Pop Break Live: Against Me! 2 Nights / 4 Records / 48 Songs Tour at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey
Words & Photos by Willy Mellott
Florida based-punk rockers Against Me! played back to back shows on Friday October 18 and Saturday October 19 at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ.
On Friday night they kicked off the weekend playing two albums, Searching For a Former Clarity and New Wave in their entirety. Starting off the night was “Searching For a Former Clarity.”
The band played the album front to back in order beginning with “Miami.” The energy the band had on stage was infectious and it only took a few minutes for the crowd to start a circle pit and crowd surfers to start making their way towards the barricade. Lead singer Laura Jane Grace has such a distinct gritty voice that fits the punk rock genre so well. Her strong live vocals and passionate singing had the crowd singing along throughout the night. Some highlights from the album were “From Her Lips to God’s Ears” and “Don’t Lose Touch.” After the title track of the first album, the band moved onto the next album of the night, “New Wave.”
As the first chord of “New Wave” reverberated through the venue, the backdrop behind the band dropped to reveal the album cover’s artwork. With the new album came a new start to the night. The band, and crowd, both got a second wind and kept the energy flowing while the band played “Stop!” and “The Ocean.” Drummer, Atom Willard, was entertaining to watch throughout the night as his hair bounced around while playing. The other members of the band, James Bowman on guitar and Andrew Seward on bass, provided backing vocals through out the night. Against Me! saved the single from the album “Thrash Unreal” for last to end their set.
Even though the band played two full albums, they weren’t done for the night. They came back to the stage and Grace hinted at new music in the works and mentioned that this tour was a chance to go back to the past and a chance to say thank you to the fans. The encore for the evening highlighted songs from another album “Reinventing Axl Rose” and included the title track, “Walking Is Still Honest”, and ended with “We Laugh at Danger.” All in all, the band played a massive 28 song set which made it a memorable night at Starland Ballroom.
Setlist:
Searching for a Former Clarity Set:
Miami
Mediocrity Gets You Pears (The Shaker)
Justin
Unprotected Sex With Multiple Partners
From Her Lips to God’s Ears (The Energizer)
Violence
Pretty Girls (The Mover)
How Low
Joy
Holy Shit!
Even at Our Worst, We’re Still Better Than Most (The Roller)
Problems
Don’t Lose Touch
Searching for a Former Clarity
New Wave Set:
New Wave
Up the Cuts
White People for Peace
Stop!
Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart
Piss and Vinegar
Americans Abroad
Animal
The Ocean
Thrash Unreal
Encore:
Pints of Guinness Make You Strong
Walking Is Still Honest
Reinventing Axl Rose
We Laugh at Danger (And Break All the Rules)
