So, last night I saw my favorite band
play for the last time ever. Well, some of you may know that I refer to several
bands as my “favorite band”. Bomb the Music Industry! is one of them. Last
night was their final show, at the Warsaw in Brooklyn. Bomb has had several “last
shows” over the last year or so, but this one was for real, or at least we
think. It was made out to be a bigger deal than the previous ones, and Jeff
even tweeted that he spent a couple of hours crying in public the night before
the show. Although this was Bomb’s night, the show had a stellar lineup of
openers. Opening for BtMI! were Laura Stevenson (member of Bomb), Michigan
power-pop-punks Cheap Girls, and Arizona folk heroes Andrew Jackson Jihad.
After waiting for nearly an hour out in the frozen Brooklyn tundra, the doors
finally opened.
Soon after we were allowed inside so that
we could thaw out, Laura Stevenson (and the Cans) took the stage. She opened
with The Healthy One, and proceeded to play what was in many ways a classic Laura
Stevenson set. She awkwardly tried to fill time between songs and made bad
jokes as always, but it wasn’t annoying in the slightest, you know, because she’s
Laura Stevenson. She played mostly cuts from Sit Resist and Wheel,
including Master of Art, Runner, The Weight, and others. She also played A
Shine to It off A Record, which made
me really happy because it’s one of my favorite songs of hers. Basically, it
was about a half hour of Laura Stevenson mesmerizing everyone. It was the kind
of set that you have a stupid smile the whole time because of how awesome it is
and how beautiful her voice is. So, a typical set for her. If you’ve seen her
perform before, you know what I’m talking about.
Next were Cheap Girls. I had seen them open
for Bomb back in Philly a few years ago. One thing I forgot about that show is
how boring they were live. Cheap Girls write some really fun, light music to
jam out to, but it does not translate at all to a live show. Ian Graham is a
good singer and has some great lyrics, but he doesn’t have enough charisma to
be a strong frontman. I’m not going to keep bashing Cheap Girls, because they’re
a good band, but it’s hard to stand out in a show that includes three of my
favorite current bands.
After Cheap Girls, Andrew Jackson Jihad
went on to conclude the opening acts. They sprinted through a 15-song setlist, with
Sean Bonnette furiously plucking at his acoustic guitar and spitting out his humorous-yet-depressing,
self-deprecating lyrics, as Ben Gallaty went to town all up and down his double
bass. This set was one of the more cathartic experiences I’ve had. There’s something
about singing along with strangers about how much we hate ourselves that feels
really damn good. AJJ has always held a special place in my heart, being one of
the most human and real bands I’ve ever listened to. They played several
songs that I didn’t recognize, but they also played a few songs from People Who Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People
in the World, and a whopping five songs from my personal favorite AJJ
effort, Can’t Maintain (which I
picked up on vinyl last night). They only played one song off their most recent
album, Knife Man, which I was fine
with because it was the massive “Hate, Rain on Me”. I knew that AJJ is a
popular band, but I was happy to see the crowd react so well to them. Honestly,
I would have been satisfied with the show at this point, since this was my
first time seeing AJJ, and I was not disappointed. However, I still had the
bittersweet final Bomb set in front of me.
Andrew Jackson Jihad setlist:
- Rejoice
- Bad Bad Things
- People II: The Reckoning
- Jesus Saves
- Black Dog
- Kokopelli Face Tattoo
- Heartilation
- Love in the Time of HPV
- You Don't Deserve Yourself
- Sense, Sensibility
- Blood Collectors
- Growing Up
- Hate, Rain on Me
- Love Will Fuck Us Apart
- Principito
After some incredible opening acts, it was time for
the real reason that I took the trip up to Brooklyn. The band took the stage
fairly soon after AJJ was done. And Laura Stevenson joined them to play
keyboard! She started off with the piano intro to Campaign for a Better Weekend,
and Jeff kicked in with the vocals. The crowd all squished to the front as
large crowds tend to do when a band they like is playing. Jeff immediately
stopped playing and asked that we treat each other as humans and stop pushing
each other to get to the front. It started a trend of Jeff humorously antagonizing
the audience for being sucky throughout the show. They started the song over
again, and so it begun. The final time anyone will ever see them play, or at
least for a very long time. They followed with a couple more songs, and then
Jeff said that they’d play a song that they never practice and never play live.
I was hoping it would be “(Shut) Up the Punx!!!” since they never play that
song live and it’s a pretty complicated song. Well, they played it, and it was
glorious.
