There's a place where everyone can be happy...
First of all, some disclaimers...
1: Bad Religion is a great band.
2: Make that the best band ever
3: I don't care what you have to say about Radiohead, Sean Owen (and if you mention Chelsea I might just drop by your house and beat you up).
4: This post is full of über-fan overanalysis, so bear with me.
My left ear is ringing more than my right. My back feels like it's been worked over by a tango-dancing Shiatsu masseuse. I have trouble lifting my arms because they feel so heavy. I'm still smiling. I saw Bad Religion tonight, for the first time in about two years.
It was a good show. Not quite on par with my birthday extravaganza a few years back, but good. Greg Graffin, having flown in from New York hours earlier, was pretty obviously tired, although the rest of the group was trying to make up for it. Tonight's set list was all relatively new material, which was good in a lot of ways: The Empire Strikes First has certainly been their most pointed political commentary since maybe Recipe for Hate (which they also played quite a few tracks from tonight), and the new tunes are probably a lot more sing-able for Greg. As usual it was a good mix of fast and slow-paced stuff, giving us enough time to catch our breath and not whipping the pit up into too much insanity.
Speaking of the pit, I was behind two large men, which suited me fine because I as about 10 FEET AWAY FROM GREG AND WE WERE STARING EACH OTHER RIGHT IN THE EYES. So great. Plus, the big guys were keeping me from getting destroyed by the crowd control barrier so I wasn't complaining at all. My only injuries were (aside from the standard bruising on the back) a strained neck from having a couple of crowd surfers drop on me. I was worried I'd have to show up to Montreal with no teeth or something, but fortunately the Bad Religion fans (except for one really drunk guy) showed their usual class. Everyone was helping each other out and being polite.
For those interested in the lighting and sound (*cough* Caitlin *cough*), they were having some issues. The rig was pretty dismal, to be honest. A standard rock 'n roll PAR plot (o/w, R54, R21) and one system of PARs with scrollers. There was a single row of around 10 cheapass-looking moving lights about 3/4 upstage that seemed to be running on the built-in macros most of the time. I was disappointed, especially since their New America tour was freaking awesome for lighting. They should have hired that designer back. Sound-wise, it seemed that the mix was off (Greg was totally buried) and there was a little feedback every now and again. They complained at the beginning that they weren't getting enough monitors but I guess that was corrected. But this was the first date of their North American tour, so maybe I'm being too harsh; I hope they get the bugs ironed out.
Here's the set list. I think I got all the songs, but they're probably not in order.
Sinister Rouge
Digital Boy
Punk Rock Song
Man With a Mission
Sorrow
Infected
God's Love
Suffer
Them and Us
Atomic Garden
Sanity
Prove It
Epiphany
Recipe for Hate
You
The Defence
No Control
Generator
Encores:
Fuck Armageddon...
Los Angeles is Burning
American Jesus
I was so happy to hear them play You, it's such a great song. I'm still holding out for Unacceptable or *ahem* Turn On The Light one of these days. I imagine that tomorrow will have a lot more older stuff...damn I wish I could be there.
A good memory from tonight: They played their concert version of Generator, which means the first verse is really slow and they ask the crowd to sing along. In true form the crowd rose to the occasion; I was really impressed that the group of people who were supposedly the non-hardcore fans because they got their tickets late knew a relatively obscure tune well enough to sing along. I was sad to see that Brett wasn't there again; I still have yet to see a show with him in his rightful role as guitarist/singer.
Okay, enough for the timebeing...maybe some more posting when I reach Mtl... gnite.
1: Bad Religion is a great band.
2: Make that the best band ever
3: I don't care what you have to say about Radiohead, Sean Owen (and if you mention Chelsea I might just drop by your house and beat you up).
4: This post is full of über-fan overanalysis, so bear with me.
My left ear is ringing more than my right. My back feels like it's been worked over by a tango-dancing Shiatsu masseuse. I have trouble lifting my arms because they feel so heavy. I'm still smiling. I saw Bad Religion tonight, for the first time in about two years.
It was a good show. Not quite on par with my birthday extravaganza a few years back, but good. Greg Graffin, having flown in from New York hours earlier, was pretty obviously tired, although the rest of the group was trying to make up for it. Tonight's set list was all relatively new material, which was good in a lot of ways: The Empire Strikes First has certainly been their most pointed political commentary since maybe Recipe for Hate (which they also played quite a few tracks from tonight), and the new tunes are probably a lot more sing-able for Greg. As usual it was a good mix of fast and slow-paced stuff, giving us enough time to catch our breath and not whipping the pit up into too much insanity.
Speaking of the pit, I was behind two large men, which suited me fine because I as about 10 FEET AWAY FROM GREG AND WE WERE STARING EACH OTHER RIGHT IN THE EYES. So great. Plus, the big guys were keeping me from getting destroyed by the crowd control barrier so I wasn't complaining at all. My only injuries were (aside from the standard bruising on the back) a strained neck from having a couple of crowd surfers drop on me. I was worried I'd have to show up to Montreal with no teeth or something, but fortunately the Bad Religion fans (except for one really drunk guy) showed their usual class. Everyone was helping each other out and being polite.
For those interested in the lighting and sound (*cough* Caitlin *cough*), they were having some issues. The rig was pretty dismal, to be honest. A standard rock 'n roll PAR plot (o/w, R54, R21) and one system of PARs with scrollers. There was a single row of around 10 cheapass-looking moving lights about 3/4 upstage that seemed to be running on the built-in macros most of the time. I was disappointed, especially since their New America tour was freaking awesome for lighting. They should have hired that designer back. Sound-wise, it seemed that the mix was off (Greg was totally buried) and there was a little feedback every now and again. They complained at the beginning that they weren't getting enough monitors but I guess that was corrected. But this was the first date of their North American tour, so maybe I'm being too harsh; I hope they get the bugs ironed out.
Here's the set list. I think I got all the songs, but they're probably not in order.
Sinister Rouge
Digital Boy
Punk Rock Song
Man With a Mission
Sorrow
Infected
God's Love
Suffer
Them and Us
Atomic Garden
Sanity
Prove It
Epiphany
Recipe for Hate
You
The Defence
No Control
Generator
Encores:
Fuck Armageddon...
Los Angeles is Burning
American Jesus
I was so happy to hear them play You, it's such a great song. I'm still holding out for Unacceptable or *ahem* Turn On The Light one of these days. I imagine that tomorrow will have a lot more older stuff...damn I wish I could be there.
A good memory from tonight: They played their concert version of Generator, which means the first verse is really slow and they ask the crowd to sing along. In true form the crowd rose to the occasion; I was really impressed that the group of people who were supposedly the non-hardcore fans because they got their tickets late knew a relatively obscure tune well enough to sing along. I was sad to see that Brett wasn't there again; I still have yet to see a show with him in his rightful role as guitarist/singer.
Okay, enough for the timebeing...maybe some more posting when I reach Mtl... gnite.
posted by Mike at 3:05 AM
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