The new Knitting Factory nestles itself on 361 Metropolitan Ave., and an unfortunate 20-30 blocks from where my friend and I decided to park the car. Consequently, we missed the Reveling, who was designating the show as their CD release party for their extremely decent new EP, 3D Radio [review forthcoming].
We also missed about the first half of the Riot Before's set, making for another bummer. It was cool to see the band actually had a few fans in attendance singing along as the folk-tinged punk quartet blasted through tracks off last year's Fists Buried in Pockets. There was a perfectly rugged quality to their sound, which the new KF amplified well, while the band retained their solid musicianship and songwriting. I believe they closed their set with "Capillaries," which seemed appropriate since it ends the album, too.
I was mildly pumped to see Living with Lions since I'd missed their set at The Fest (skipping them for the Ghost), but I was clearly not as stoked as some of the other guys in attendance. About a dozen bearded dudes and a few girls lovingly crowded the stage to sing along to the Canadian pop-punks. The vocals could've been a little more prominent in the mix, and as the set went on I was reminded of the slight cheesiness of their last album, Make Your Mark, but it was an enjoyable time anyway. The band played a tidy 27 minutes with a stage dive here and there and plenty of bromantic pile-ons, notably thanks to LWL being the first band with a guitar-less frontman. If I had any request, it would've been a cover; the show just seemed to beg for at least one.
Set list (9:33-10:00):
- Coolin with Costa
- A Bottle of Charades
----- - A Noisy Noise Annoys the Boys
- Colors
----- - Cold Coffee
- Hotel: Part Seven
----- - Later Is Better
And even though I'd seen their whole set at The Fest (skipping Russian Circles), I was still pretty excited to see A Wilhelm Scream again, especially in a considerably smaller venue. And shit, they delivered. It was exactly the set of speedy, aggressive and technical yet ingeniously melodic punk rock one expects from the band. They hit almost every note dead on yet exuded a welcomed raw energy throughout, as frontman Nuno Pereira beamed in his thrash-flipped Municipal Waste hat (an apparent adored item of his on this tour) and Gorilla Biscuits hoodie (Queens sitting just one borough over).
There were pauses among almost all the songs, but they were thankfully brief, and it allowed the band to squeeze nearly 20 songs into a surprising hour-long set. I'm sure Smackin' Isiah fans were aching for something from Benefits of Thinking Out Loud (or maybe even earlier?), but I was more than pleased that the band stuck to their last (and easily best) three albums. They played plenty of the standouts, and even threw in two new ones from their forthcoming self-titled EP.
The crowd was adoring all of it, and considering the Copyrights were playing a few blocks away and Comeback Kid one bridge away, there were a good number of them here. They were also much cooler than last time, with way less inconsiderate push-mosh and more plain ol' getting siked on life. Sing-alongs, finger-points, poorly executed lift-ups and an occasional stage diver was the main activity at hand.
With all those tours I saw at Fest making their way up here, this week should be pretty cool (Touché Amoré and Shook Ones have respective tours hitting up NYC and LI starting today-- get on it!), and this was just the start.
Set list (10:21-11:16):
- The Kids Can Eat a Bag of Dicks
- Jaws 3, People 0
----- - The Soft Sell
----- - Get Mad, You Son of a Bitch
----- - Australias
----- - The Horse
----- - Less Bright Eyes, More Deicide
----- - These Dead Streets
----- - When I Was Alive: Walden III
----- - Skid Rock
----- - The King Is Dead
----- - Mute Print
----- - Me vs. Morrissey in the Pretentiousness Contest (The Ladder Match)
----- - I Wipe My Ass with Showbiz
- 5 to 9
----- - Killing It
----- - The Rip
----- - Famous Friends and Fashion Drunks
Encore (11:18-11:23): - We Built This City! (On Debts and Booze)