Brand New played Cross Insurance Arena – 10/15

Over the weekend, Long Island emo/post-hardcore mainstays Brand New headlined Portland, ME’s awkwardly-named hockey arena with The Front Bottoms and Modern Baseball.

All Brand New tours are big news to the band’s intense cult following, but this Fall’s trek took on a particular gravitas with the announcement that the band would be performing their 2006 favorite The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me in its entirety at every date. I never quite had the emo phase that led many of my friends toward fervent Brand New reverence, but I’ve been a fan since the band’s scorching set at Boston Calling’s Spring 2014 edition, and Devil and God remains my favorite record of theirs. They also happened to be a blast to photograph at that show, so naturally I needed to see this tour. (Dating someone who’s an enormous Brand New fan may also have influenced my decision to drive four hours round-trip for this one.)

Modern Baseball opened the night with a tight set pulling heavily from 2016’s Holy Ghost, which has emerged as one of my favorite rock records of the year. The Philadelphia quartet have heart and hooks to spare, and they’re a joy to watch.

New Jersey’s The Front Bottoms have always leaned less toward my taste, but the group put on a fun and energetic show that left me significantly less cold than their recent Boston Calling appearance. They riled up the general admission pit to a greater degree than most opening bands could ever hope for, and the living room stage setup – complete with friends drinking cheap beer on the couch and a TV playing “Jaws” – was a nice touch.

Brand New’s headlining set opened with their pair of 2016 singles – “Mene” and “I Am a Nightmare” – before delving into a run of Deja Entendu highlights. After a brief intermission, the band reemerged and launched into a fiery, emotionally-charged run through Devil and God front to back. The performance was at once reverent to its source material and willing to expand and experiment with extended and altered versions of familiar favorites. A gorgeous light show backed the band, mirroring their alternately brooding and raging sound to evocative visual effect. It was precisely the kind of visceral set one expects from Brand New, and surely a night to remember.

A whole bunch of photos from all three sets below.