Openers Against Me! delivered a rollicking show, with a stomp-rock style that sound much like Franz Ferdinand with no synths. This is a band you'll be hearing more from, but they simply couldn't measure up to the excitement created by AT.
The crowd screamed in delight with each familiar riff, whether it was the lover's ode "Clavicle" off of Alkaline Trio's 1998's "Goddamnit" or the more recent hit "Time to Waste" of 2005's "Crimson." Skiba, if he had so desired, could have passed on a mic for most songs; the crowd sang the lyrics with equal passion and volume and he sometimes was content to let them do that, as they belted out the songs about lost and hoped-for love.
Grant's pounding drums drove the show, while Skiba thrashed on the guitar and ran around the stage. When he would stop at one side, (that part of) the audience would desperately push toward the stage, as if hungry for the singer's energy, and energy he had.
Sweat poured off Skiba as the band smashed song into song, continually pulling the crowd into bouts of pogoing and fist-raising. The show's fast-paced nature might have made it hard for newcomers to distinguish between songs, but they would have had no trouble getting swept up in the raw energy.
Songs mostly ranged from fast to faster. For part of the set, Skiba, Andriano and Grant rotated performing mellower, electric-acoustic numbers such as the tender lament "Sorry About That." The band's rhythm-driven punk lacked some of the obvious melodies that pushed bigger contemporaries into the national popular conscience, but that harder edge keeps things honest and in line with the band's lyrics, which brood on dark themes such as death and lost love.
Skiba still found time for moments of brevity: He led the crowd in a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" to his dad, who was in attendance. The younger Skiba followed this touching moment by confessing that he'd once lied about sleeping over at a friend's house and had snuck out to see Social Distortion on that very stage. But, hey, rebellion is punk right, and the crowd roared in approval. About the only downside to the show was the guys didn't return for an encore, prompting some disbelieving looks, but after such a powerful and packed set, it's hard to imagine that they lost any of their flock.
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