Girl at the Rock Shows

I became an auntie for the first time yesterday. My little brother and his beautiful wife brought a stunning baby girl into this world yesterday morning. Meeting the little one and seeing the joy and love in my brother’s face was absolutely a moment I will never forget, but also one that sent me down a bit of an existential crisis spiral. My brother’s life just changed completely. It will truly never be the same, but there I was. Seeing his life change completely, knowing that, as soon as I left the hospital, I was heading over to The Armory to see yet another show. It’s what I’ve been doing for literal decades, and although I absolutely love it and wouldn’t trade all of the opportunities I get for anything, it got me wondering if this path was wrong. I’ve never wanted kids, they’re just not for me, but, watching my brother and his wife watching the little baby sitting at the edge of the bed, smiling at every coo, every squirm, I couldn’t help but wonder if I missed out on life or made a mistake but all of those feelings disappeared as I entered The Armory. My life is live music, and having a newborn to take care of would absolutely change that, so no, I did not make a mistake. I was so honored to be there to welcome my little niece into the world, but also so glad to escape to another night in my own personal dreamland- a concert.

Foxing opened up the night to a lighter audience than I expected, but that didn’t stop them. Although there were a lot of gaps and open floor in the [around] 8,000-person capacity room, Foxing gave the audience everything they had and, per usual, it blew me away. I honestly don’t know why I don’t spend more time with this band. Every time I see them, I write about how I have to dig into their discography, but then, I never do. I think I figured out why as I watched them play their quick thirty-minute opening set on Wednesday night. This band is a live band through and through. It’s not that their recording material is bad, but I feel like the recordings from Foxing just do not bring the same amount of emotion to the table as their performances. From the way that vocalist Conor Murphy can go from the most gorgeous tones to some of the most intense screams I’ve ever heard to the way the band and instruments do the same, shifting from lush soundscapes into moments of pure rage and chaos, there’s just something about this band that will never be able to translate into a recording and that’s okay.

Foxing called themselves out in a way. They addressed the audience, saying that they knew that people weren’t there to see them. People were there for the two juggernauts that were to follow Foxing. That being said, Foxing really appreciated the respect and attention that the audience was giving them. I wish I could have turned that around on the band and thanked them for laying their hearts on stage and truly making me feel everything I wanted to during their set, while leaving me blown away to the point where I couldn’t feel a thing. It was just what I needed on Wednesday night.

I’ve had a rough ride with Taking Back Sunday, the next band to perform, over the past few years. Their shows went from gold standard to a performance that, if something better was coming through town on the same night, I would easily skip. I’m not sure what happened. Taking Back Sunday is a band that never stops. Whether it’s putting out new music or constantly touring, TBS are truly on the grind and have been for decades. Maybe thhe past couple of times I’ve seen them, they were just so exhausted and burnt out from this grind that their performances were as good as they could be under the circumstances but the tortured vocals, terrible lighting, and just overall lack of heart that I had experienced as of late from them had left a bad taste in my mouth. All that being said, I am a die-hard Taking Back Sunday fan (even if it doesn’t sound like it) and, although I did take a break from them for a hot minute and stopped looking forward to their shows like I once did, I needed them in my life on Wednesday night. Foxing was great, but I needed the familiarity and comfort that comes with a band like Taking Back Sunday to remind me that, sure, my little brother is a dad, and here I was on my second vodka Redbull like a child without any responsibilities, but that’s okay because this is the life that I chose and Taking Back Sunday has been one of the few constants in it.

I really don’t mean to bash Taking Back Sunday, I adore them, but I also didn’t want to get my hopes up too high just to be completely let down. I braced myself for impact as the houselights went down. I waited to hear those tortured vocals and see nothing but smoke, as has become par for the course for this band, but when that didn’t happen, it was like opening my eyes for the first time. Taking Back Sunday sounded absolutely flawless for the first time in a hot minute. They seemed to focus on the nostalgic jams throughout their sixteen-song set. I didn’t hear all of the iconic songs that I wanted to, but they did a great job of mixing up the vibe and feeling. From angsty anthems like “Liar (It Takes One to Know One)” to more tender and heartfelt tracks like “The One”, Taking Back Sunday showed us all of their sides, and each one seemed to be brighter than the last. The band not only sounded good, they looked great, and although it was a bummer that guitarist John Nolan was not with them on Wednesday night, it was an absolute treat to see Fred Mascherino behind the guitar like the good ol’ days. Are the dark days of this band gone? Was Wednesday night just a particularly good night for the band? I honestly don’t know and don’t want to sit here and analyze. All I know is that I needed the comfort of Taking Back Sunday as I tried to calm all of the racing thoughts in my head, and they did the trick and then some. I honestly couldn’t tell you the last time I felt so much comfort and peace in a set.

Clearly, Taking Back Sunday was the highlight for me on Wednesday night, but that’s truly just because of the nostalgia factor of their set and where my head was at. That being said, Coheed & Cambria closed out the night with a truly amazing bang. The members of Coheed are true musicians. They are the kind of people who make you want to give up whatever instrument you currently play because, at the end of the day, you’ll never be that good. Okay, that sounds harsh and definitely not Coheed’s MO. In fact, this band cultivates creativity. From their music to the comic books of vocalist/guitarist Claudio Sanchez, this band does a little bit of everything, and all of those things are as amazing as the last thing they did. Hard working, virtuistic, and some of the most seemingly down-to-earth people out there, there was a reason Coheed & Cambria were closing out this show, and a reason that everyone in the audience was completely transfixed by what was happening on stage and what was floating through the speakers.

This was far from my first time seeing Coheed & Cambria live, but something about this show felt larger than some of the other times I’ve seen them. It could have been the giant inflatable that popped up on stage behind the band after a few songs, or it was the mixture of my emotions getting lost in the swirling lights, whatever it is, this show just felt bigger in all of the right ways, yet, when the band was playing, it felt oddly intimate. That entire statement is a huge juxtaposition and makes no sense, so you’ll have to trust me on this. Like Taking Back Sunday, Coheed & Cambria played everything they could with the short time they were given. Okay, 90 minutes isn’t short (and is how long their set was), but with a band as storied as this, with eleven full-length albums, each one an epic tale in itself, but together, creating an even more epic story, there was no way anyone could hear everything they wanted. That being said, they did what they could and, like TBS, seemed to have a perfectly curated set that spanned all eras of this band while showing the many versatile sides of them.

My brother and his wife had a beautiful baby girl on Wednesday. Their life has completely changed. I went to yet another show on Wednesday– just like I have been doing for decades. There’s nothing wrong with either way of living. I’m happy, my brother is happy, and I just hope that my little beautiful niece grows up to be happy as well.

Line Up:

Foxing

Taking Back Sunday

Coheed and Cambria

Venue: Armory

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 38

Crowd Surfers- 1 Spotted but The Armory is huge and I was chilling back after doing photos so I’m sure there were more

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 3 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- $0

Broken Bones- None Noticed

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Nothing

Fights- None

Pukers- 0

Passed Out People- 0

Idiots Taken Out By Security – 0

How Many Times I’ve Seen These Bands Before (or at least how many times I can remember)-

Foxing – 2

Taking Back Sunday – At least 31

Coheed & Cambria – 7

Celebrity Sightings – Matt from Gloria

Overall Score – 9.7 out of 10

Show on Deck — Rebirth Brass Band

Shameless Self Promotion:

Join My Patreon Here!

Buy Me a Coffee (Seriously!)