Brand New at Wembley Arena
Brand New – Wembley Arena – 23 January 2010
Support by: Glassjaw and Thrice
Words by Richard Law / Photos by Marcus Maschwitz
The gods of public transport are not smiling kindly on me as I navigate my way across London. Half the tube lines are closed for engineering and the overground alternative is packed and running late. The evening promises a stellar line-up but, as my delayed train stop-starts its way towards Wembley, excitement can’t hide a nag of doubt at the back of my mind. Is this really happening at Wembley Arena? A venue resembling a large aircraft hangar more used to hosting the latest X Factor clone or Dancing on Ice than anything resembling the bands playing tonight. Do Brand New have a big enough UK following to fill it and more importantly will the ever present danger of ‘arena-sound’ rear its ugly head. It’s certainly an audacious move, only time will tell if they can pull it off.
Already late, I hurry into the Arena and immediately shake my fist skywards and curse in frustration as the last note of Thrice’s set rings out. I can report that it was a pretty decent note but unfortunately not enough to base a coherent review on. All I can do is retreat quickly to the bar in the hope of beating the oncoming scrum.
GlassJaw take the stage next and quickly tear into ‘Tip Your Bartender’. The sound is muddled but the band are powerful and tight. Daryl stalks the stage with boundless energy his voice cutting through the breakneck din. Along with old favourites there are a few surprises thrown in with new(ish) song ‘You think You’re Fucking John Lennon’ unleashed mid set and ‘El Mark’ dusted off and given a rare outing. This should be incredible. But something’s not quite right. The crowd aren’t moving and the atmosphere in Wembley Arena remains strangely flat. You can virtually see the band straining at the huge void between stage and crowd trying to engage an audience who are largely ignoring them. The cheer that greats Daryl’s announcement that Brand New are up next is perhaps an early indication of who this crowd are here to see and after seven short songs the set comes crashing to a close with a punishing rendition of Siberian Kiss. Be it poor sound, a largely unappreciative crowd or too little time for things to really get going the touch paper is damp and fails to ignite.
The deafening roar that greats the headliners appearance on stage confirms my earlier suspicions, tonight is about one band. Opening with instrumental ‘Welcome to Bangkok’ they instantly fill the venue with the aid of an additional drummer and guitarist (four in all). With four albums behind them Brand New have a wealth of material to choose from and with tracks from their latest album ‘Daisy’ kept to a minimum the set-list is a long-time fans veritable wet dream. Deja Entendu classics ‘Sic Transit Gloria…’ and ‘The Quiet Things…’ are dispatched early to a crowd who now appear to have woken up and are ecstatically singing along with every word. The band seems to be enjoying it too, thrashing around the stage like they’ve been hooked up to the national grid. Even the typically stationary Jesse, putting everything into his vocals, takes an occasional break from the mic to join in.
With little more than a video projection of black and white nature films to back them up Brand New do a very good job of making the cavernous space feel intimate. This is never more so than during set highlight Limousine when Jesse, solo under a single spotlight, keeps the capacity crowd in rapt silence for its seven minute duration. For a band who seem to have a curious case of amnesia regarding their first album, two tracks from ‘Your Favourite Weapon’ is more than generous and the crowd go suitably mental for ‘Jude Law…’ and ‘Seventy Times 7’. The band are almost drowned out completely as thousands of already hoarse vocal chords strain to join in. The evening ends fittingly with ‘Play Crack The Sky’. Jesse alone once again, sings us to shipwreck in a sea of swaying camera phones.
No encore, no need. My fears prove unfounded as tonight Brand New emphatically demonstrate you don’t need an elaborate stage show, choreographed backing dancers or a firework finale to impress in an arena setting.
Thrice Setlist: Of Dust and Nations, Silhouette, The Earth Will Shake, In Exile, All The World is Mad, The Artist in the Ambulance, Beggars
GlassJaw Setlist: Tip Your Bartender, Mu Empire, Lennon, Gilette Cavalcade oF Sports, El Mark, Ape Dos Mil, Siberian Kiss
Brand New Setlist: Welcome To Bangkok, Sink, Degausser, You Won’t Know, Okay I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don’t, Sic Transit Gloria… Glory Fades, The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows, Limousine, Vices, Gasoline, Sowing Season, You Stole, The Archers Bows Have Broken, Jesus, Jude Law And A Semester Abroad, Seventy Times 7, At The Bottom, Play Crack The Sky
