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Against Me! adds fire to psychedelic show
"Polished" and "tight" are two words rarely associated with the post-grunge spawn of Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana, but both applied to the Silversun Pickups' set Monday night at the Fillmore Auditorium. The L.A. rockers' wildly popular wall of sound was plenty angry and distorted, but it also seemed carefully orchestrated and slightly by-the-numbers.
The alt stars drew heavily on their recent smash album "Swoon," but hit nearly all of their notable songs, ranging from 2006's "Lazy Eye" to 2009's "Panic Switch." The band was backed by a huge projected tapestry that changed colors and flashed so fast it seemed in danger of inducing seizures.
Openers The Henry Clay People ground out boozy Hold Steady-ish talk-rock, at one point announcing that the crowd was watching "the drunkest Henry Clay People show in recent memory." By contrast, middle act Against Me! was all raging focus, shredding through politically charged punk tracks including "White People for Peace," "White Crosses" and "I Was a Teenage Anarchist."
