The Blood Brothers / the Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower
live in Pittsburgh (2005)
Brian Shultz
Even after managing to get out of work an hour and a half early, we missed Big Business.
The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower played next. Their set can be summed up in several words; amongst them: spazzy, chaotic, sassy, noisy, and sexually deprived. If he wasn't wailing off-beat notes on a saxophone, lead singer Brandon Welchez was doing anything and everything it took to get himself off on stage. At least, that's what it seemed like, with a handful (pun perhaps intended) of crotch grabbing and mike thrusting. But amongst those antics was some noisy, arty hardcore with a guitar tone similar to the band they were opening for. Welchez, as well as the guitarist and bassist, all used the faux-Brit sonances of their voices to add a level of class to the course of their chaos. Presumably scattered amongst their set was several tracks from Love In The Fascist Brothel, released earlier this year. It was a sort of fitting irony for the band in that for a sound so thrown together (yet working) and seemingly intent on destroying everything in its path - and, try picturing this jazzy, wailing saxophone on top of that - as well as near-sexual deviation, that they were playing in a converted church. It was an enjoyable set for someone whose style seems better conveyed live than on record.
Though their set depended heavily on Crimes, a much refocused and thus bombast-ready Blood Brothers took to the stage shortly after. The band seemed entirely more together than the last I'd seen them , and kept up their intensity and drive throughout the duration of the set. The usual 1-2 punch of "Trash Flavored Trash" and "Beautiful Horses" opened things up, following in no particular order "Birth Skin / Death Leather," "Ambulance Vs. Ambulance" (perhaps the set highlight), "Cecilia And The Silhouette Saloon," "Feed Me To The Forest," "Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck," "Peacock Skeleton With Crooked Fingers," "Rats And Rats And Rats For Candy," "Crimes," and "Live At The Apocalypse Cabaret." There may have been one or two missing from Crimes and its preceding full-length but without a set list in sight my memory is the only thing assisting me. They had roughly the entire crowd moving, yelling and/or clapping at all the appropriate points during the entire set. They received the usual chants after leaving the stage to a still-dimly lit room, and returned with a couplet of tracks from Burn, Piano Island, Burn. Upon the finish of "The Salesman, Denver Max," they capped off the night with "Guitarmy." I, as well as others likely, expected "Fucking's Greatest Hits" to finish a trilogy, but the finish was there and subsequently abrupt. Despite the surprise it was an interesting way to go out. Even with every little thing the band has going on in each song, they executed it perfectly, and I've yet to see the band play a bad or even mediocre set.
If you don't mind a set chock full of newer material and could go for some openers (well, opener, in my case) in a relatively similar coating, the tour, which has just under a month left, should serve you well.