Brand New and Thrice at the Norva

Here begins my review of the Brand New/Thrice concert at the Norva in Norfolk, VA. Unfortunately the pictures uploaded backwards so I'll just show those right now...

Brand New's Jesse Lacey on vocals plus check out the tambourine

Brand New performing "Archers Bows Have Broken"

Brand New's Jesse Lacey and drummer Brian Lane

Brand New

Thrice

When Will, Kristin, Jeff Black, and I arrived at the Norva, the opening band (Crime in Stereo I think but I can't quite recall) was on. For the first time I didn't have to get those godawful black permanent marker Xs on my hands which not only smell all night but then refuse to come off later... for several days. Thankfully I'm 21 now! Xs no more! It was pretty crowded and we decided to move to the balcony. We stood at the side that faces the stage (and therefore is furthest from it) and got decent spots with just a couple standing in front of Kristin and I at the railing. I kept my thought beams pointed at them, telling them to GTFO, hoping it would work.

So Crime(s?) in Stereo was/were fine. I wasn't totally into them but they weren't at all bad. The balcony which I have never been to turns out to be a sweet spot because it's less crowded, you can see much better, and they have cleaner bathrooms.

Thrice came on after a record-breaking 15 minute set-up delay (wow! who would have guessed?). They did a really sweet cover of The Beatles' "Helter Skelter" and had a few other good songs. I certainly didn't like all of their songs, though... oh well. I was mostly there for Brand New.

Brand New took way more time to set up... as the main act usually does (though my bro claims they were co-headlining with Thrice). My mental energies must have paid off, because the couple in front of us left and so Kristin and I rushed in to fill the space at the railing. Awesomely, we had something to lean against and it made for excellent pictures because you could steady the camera (also I took some pretty decent video clips which maybe I'll get the energy to embed one day after uploading them...). So then Brand New came on. For one thing, they had really cool, dynamic lighting that was different for every song. It went with the music, too, seeming to respond to it all on its own (hooray for the lighting tech!). On some songs they had a pretty backdrop on the screen, or short film clips or pictures. In addition to the visual coolness, they were also incredibly good. They play extremely well live (it sounds a lot like the album but with an added oomph of live energy - just the way I like it) and beyond that their setlist was phenomenal. They played all my favorite songs by them, songs from their last 3 albums (and since many bands just play their newest stuff, this was a great mixture). They played such things as Archers Bows Have Broken, Limousine, Jesus, Degausser, Okay I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don't, The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows, Sic Transit Gloria, Play Crack the Sky, and stuff off their new album, Daisy, which I hadn't really heard yet.

Basically Brand New is awesome. See them live. Especially if you were like me and were obsessed with Deja Entendu when you were in high school. YES!!!