Monday, January 20, 2014

Bomb The Music Industry! (And Action Action) (And Refused) (And Born Against) Are Fucking Dead.



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:

  1. Rejoice
  2. Bad Bad Things
  3. People II: The Reckoning
  4. Jesus Saves
  5. Black Dog
  6. Kokopelli Face Tattoo
  7. Heartilation
  8. Love in the Time of HPV
  9. You Don't Deserve Yourself
  10. Sense, Sensibility
  11. Blood Collectors
  12. Growing Up
  13. Hate, Rain on Me
  14. Love Will Fuck Us Apart
  15. 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:

  1. Campaign for a Better Weekend
  2. Everybody That Loves You
  3. 493 Ruth
  4. (Shut) Up the Punx!!!
  5. Savers
  6. Jobs Schmobs
  7. All Ages Shows
  8. Side Projects Are Never Successful
  9. Even Winning Feels Bad
  10. Unlimited Breadsticks, Soup and Salad Days
  11. Saddr Weirdr
  12. The Shit That You Hate
  13. Hurricane Waves
  14. Vocal Coach
  15. Stand There 'Til You're Sober
  16. Showerbeers!
  17. Fresh Attitude, Young Body
  18. Wednesday Night Drinkball
  19. I Don't Love You Anymore
  20. Sort of Like Being Pumped
Break
  1. Get Warmer
  2. The First Time I Met Sanawon
  3. It Shits!!!
  4. Vinyl Paradise (The Fad cover)
  5. Bike Test 1 2 3
  6. I'm a Panic Bomb, Baby!
  7. Sweet Home Cananada
  8. Everybody That You Love
  9. Congratulations, John, On Joining Every Time I Die
  10. Slumlord
  11. Sick, Later.
  12. FRRREEEEEEEEE BIIIIIIIRRRRRRD!!! FRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEE BIIIIIIIIIRRRD!!!!
  13. Can't Complain
  14. King of Minneapolis, pt IV
  15. 25!
  16. Syke! Life is Awesome!
  17. Showerbeers!
  18. Future 86
  19. Blow Your Brains Out on Live TV!!!
  20. Don't Destroy Yourself