Thrice could not have performed any better at their first show ever in Atlantic City.

It took much longer than normal, but Long Island’s Brand New finally took the stage late into the evening. Opening with “Welcome To Bangkok” the band put out a great vibe and played extremely tight. “Sowing Season” and “Millstone” followed before “Sic Transit Gloria..Glory Fades”, each song sounding very tight. The band utilized two drummers and some extra percussion instruments for the end of “Millstone”–a trend the band hasn’t bucked since starting it about this time last year.

The band actually played eleven of the twelve tracks from The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me:

Welcome To Bangkok
Sowing Season
Millstone
Sic Transit Gloria..Glory Fades
The Shower Scene
Me Vs. Maradona Vs. elvis
Luca
Archers
Why Don’t You Find Out For Yourself (Morrissey Cover)
Not The Sun
Deguasser
Jaws Theme Swimmng
You Won’t Know
Limousine
Jesus
Untitled

It was great to hear “The Shower Scene”, the best song from 2001’s Your Favorite Weapon. “Me Vs. Mardona Vs. Elvis” was exceptionally powerful this evening for some reason, and “Limousine” was as strong as ever. Guitarist Vin Accardi and a guitar tech wrestled during “Archers”–I guess his guitar part isn’t quite that essential.

Jesse performed “Why Don’t You Find Out For Yourself” from Morrissey’s amazing Vauxhall and I album before the full-band played “Not The Sun”, the only song from their 2006 effort I had yet to hear live. Along with a few other songs from that album, I could do without hearing it again live.

Unfortunately, the band only managed to throw in a few Deja Entendu songs, leaving out some excellent songs in the process. The encore was essentially a waste–a weak version of “Untitled” was the last song of the evening, leaving a bitter taste in the mouth of fans who had hoped for a few more songs from something other than The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me.

Following Thrice’s performance this evening wasn’t easy by any means, but Brand New did their best. A few more older cuts would have helped a lot, and even effectively performing an encore would have made their performance seem a lot stronger. I’ll be attending the bands’ Philadelphia show December 7, it will be interesting to compare setlists and performances.