In one of the most intriguingly odd tour pairings of the year, Alkaline Trio and Mewithoutyou hit the House of Blues in Orlando this past Friday; one band admitted (if jokingly) members of the Church of Satan, the other no strangers to Christian imagery and musings on relationships with God throughout their lyrical cannon.
Not that this is a complaint. Mewithoutyou are a reputable force on stage, lead singer Aaron Weiss often flailing around like he's possessed by the divine itself, and Alkaline Trio is an always dependable live act, digging through classic tracks and plunging forward regardless of the fact that their past few albums have fallen to a nauseating, predictable wayside. With a thematic juxtaposition like this, I couldn't imagine Friday night's show would be boring.
And it wasn't … but it did stray a bit from my expectations. Mewithoutyou, after a prolonged hiatus since their last album, It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright, returned to Central Florida for the first time since their appearance at State Theatre in St. Pete two summers ago.
They humbly entered with a faithful take on the old classic "January 1979" before launching into a wildly frenetic set rife with energy and possessed fervor. Unfortunately, a heaping dose of utter sloppiness on the musical end was hard to ignore. Rich harmonies on the album were half-there live, the guitars muddled, vocal patterns sped, slowed, and seemingly made up on the spot by Weiss; but, dammit, they were into it, like really into it. You almost wanted to pat them on the head, and give their sweaty locks of hair a good tussle for the effort.
Alkaline Trio came out quite gentleman-like and rather pumped up for guys doing this for 15 years now. The question of the night was undoubtedly how much "new shit" they'd litter their set with. When a once-punk band (whatever that means) takes the get-signed, mainstream radio path, vitriolic reactions might as well be right there on the contract.
They obviously realize this and surprisingly, doled out a set rich with older material and rarities, including "Cringe," "Nose Over Tail," "Private Eye," and "Mr. Chainsaw." Regardless of musical direction, I've always found Alkaline Trio to be a dependable live band. Always confident, engaged, true-to-record, and while they are never extravagant showmen, they are always far from boring. This night was no exception.
Collective eyes seemed to roll when they brought out the acoustic guitars, likely in promotion of their latest LP of acoustic renditions, Damnnesia. They pulled it off well, but, like, in the same sort of way a castrated dog behaves so much better after surgery. Formerly machine gun-paced songs on sex ("Clavicle"), booze ("Olde English 800"), and self-loathing ("Blue in the Face") were quizzically re-vamped to sound safe, mom-friendly even.
Alkaline Trio are a classic case of the common trajectory many once-underground artists have taken throughout the years and this particular show exemplified it. The bone-throwing with classic tracks was appreciated, but this band's grabs at the big time seem far from over. Judging from the crowd at the HOB, they are lucky to have fans sonically misogynistic enough to stick it out with 'em. Maybe it isn't so lonely vying for the top.
Setlists courtesy of Setlist.fm
Mewithoutyou
January 1979
Chris Giles (January 1878)
C-Minor
Cattail Down
Bullet To Binary Pt. 2
Torches Together
Son of a Widow
Messes of Men
In a Sweater Poorly Knit
Allah, Allah, Allah
Alkaline Trio
Cringe
In Vein
Private Eye
Nose Over Tail
Prevent This Tragedy
Goodbye Forever
This Is Getting Over You
Old School Reasons
Mr. Chainsaw
I Lied My Face Off
Lead Poisoning
Mercy Me
San Francisco
This Could Be Love
Encore:
I Remember A Rooftop (Dan Andriano Solo)
Clavicle (Acoustic)
You've Got So Far To Go (Acoustic)
Blue In The Face (Acoustic)
Olde English 800 (Acoustic)
Radio (Acoustic)
Encore 2:
Crawl
'97
This article appears in Aug 18-24, 2011.