In the band's ten years of existence, I have never caught them live. I have no excuse, just for some reason I have never made it out to one of their gigs. This changed last Saturday, as I made sure to order 2 tickets far in advance. Months before the show.
For many years I have been a fan of the Lawrence Arms. I thought they had that melodic Chicago punk rock sound, not to different from Alkaline Trio; except that I believe that the Arms pull it off much better then Trio. This is not a popular opinion around Chicago, but whatever. Speaking unkindly about Alkaline Trio in Chicago is much like talking shit about god in a church - it just doesn't end well. My best argument would be the work they continue to put out. Don't get me wrong, I think 'Goddamnit' and 'Maybe I'll Catch Fire' are two excellent albums... but then the quality of each release after those just goes downhill. Can any diehard Trio fan honestly say they enjoy the newest Trio album as much as Goddamnit? No, I doubt it. On the contrary, the Arms have only gotten better with each release. I think each album they put out is better then their last, which is an impressive feat.
After three opening acts (Mike Park, La Plebe, The Menzingers) The Lawrence Arms took the stage and played an extended hour and 45 minute set ripping through 30+ songs spanning their entire catalog. Every song that I wanted to hear was played with the exception of "Porno and Snuff Films" , but there was so much goodness I can't complain about not hearing one song. The inbetween song banter was minimal; Brendan talked about getting high with co-vocalist Chris, and another story involving a dick and balls in a glass jar, but he mainly just thanked the audience for all the support. Many times telling the crowd that he loved us.
The show sold out in advance, and therefore was filled with to the brim with fans shouting along to every word of every song. So, needless to say the atmosphere was ideal. The crowd and the band were both very into the music, and everyone was having a good time.
The three piece sounded tight - like a band that has been together for ten years. Before one song, (I want to say it was the Wishful Puppeteer) they announced they have only played the song live once before, and it didn't sound that great. After these words of discouragement, they proceeded to play the song, and it sounded great.
In closing, I had a great time seeing one of my favorite bands live. To me this was one of those shows where you are just glad you went. It was one of those shows where you know it was the place to be, that people that didn't go really missed out. I hope to catch them again live next time they come around, which is soon hopefully.
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