Take Apart Your Head

I went to Chicago yesterday to see Brand New and Manchester Orchestra at the Aragon Ballroom.

It was probably the sweetest venue I've been to. It looked like a big Spanish Courtyard, surrounded by balconies and turrets and porticoes. The ceiling had a cool painting on it. It looked like the night sky, partially obscured by clouds and tree branches. There were at least 1000 people packed into this courtyard, and it was therefore insanely hot. It was raining outside, so it was really humid in there too.

The band that opened was pretty good. They were a local band with a female lead vocalist/guitarist, which is nice. They made a lot of cool sounds, but didn't really have any catchy hooks or anything. The other problem was, I never figured out what they were called. I just looked it up, and apparently they were "Sybis."

Manchester Orchestra was good, just like the last time I saw them. They just sound really good and put on a great show.

Brand New blew my mind. I was a little disappointed that they didn't play an encore, and didn't play much of their old stuff. They only played "No Seatbelt Song" off their first album, and "Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades," "Jaws Theme Swimming," "Okay I Believe You, but My Tommy Gun Don't," and "Play Crack the Sky" off of Deja Entendu. From The Devil and God are Raging Inside of Me, they opened the show with "You Won't Know," followed with "Degausser." They also played "Sowing Season (Yeah)," "Jesus Christ," and "Archers." I'm still not too familiar with their new album, but I counted 5 songs off of it. "Vices" was sick. They also played "You Stole," "Bought a Bride," "Sink," and "At the Bottom."

I really wanted to hear more off of Your Favorite Weapon, and I can't believe they didn't play "The Quiet Things that No One Ever Knows." I also really wanted to hear "Not the Sun." Oh well. Still a great show.