Envy on the Coast / The Sleeping

live in New York (2010)

Adam Breon

When Envy on the Coast announced that they would be breaking up, it didn't really seem to garner much of a reaction from the Punknews crowd. Maybe if they wrote a song about sandwiches, things might be a little bit different. Regardless, I had enjoyed them when I saw them open for Bayside earlier this year, and since I was going to be on Long Island this weekend, I decided to attend their last two shows at Irving Plaza.

After waiting in line for about an hour and a half (I always leave early for shows in New York City since parking sucks), the doors opened at 7:00. All of the bands playing the show were based on Long Island, and the opener Neighbors took the stage at 8:00 and played until 8:22. I really don't have anything positive or negative to say about them. Their music was very forgettable, but I do recall that there was an unnecessary keyboard being played by the vocalist. Now, in an attempt to be fair, I listened to their music online once I got home to see if maybe it was just an off night. I accidentally chose the wrong Neighbors profile on MySpace and didn't realize it until halfway through the song. So yeah, forgettable.

Next up was the Sleeping, whose set ran from 8:49 until 9:22. In what may be a bit of an unpopular opinion, I prefer the Sleeping's music to Skycamefalling by far. Now, I never saw Skycamefalling live, so I can't really compare that aspect, but I have never been disappointed any of the times I've seen the Sleeping. Even though there was a barricade, frontman Doug Robinson tried to be out in the crowd as much as he possibly could. I don't have an exact set list, but I do remember that they opened with "Bomb the World" and closed with "You'll Be a Corpse Before Your Time." They also played either one or two new songs from their upcoming album, The Big Deep. As far as the new material goes, whatever opinion anyone has of their current albums will almost certainly remain the same.

Originally, this was planned to be Envy on the Coast's last show, but since it sold out quicker than anticipated, another one had been added for the following night. Now, if you've never listened to them, think of Incubus if they began about 15 years later and really loved Daryl Palumbo. Their set drew pretty evenly from all of their albums, although with this being their last shows and with only two full-lengths and one EP to their name, that's what should be expected. About halfway through the set, their guitarist asked the crowd if they should break up. After their obvious response, his reply was, "Nah, we're still going to break up." I'm always in favor of a joke at the crowd's expense. Their set started at 9:50 I ended up leaving their set at 11:33 assuming they were done. I read later that they played a one-song encore. However, since I was going to be seeing them again in less than 24 hours, I was okay with that.

Set list: