Alkaline Trio

Live in Philadelphia (Night One) (2015)

marywithoutsound

When Alkaline Trio announced that their Past Live tour would be making a stop in Philadelphia, during which the established punk rockers would play all eight of their studio albums in their entirety over the course of four consecutive nights, I wished it was possible (and affordable) for me to attend every show. I was able to go to Night One of the event, Thursday, May 7th, and it proved not to be a disappointment in the least.

I didn't make it in to the TLA until the interval between opening act Hide and Alkaline Trio's set. For those fans who did go to multiple shows, I am sure they appreciated having a different opening band each night of the tour. Now I had heard that at other cities on the Past Live tour, Alkaline Trio was bookending their albums in succession, starting with the oldest and most recent album on the first show and working their way in. This proved to be correct actually when I heard them begin 2013's My Shame is True.

To be honest, I hadn't given the new Alkaline Trio record any attention besides a few listens of the single "I Wanna Be a Warhol." However after hearing the album played through live, I can see it is similar to any other release from Alkaline Trio, a blend of energizing tunes of self-destruction and sensitive ballads of failed relationships, with the band's classic simple, yet encompassing sound carrying this weight of varying emotions. Matt Skiba (Guitar/Vocals), Dan Andriano (Bass/Vocals), and Derek Grant (Drums/Backing Vocals) played through the album's tracklist without saying much between songs, and the packed crowd pretty much stayed in place, with a few enthusiastic fans.

It wasn't until Alkaline Trio blasted into "Cringe," the first track of 1998's Goddamnit, that the audience really came alive and the band responded in kind. As the band wailed through some fan favorites, like "Cop," "Clavicle," and "Nose Over Tail," the varied assemblage went all-out, dancing and crowd surfing, though the pit was fairly tame. Andriano slowed things down a bit with an acoustic solo version of "Enjoy Your Day" in the middle of Goddamnit's performance, while Skiba closed Alkaline Trio's set for the night with his acoustic ballad "Sorry About That."

After an almost too brief pause Alkaline Trio returned to the stage for an encore: Skiba abruptly announced "My Friend Peter," the band belted out the classic song, thanked the crowd, and disappeared. Overall the show was a good time but there was a distance- though the band was clearly enjoying themselves, they interacted very little with the crowd and the performance as a whole seemed a little orchaestrated, almost rushed. It's obvious that the main purpose of the tour was for Alkaline Trio to revisit each studio album and play through them all in an organized way, but there could have been more fluidity in the band's presence at the venue.

Again, it would have been a wonderfully awesome experience to be at each show of Alkaline Trio's four night stay in Philadelphia this past weekend. Witnessing only one night, especially the first one, gave off a feeling of incompletion somewhat. But Alkaline Trio sounded great, and played with the same raw energy and emotion as they have delivered on record for almost twenty years now, making for a memorable evening nonetheless.