Cool Britannia

I’m still tired. But I’m set and ready to share the wonder. No one knows Jesse Lacey by name. Not unless you are a Brand New fan. Many of you may have heard of Brand New, they are one of the most popular emo bands around. Jesse Lacey is the lead singer of Brand New.

The past two summers he has teamed up with Kevin Devine and embarked on a solo tour across the country. The unique, intimate, acoustic setting is enough to make most people weep.

This is no exception when you throw two gifted musicians in the mix.

Last year and this year Joe (my brother) and I have set on a journey to travel hours to catch this show. Last summer we drove 10 hours to Nashville for an amazing four hour long show. This summer we were lucky enough to only drive 5 hours to Iowa City. Even if they are good enough to drive 20 hours if we had to.

Regardless… this time we were not disappointed at all. If anything the tour has improved. Although we missed Grace Read and would give anything to hear her over the new opening act, this concert was not at all disappointing.

Kevin Devine played many of the new songs off his new album coming out soon. He played a couple old songs, joined by Jesse. Although people were rude enough to practically talk over him, he had a good time and we did, too.

Jesse Lacey took stage about a half hour after him. He played close to two hours worth of music. He hit all the right notes with the crowd playing oldies like “Jude Law and the semester abroad.” The crowd went most wild for “Jesus Christ” and every teen ager’s anthem, “Soco and Amaretto.” For those who are die hard Brand New fans he even played an acousti version of “Moshi Moshi,” a demo and b-side from Your Favorite Weapon. Kevin Devine stepped on stage for a few as well including the crowd requested, “Cotton Crush.”

Both artists took the time to entertain the crowd between sets, saying hello to all 500 people in the room. No one left this show unsatisfied.

Even Joe who tried his hardest to convince Jesse to put Brand New songs on Rock Band or guitar hero.

Oh and for the record.. Jesse Lacey plays on hard for fun.. expert if he’s looking for a challenge.

I have been into music my entire life. I am what you would call a music lover. Not a lover of one kind, but all. My brother and I are avid concert goers. We think nothing of traveling 5 hours to see a band we enjoy. In our journeys we made a lot of friends. These days it seems these friends are thinning and no one is out on the scene.

Has everyone moved on to bigger, more “grown up” things? Is there some crazy new genre we are unaware of?

It’s not just our friends that are thinning out.. but the bands as well.

If a band loses a member or gains a member does that mean we all have to hate them? Even if their music grows in a positive way.. or does one less member or a new member make the band completely different? Would we be warmer to the idea of a band if the bass player left, they got a new one and changed their name?

This all comes after Straylight Run’s announcement that Michelle Nolan is taking a break from the band to record a solo album. I was a little apprehensive .. I mean Michelle is one of the two faces of the band. Clearly the band is unique because of having a beautiful female co-fronting the band. Does this mean Straylight Run will be any less powerful as before? Absolutely not!

It feels like the emo scene is becoming smaller and smaller because people lose faith or because it is not “cool” to follow it any more.

Is music about being cool though? Music definately identifies you with who you are. Those who follow music to be “cool” sends a disgusted shiver down my spine. What happened to people loving music for what it does to you? Lyrics you can relate to? Hearing a song at a pivital moment in your life.. connecting it to that for eternity?

These people have put a hole in the music world. A band cannot have longevity without fans. When is the last time a band broke out and actually stayed popular for more than two or three years?