photo: Jef Hoskins |
From our experience, Against
Me! never has an off night. However,
with openers Planes Mistaken for Stars
and Cursive, and the headliner
Mastodon, this is a weird bill
to say the least. Coupled with the fact that this
is the first San Francisco show since it was widely
publicized that the anti-authoritarian, working
man’s indie band that is Against Me! had
signed to the monstrous Warner Brothers uber label,
this could be a trend-breaking poor reception.
As Cursive dismantles,
and AM! sets up camp, the crowd stays strong
at the front of the stage, and a tangible excitement
culminates. While the stoner rockers are milling
around in the Warfield’s expansive entry,
some audibly grumble about the odd line-up.
Nonetheless, it’s quickly clear that this
performance is going to go over like any other.
The crowd begins to cheer in anticipation.
A roar welcomes the band to
the massive stage, and they kick it off with
a roaring, sweating, moshing audience. The band
opens appropriately with Even At Our Worst We’re
Still Better Than Most (The Roller). A strange
bliss fills the room as the entire crowd shrieks
along with the chorus: “You know their
waiting – to tear us apart!”
photo: Jef Hoskins |
It’s overtly clear that
the band has specifically requested absolutely
no technical lighting, as the house lights are
bright white and perfectly still – an
homage to the aversion for flashy rock lighting
that has been dealt with similarly by bands
like Fugazi and Botch. This does a lot to preserve
the band’s no-frills credibility. Furthermore,
the massive stage actually seems imposing and
dwarfing for the major label newbies. Andrew
Seward (bass) takes advantage of the
expanse around and above him to spit a mist
of into the air. The billowing plumes of saliva
are mesmerizing under the bright lights—another
gentle reminder that AM! is still a punk band.
The crowd goes nuts for "From
Her Lips to God’s Ears (The Energizer),"
and the sing-along for "Don’t Lose
Touch" is tear-inspiringly fierce. They
travel the gamut of their discography, playing
tracks from all three of their albums, and even
throw out a few new numbers for a little sample
of what the Warner release is going to offer.
As they wrap up, the crowd chants for an encore,
but as the headliner is still due to play, this
seems inappropriate.
The flawless set unfortunately
ends on a painful note. One fan of the audience
has been badly injured from being struck by
the spiked bracelet of another audience member.
As we depart, fire trucks and paramedics are
just arriving.
Check out this entire line-up
at The Fillmore in Denver Tuesday, May 8—and
please be wise about what you wear into the
pit. This incident this evening was easily preventable.
Jef Hoskins May 3,
2007
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