The jaded old punks will tell you that punk is dead. That modern bands aren't important anymore. That the scene today doesn't mean crap compared to the Spirit of '76 or '84 or whenever. DC hardcore, NY hardcore, California hardcore, British oi!, nothing today will ever mean as much as those scenes did. But they're wrong. They're dead wrong.
Once again I returned to the sea of strip malls that is Clifton Park, NY, to see Against Me! on Friday night at Upstate Concert Hall. Thanks to the power of Twitter and a mutual love of baseball, I got in for free thanks to guitarist James Bowman (who I probably thanked a dozen times in person afterwards, but that doesn't even come close to how grateful I am, thanks for the millionth time, dude!), and my girlfriend got a photo pass. Our pre-show dinner ran a liiiiittle long, and I was bummed to find out that Big Eyes were the first band to play. We showed up as they were tearing down, though the first person I ran at the venue was my friend Drew, so all was not horrible.
All did soon get horrible, though. The other opening act was Tony Molina, who we all agreed sounded like a bad mix between Green Album-era Weezer and Avenged Sevenfold. Every song was very scripted and predictable, with poppy punk beginnings and verses, only to abruptly dive into weird metal-like dual guitar leads and overly long, wanky solos that didn't fit in with the rest of his sound. We wondered amongst ourselves if the Gaslight Anthem show next month would conflict in schedule with any US matches in the first round of the World Cup (it doesn't). Upstate Concert Hall has almost non-existent 3G service inside, and oddly, compared to other venues I've been to, only serves normal sized cans of PBR. I'd pay an extra buck if you sold the tallboys. Long story short, I didn't really care for Tony Molina's set. I wish they'd be scheduled opposite, as I like what I've heard of Big Eyes.
The one thing I noticed was how tiny the crowd was. When I went last fall for Frank Turner, the place was packed. This wasn't the case on Friday, and sort of made for a more intimate feeling show. The people that did show up were extremely energetic, though. An acquaintance of mine posted a thing on Facebook after the show, calling many in the crowd both rude and obnoxious, but I was in the middle of it all for most of the set and didn't notice any out of line behavior. Lots of jumping, lots of singing along, lots of sweating (seriously, deodorant isn't that expensive), and best of all, very minimal crowd surfing.
I'd never seen Against Me! live back in the Tom Gabel days, but holy damn, does Laura Jane Grace have stage presence. While the band ripped through their older stuff (the setlist contained songs going as far back as 2000's "Crime As Forgiven By", she took time to talk about the newer songs and what they meant in regards to her transformation, and shooting down homophobia and transphobia. It also doesn't hurt that "Transgender Dysphoria Blues" is a killer album, and the songs work really well in a live setting. It doesn't matter if you're gay, straight, trans, or anything else, Against Me! put on a very empowering show, and if they're coming near you on tour, you need to get out and see them. They're an important band in a time when bands aren't considered to be important.
Yours truly gets caught having fun, whoops
After the show, there were maybe two dozen of us hanging out hoping to talk to the band. Venue security were being sort of pushy trying to kick us out, but eventually Against Me's merch girl talked them into letting us go out back (thanks Shelby!) to where gear was being loaded into the trailer. Laura was outside having a smoke with some of the crew, and both her and bassist Inge Johannson spent a solid 45 minutes chatting and taking photos with everyone that had hung around. They were both really down to earth, and it was a total pleasure to meet them.
Photos courtesy of Michelle McGrady Photography.