Pissing off Scenesters Since 1995
Bad Religion/The Gallows/The Briggs
Nokia Theater
October 15, 2007
The Gallows blew my mind. The singer played the whole set on the floor, in the middle of a mosh pit. I haven’t seen anyone do that since Converge at a VFW hall in 1994, and that doesn’t count since there wasn’t a stage. They played for what felt like ages, and the crowd ate up everything. Sucks to be the Jersey crowd, because it looks like it was The Gallows last night on the tour. I’m definitely looking forward to hearing more of their work.
The Briggs actually played before The Gallows and did a fair job warming up the crowd. They play your typical modern punk rock that all the kids seem to be into, but with a little more oompha a tad bit more balls.
After watching Bad Religion phone in a lackluster show at Starland Ballroom two years ago, I was wary going into last night’s set. I’m so glad I’m often wrong. The band played one of their best shows ever, cramming in nearly 30 song in an hour and a half. “God Song,” “Skyscraper,” “Looking In”—Hell, they played almost the whole “No Control” record. They weren’t kidding when they said the fans were in charge of the set lists. Never mind that they botched most of “We’re Only Going to Die,” last night was a night for true Bad Religion fans.
The band was completely on point—Greg Graffin sang his heart out, Brian Baker killed the crowd was killer solo after killer solo, and Jay Bentley was drunk and belligerent (just the way we like him). What made the night magical was the song selection. Sure there were hardly any songs from records post-Gray Race, but what did you really expect. The night was owned by old school fans, and they wanted to hear classic Bad Religion, played with the fire that brought the band to the big leagues. They delivered, and boy were we tired when the show was over. This is a must see tour if you can still catch it.