There`s a high chance that unless you were an emo kid about four years ago, Brand New may have passed you by but after the release of their new album `The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me`, they`ve started turning heads again. If you don`t know who they are, this is the band who sold all those t-shirts that said `Mics are for singing not for swinging` on them.
With support from Mewithoutyou ` a pretty middle of the road, Taking Back Sunday esque band with some catchy hooks and a singer who clearly had ADHD ` Brand New had a lot of explaining to do after their extended absence. Looking over the crowd it was clear that if there was some kind of explosion in the Carling Academy that night, almost the entirety of Glasgow`s floppy-fringed-tight-jean-wearing-population would be lost.
Brand New opened the long awaited Glasgow show with a crowd pleaser and seemed to make this the theme of the gig. Oddly enough they decided to play their set in chronological order, focusing mainly on the second album (only missing out two songs in fact) and clearly revelling in the fact that every member of the crowd knew every word. The incredibly bitter singer Jesse didn`t miss a note and threw the crowd for six with his ever-changing melodies and improvised lyrics. Jesse pulled off the angsty thirty year old quite well but clearly is just in need of a cup of tea, a biscuit and a hug.
Brand New are one of these bands that ` if you`re a fan ` you forget just how many of their songs you like but this gig definitely took them all home. After a heart rendering rendition of Soco Amaretto Line the crowd was well and truly won over and even me, with my reviewers hat on, was pretty damn impressed.
Now there is no denying that this was a very, very emo gig but they seemed to let the music do the talking for a change. After over an hour of playing it wasn`t entirely obvious if the band remembered that they had just released a new album but it seemed they were saving the best until last. A five song encore followed the band`s hasty departure from the stage (this left everybody a bit puzzled when the gig did actually end as nobody could tell if they were coming back or not). After an hour and 45 minutes of playing it would be very surprising if anybody left this gig feeling disappointed but there`s just no pleasing some people.
