OLD SCHOOL: Against Me! Live at The Alley in 2003
this is a "review" I posted in my livejournal (one of my first ever lj posts) of the Against Me! show that will forever go down in Miami punk rock history...pretty much everyone I know or knew that was at that show will get a weird, glazed look in their eyes when you ask them about this show as they slip away and get lost in a better time (for DIY music in Miami and definitely for Against Me!)...it's not exactly a great review as I wrote it when I was 17 and a few things in it probably won't make sense to anyone but it's ridiculously exhuberant, substantially embarrassing, somewhat interesting, and kinda fun to read so I figured I'd share...
The first band to play was Stop This Fall, hardcore punk with Pointless singer Johnny. They're a good band, Bane-type stuff but with screaming. They have good energy and some good songs, but nothing to cream your pants over (or get hard nipples over...not to mention any names)
Next up was the band formerly known as Lockjaw in the Locust Valley, who had Andres from Eat Shit on vocals and were replacing that same band on the bill. GREAT grindy metalcore kind of like Adore Miridia but different. Lots of energy, very intense set.
I didn't stay in for Never In Red but they're basically Glassjaw with pop punk parts and mosh breakdowns. A decent band for what they do. They also put on a great show. But from what i heard their set on this night was lacking. Oh well.
After them was Modern Day '84, Grimm's punk band. I didn't expect much of these guys but they turned out to be quite awesome. Good street-ish punk/ska stuff. Grimm dedicated a song to the fordapunx message board which was quite cool. We all humped him after the set.
Then came Revolver. DAMN! These guys are doing something really unique and special in the scene right now. This is beautiful music people. It's like Melodic Rockish Indie Pop with an almost Lounge-like touch. WOW they were excellent. Much respect to Adolfo for putting together such a great band with great musicianship and songwriting skills. The lead guitarist had some gorgeous solos too...not ripping solos but nice, real, soulful solos a la Carlos Santana. GREAT SET!
After them, Pygmy played by MATT's decision, not because they absolutely refused to play. They were hardly being assholes about it so let the rumors end now. They only played for about 20 minutes but in that time they ripped it up in usual Pygmy fashion. Blah blah Pygmy is sheer brilliance, blah, they're the best band in the scene right now, blah, you've heard it all before...tonight was no different.
and then...
AGAINST FUCKING ME!!! Wow, from the opening lines of "Those Anarcho Punx are Mysterious" to the AMAZING anthemic choruses of "Walking is Still Honest" and "Pints of Guiness Make You Strong", these guys were just INCREDIBLE. They played some new songs--one from the new EP and two TOTALLY NEW unreleased songs...all of which were SUPERB--and they blasted through a lot of great songs off Reinventing Axl Rose. The most amazing part of the entire show--and maybe even all the shows i've been to--was the end of Against Me's set. I had been creaming myself for months imagining them closing with "We Laugh at Danger (and Break All the Rules)"...so Against Me is wrapping up their amazing set and they say "this is our last song" and after a few moments of anticipation i flip my lid as Tom announces the final song as:
"WE LAUGH AT DANGER (AND BREAK ALL THE FUCKING RULES)"
as soon as the singing part kicked in, myself and a few others (Matt included) launched ourselves onto the stage and sang along. But then when the chorus hit...WHAM! The stage was fucking RUSHED. It was a sight to see. Kids were on the stage dancing with each other, singing to each other and just having so much fun. We even got the whole crowd clapping along to the little breakdown chorus and then we all let out the loudest WOOOOOO! we could muster as we brought the song to its crashing close. We all thought it was over then. Even as shouts of "BABY, I'M AN ANARCHIST" peppered the venue, people were beginning to file out...when suddenly...the motherfuckers BUSTED RIGHT INTO FUCKING "BABY, I'M AN ANARCHIST!!!!" What an AMAZINGLY PERFECT moment that was. Everyone was just on stage singing along in a circle around the band and it was so beautiful that it made me want to cry. What an ending to an amazing show. Matt, Mambo, TONS of props for putting this shit together, we love you!
The first band to play was Stop This Fall, hardcore punk with Pointless singer Johnny. They're a good band, Bane-type stuff but with screaming. They have good energy and some good songs, but nothing to cream your pants over (or get hard nipples over...not to mention any names)
Next up was the band formerly known as Lockjaw in the Locust Valley, who had Andres from Eat Shit on vocals and were replacing that same band on the bill. GREAT grindy metalcore kind of like Adore Miridia but different. Lots of energy, very intense set.
I didn't stay in for Never In Red but they're basically Glassjaw with pop punk parts and mosh breakdowns. A decent band for what they do. They also put on a great show. But from what i heard their set on this night was lacking. Oh well.
After them was Modern Day '84, Grimm's punk band. I didn't expect much of these guys but they turned out to be quite awesome. Good street-ish punk/ska stuff. Grimm dedicated a song to the fordapunx message board which was quite cool. We all humped him after the set.
Then came Revolver. DAMN! These guys are doing something really unique and special in the scene right now. This is beautiful music people. It's like Melodic Rockish Indie Pop with an almost Lounge-like touch. WOW they were excellent. Much respect to Adolfo for putting together such a great band with great musicianship and songwriting skills. The lead guitarist had some gorgeous solos too...not ripping solos but nice, real, soulful solos a la Carlos Santana. GREAT SET!
After them, Pygmy played by MATT's decision, not because they absolutely refused to play. They were hardly being assholes about it so let the rumors end now. They only played for about 20 minutes but in that time they ripped it up in usual Pygmy fashion. Blah blah Pygmy is sheer brilliance, blah, they're the best band in the scene right now, blah, you've heard it all before...tonight was no different.
and then...
AGAINST FUCKING ME!!! Wow, from the opening lines of "Those Anarcho Punx are Mysterious" to the AMAZING anthemic choruses of "Walking is Still Honest" and "Pints of Guiness Make You Strong", these guys were just INCREDIBLE. They played some new songs--one from the new EP and two TOTALLY NEW unreleased songs...all of which were SUPERB--and they blasted through a lot of great songs off Reinventing Axl Rose. The most amazing part of the entire show--and maybe even all the shows i've been to--was the end of Against Me's set. I had been creaming myself for months imagining them closing with "We Laugh at Danger (and Break All the Rules)"...so Against Me is wrapping up their amazing set and they say "this is our last song" and after a few moments of anticipation i flip my lid as Tom announces the final song as:
"WE LAUGH AT DANGER (AND BREAK ALL THE FUCKING RULES)"
as soon as the singing part kicked in, myself and a few others (Matt included) launched ourselves onto the stage and sang along. But then when the chorus hit...WHAM! The stage was fucking RUSHED. It was a sight to see. Kids were on the stage dancing with each other, singing to each other and just having so much fun. We even got the whole crowd clapping along to the little breakdown chorus and then we all let out the loudest WOOOOOO! we could muster as we brought the song to its crashing close. We all thought it was over then. Even as shouts of "BABY, I'M AN ANARCHIST" peppered the venue, people were beginning to file out...when suddenly...the motherfuckers BUSTED RIGHT INTO FUCKING "BABY, I'M AN ANARCHIST!!!!" What an AMAZINGLY PERFECT moment that was. Everyone was just on stage singing along in a circle around the band and it was so beautiful that it made me want to cry. What an ending to an amazing show. Matt, Mambo, TONS of props for putting this shit together, we love you!
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