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The Lawrence Arms / The Cardinal Sin

live in Columbus
2004
live show

Review by: Fuzzy
See others by this writer

Bernie's Distillery (link)

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Published on March 19th 2004

Oh the Lawrence Arms. Chicago's favorite sons come to Bernie's and this time I'm there to see them. For those of you that don't know what Bernie's looks like, imagine a basement bar. There, you're done. One half is a bagel/deli shop, the other half is a bar with a pool table in the middle of the floor, about 20 feet from the "stage" (a 6 inch upraised section in the corner, about 10'x10'). It's an amazing place to see any band, let alone one as intense and intimate as the Lawrence Arms.

But first, the openers!

Dogridge Drive (taken from the Bernie's website) opened us up, and they weren't "bad". But they weren't "good" either. Emo-pop-punk, with a couple of breakdowns where they showed off some guitar skill in the middle. The guy's voice was a little too high-pitched at some points, but overall, they entertained. Their set was a bit too long though.

Not nearly as long as Delay's however. Though I loathe to use this term, Tatecore took the stage in the dingy basement of Bernie's, and brought their own entourage of idiots with them. These guys were really just not great. The highlight to their far overextended set was their ending with a cover of The Bouncing Souls' Say Anything. They managed to play that song well, actually.

Now to the real bands! The Cardinal Sin hails from I don't know where, and are fucking awesome. They are a louder, angrier version of early Alkaline Trio mixed with early Lawrence Arms. Tons of emotion, tons of noise, and tons of guitar. Tons of hair too, I think the singer/guitarist is going for the Coheed look, but isn't quite there yet. OH! Not that this is that bizarre, but their drummer is an incredibly talented lass named Becky, proving once again that girls can play more than just bass in a band. I picked up their EP/demo for a buck in the back, and since they had just sold out and were burning more, I'd say they got a good reception. Their website isn't up yet, but rest assured, we'll be hearing more from these folks soon.

When the Lawrence Arms take the stage it's all business, straight ahead songs and no chattering over the mic. Okay, maybe not. They walked up, Brendan babbled a bit, then they charged into one of their more diverse set-lists I've heard. Playing everything from their first recordings to their split with Mike Park's Chinkees to their newest effort, it was quite amazing. The highlights for me included playing Brickwall View (I've waited four shows to hear it, it's my favorite song), What Time is Pennsacola Wings Gold on Anyway?, Right as Rain pt. 2, and their super special "not an encore, but had more time than they thought" closer Quincentuple Your Money. Brendan introduced it with a normal rant, but I think he'd had too much to drink, and was actually pretty serious, about how you grow up in a place and all your spots get turned into Quizno's. It was an amazing close to an amazing set, and the band looked pretty happy with the response.

I omitted some parts, like the big drunk guy calling them bitches, repeatedly stealing and fucking up Chris's mic and guitar pedals, and then calling my brothers fags. Oh, and some guys felt the need to play pool during the Larry Arms' set. What?

It was a good show, and as any fan knows, you should go see them. And The Cardinal Sin was a damned fun time too. For seven bucks and a chance to go see one of my favorite bands with my two brothers and my best friend, it was an evening well spent.

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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 25, 2004 at 9:37 AM (EST)
My Score:

I've seen them like 7 times. I think everytime gets worse and worse. I love there music and all, and they all seem like really nice guys, but honestly, if you can't play that well while drunk, you probably shouldn't be trashed before every show. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a good drunken set, but sometimes Brendan is just horrible on stage, and his shortsighted drunken political rants get annoying. I'll still listen to them, but i don't think I really need to go seem them another time.

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 25, 2004 at 7:57 AM (EST)
My Score:

you forgot to end with nebraska, that is an amazing ending to any show

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 25, 2004 at 2:29 AM (EST)
My Score:

My dream Lawrence Arms setlist:

3am QVC Shopping Spree Hangover
Chapter 13-Hero Appears
Alert the audience
Faintly falling ashes
A toast
Quincentuple your money
BrickWall Views
The corpses of our motivations
Ramblin boys of pleasure
Boatless booze cruise
Navigating the windward passage
Right as rain
I'll take what's in the box Monty

Encore:
The first eviction notice
ON WITH THE SHOW!!!

I'd pay so much money to see that set

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, March 20, 2004 at 11:33 PM (EST)
My Score:

sure..... i think your just crazy

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, March 20, 2004 at 7:46 PM (EST)
My Score:

For the guy asking about show number, it was the Lawrence Arms 601st show, I only know that cuz I was at the one in Cincinnati the night afterwards and it was the 602nd show.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, March 20, 2004 at 3:09 PM (EST)
My Score:

"... proving once again that girls can play more than just bass in a band."
What about Brody? Oh wait you said play well. My mistake.

HAHA, count it!

- Fatty Arbuckle

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, March 20, 2004 at 12:38 AM (EST)
My Score:

"Dodridge Drive played 45 minutes. Delay played 30 minutes. This review sucks and you're an idiot."
And both sets were much longer than what they should have been playing. I support local bands as much as I can, but not when they suck.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 19, 2004 at 10:40 PM (EST)
My Score:

"... proving once again that girls can play more than just bass in a band."
What about Brody? Oh wait you said play well. My mistake.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 19, 2004 at 9:00 PM (EST)
My Score:

I heard that the Larry Arms don't know how to read. Is that true?

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 19, 2004 at 7:06 PM (EST)
My Score:

Larry's performance has gone downhill since show #1. I was at show #2, so I imagine show #1 was almost the same. Anyway, I don't mind people getting shitfaced all the time, and in Brendan's case, it makes him hilarious. But playing while drunk is not hilarious, and Brendan defintely needs to lay off the shit. It's pretty pathetic now.
Chicago!

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 19, 2004 at 4:11 PM (EST)
My Score:

Dodridge Drive played 45 minutes. Delay played 30 minutes. This review sucks and you're an idiot.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 19, 2004 at 1:46 PM (EST)
My Score:

Show number?

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 19, 2004 at 11:42 AM (EST)
My Score:

This is a horrible review.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 19, 2004 at 11:37 AM (EST)
My Score:

"Brendan introduced it with a normal rant, but I think he'd had too much to drink"

brendan?... from the larry arms?... had too much to drink?... no... no... not brendan.... drunk?... no

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 19, 2004 at 10:33 AM (EST)
My Score:

3 damn shows in ohio and they can't play one in michigan? bollocks

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 19, 2004 at 9:28 AM (EST)
My Score:

cardinal sin has ex cadillac blindside members and basically sound exactly the same.

Posted by poopypants on 2004-03-19 09:26:45
My Score:

fucking love this band, so pissed i was away for the pittsburgh show...

closing w/ quincetuple = perfect

Posted by Fuzzy on 2004-03-19 08:31:38
My Score:

Yeah, Brendan bragged about how this time, Columbus gets bass!

Posted by 8dollarclarinetsolo on 2004-03-19 08:06:46
My Score:

this was a very good show, but as far as saying they had extra time.. well it ended at like 2:30

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 19, 2004 at 2:12 AM (EST)
My Score:

did they mention anything about the last time they were there? The bass amp shorted out or something and they played half the set with no bass.