They continued to play through a pretty extensive
set, playing all of the fan favorites. A big highlight was “All Ages Shows”.
They rarely play it live, and if they do, Laura isn’t usually there to do her
vocal part. Singing along to that song while floating above the crowd was
really something special. I was glad that they played it, since it was the one song
that I was really hoping that they would play. They played through a great set
in standard Bomb the Music Industry! fashion. They were drunk, they were
sloppy, Jeff kept trying to play a Papa Roach song. Even though last night was
a special occasion, that didn’t mean that they wouldn’t be up to their usual
antics. Jeff spent a good portion of time between songs criticizing the
techniques of stagedivers, just being the lovable jerk that he is portrayed to
be. About two thirds into the set, they talk about how they are going to be
playing for a really long time. So long, in fact that they will be playing two
sets, with a fifteen minute break in between. Honestly, I was surprised that
they had the stamina to pull this off. They closed off the first set with the
quirky closer to Scrambles, “Sort of Like Being Pumped”.
The crowd cooled off and hydrated while Bomb was
probably doing the same thing. The first set itself was longer than most of
their sets, so they must have been pretty beat by the time they came back out
for the second set. They kicked off with the epic title track off Get Warmer.
They then went through more of their classics, even playing some that they
normally don’t play live. I was happy to see them play I’m a Panic Bomb, Baby!,
Slumlord, and even the spastic “"FRRRREEEEE BIIIIIIIRRRRD!!!!!!
FRRRRREEEEEEEEE BIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRDDDDD!!!!!!!”. Another really awesome part was
when they somehow segued Can’t Complain into King of Minneapolis Part IV. I could tell the band was having fun as
always, and so was I. But I couldn’t help but feel a sense of sadness as we
knew the inevitable would happen. The set had to end sometime. They then announced
that they had one more song, but we all knew that they were going to play at
least two more. They played the Bomb staple, Syke! Life is Awesome!, which was
amazing as always. Then they said they’d play more, but I was surprised when
they chose to play Showerbeers for the second time of the night. This scared
me, but after the band did a group hug, they ended up closing with Future 86 as
I had expected. When the horns kicked in, they shot confetti into the crowd,
celebrating the death of something that everyone in that room loved.
As the song faded out, they burst into Blow Your
Brains Out on Live TV!!! Leave it to Bomb to mess with us like that. I thought
it was peculiar that they would end on that song. Everyone started chanting, “One
more song! One more song!” and while part of me wanted them to keep playing,
part of me didn’t want the end to be drawn out so much. Jeff answered with, “well
okay, but it’s not very good.” He started strumming his guitar, playing what I
recognized as the hidden bonus track of Vacation. It’s a mellow,
depressing song, and it was a perfect way to end the night. As Jeff played, he
and his bandmates were all tearing up, hugging each other. It was hard to
watch, but it was also heartwarming to think about the joy that this wonderful
band has given so many people. After the song was over, Jeff said something
like “alright, go and do something, you’ll all be fine”. It was the truth; life
will move on without Bomb the Music Industry! They had their time and they did
amazing things and I feel will leave a lasting impact on the punk scene and DIY
and independent music in general. Thank you, BtMI!
Nothing’s forever, dude.
Bomb the Music Industry! setlist:
- Campaign for a Better Weekend
- Everybody That Loves You
- 493 Ruth
- (Shut) Up the Punx!!!
- Savers
- Jobs Schmobs
- All Ages Shows
- Side Projects Are Never Successful
- Even Winning Feels Bad
- Unlimited Breadsticks, Soup and Salad Days
- Saddr Weirdr
- The Shit That You Hate
- Hurricane Waves
- Vocal Coach
- Stand There 'Til You're Sober
- Showerbeers!
- Fresh Attitude, Young Body
- Wednesday Night Drinkball
- I Don't Love You Anymore
- Sort of Like Being Pumped
- Get Warmer
- The First Time I Met Sanawon
- It Shits!!!
- Vinyl Paradise (The Fad cover)
- Bike Test 1 2 3
- I'm a Panic Bomb, Baby!
- Sweet Home Cananada
- Everybody That You Love
- Congratulations, John, On Joining Every Time I Die
- Slumlord
- Sick, Later.
- FRRREEEEEEEEE BIIIIIIIRRRRRRD!!! FRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEE BIIIIIIIIIRRRD!!!!
- Can't Complain
- King of Minneapolis, pt IV
- 25!
- Syke! Life is Awesome!
- Showerbeers!
- Future 86
- Blow Your Brains Out on Live TV!!!
- Don't Destroy Yourself