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Brand New with Manchester Orchestra
Brand New made good on the Denver show they cancelled in October of 2009, bringing the Manchester Orchestra along for the ride at the Fillmore Auditorium.
Brand New is one of those bands who, for better or worse, are built around the concert experience. Theatrical in the extreme (especially on recent albums), singer Jesse Lacey's band sounds great via stereo but always seems to inspire the comment, "OK, but I bet they'd be awesome live!" And that's true. But awe doesn't always equal enjoyment.
So what was missing? Well, the fans. Every time Brand New played a better-known song, the Fillmore exploded, sending crowd surfers sailing and moshers tumbling. Then the group would settle into a prog-rock rut and you could literally watch the young kids drifting off, followed by the older ones and finally the old-school fans. Far be it from us to suggest a band "go pop" and keep writing the same hit song over and over (we're looking at you, Nickelback), but there is something to be said for listening to one's customers. And if we spotted this interest gap in just one night, one can only assume that the band is aware of it as well. At some point, Brand New may have to accept that their fans simply don't have the same taste in music as they do.
