My BR Associates,
I hope you consider these observations worthy of TheBRpage. I've been to 40+ BR shows and such details often aid my recall.
1) Brooks hung his song list on the cymbal to his left. All two and a half pages of it. We were excited.
2) The musical gem, Flat Earth Society, was inserted right into the middle of the show like the moist center of a medium-done fillet mignon. Considering Against the Grain's specialness in the hearts and minds of long time BR appreciators, this song easily might have been the highlight of the set. Grave determination and all.
3) It looks like Jay got a new touring bass amp. For those of us sick enough to notice, he usually hucks a loogie on his amp at least once a show. It appears that it's no longer the case. Everything must cease, I guess.
4) Brian also got a new amp. It's an "Orange" brand amp and is literally bright orange. It's the only piece of color on the stage, other than Brett's 80's hair-band style Fender ax. Brian deserves the attention though, so his bright orange box is fan-approved as far as I'm concerned. Sort of like the bright orange sky in the distant horizon if you ask me.
5) Jay, Brian and Brooks are all sporting beards. Nothing to call the lice-patrol about. Just something a good two weeks of no shaving could bring around.
6) Brett and Jay are full silver-haired punk rockers. The lights flickered of their shiny manes like a beacon in the minds of our ancestors.
7) Greg G's apparently fully committed to wearing in-ear monitors and has come to neglect the act of even putting them on clandestinely. Not only does he wear the relay unit on his hip like a Blackberry belt-clip, he lets the ear-to-unit cable dangle like a chain. Someone next to me thought it was "very punk rock of Greg to roll a wallet chain."
8) Professor Graffin, clearly practicing relentlessly in recent weeks, managed to botch only one lyrical phrase the entire set. He flipped verses for a split second on Can't Stop It and laughed it off at Brett and Jay. Always blame Jay. It's the BR way. He likes the attention.
9) Brett on the other hand looked like a fan who took the stage and managed to get some mic time in before the stage dive... and forgot the lyrics along the way. He was heavily focused on getting his Greg-H duplicate riffs down and opted to practice lyrical recall on stage. He never really moved from a 4 foot area, which was exacerbated by Greg H's hyperactive frog hop waddle and fan like singing when a catchy lyric comes around.
10) Brian wore a Joy Division t shirt, with Joy Division actually spelled out in Arabic. He's so 80s arab emo.
11) Brett pulled off one guitar solo, the pleasant little spat in Sorrow. Greg was sure to point at him to make sure we new he was laying down the hot licks. Father could hear him.
12) Midway through the show Greg G mentions that this is their 30 year tour and welcomed us to the St. Patties day celebration of this momentous event. Then, he slowly drove the band into Generator in half time "Like.....ahhhh....rock..." fashion. We remain unperturbed.
13) At about an hour and 10 minutes into the show they "leave the stage" to set up the encore. 5% of the crowd find the door. Posers.
14) First song of the encore was a new joint called "Resist-stance". Think fast like No Control yet with Grey Race lyrics. A pinch of Into the Unknown, but definitely no Back from the Unknown. Some New America, but only slight hints of New Maps of Hell. Got it? One part per million.
15) Another new song they played was "Won't Somebody" which is straight off of Greg G's solo country / emo / finished-my-dissertation album backed by the Weakerthans. Same song, just with faster drums and some distorted guitar.
16) Average age of attendees - 35. Ratio of meatheads - 1/100. Ratio of peoples singing at the top of our lungs into the ear canals of the meatheads - 1/132.
In BR Brotherhood,
Sasha
