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 | Against Me! / Planes Mistaken For Starslive in Providence2004 live show   Review by: Brian See others by this writer ![[staff]](/images/icons/staffsticker.gif){kind=icon}
No Idea Records / Distro (link) Only registered users can post comments 
 
Published on April 13th 2004
Dear Marathon, Being that I’ve never heard of No Choice, and I was sick as fuck, I was kind of looking forward to getting through the openers quickly and get right into PMFS and Against Me! I would normally be pissed off about having to sit through some no-name band who got on the bill unlisted, but shit…you guys were good. You play some great, melodic punk rock, and, live, gave off a Pipedown / Thought Riot vibe. I would say send something in to A-F Records, but the EP you gave me (thanks, a review should be up soon), definitely sounds like early Propagandhi. Not a bad thing at all. All of you had crazy energy, but especially the singer, with your frantic, spastic twitches and constant moving. “Our Dictator Can Beat Up Your Dictator” was definitely a standout. Dear No Choice, I’m not really sure of your normal touring habits, but I thought it was very cool that a band from Russia came to traverse the U.S. with such great bands. The first few songs you played didn’t strike me as anything special, but the set of fairly basic punk rock grew on me as time went by, and the short chant of “Fuck George Bush!” closing out the last song was a lot less overdone than many other bands would have fallen victim to. Dear Planes Mistaken For Stars, You rocked. However, The Call’s sound problems are way too consistent to fully enjoy any band, so the lead vocals were way too low. Hell, your backup growling guy was louder than the lead vocals. But the music was good times, even if the songs were hardly recognizable. The new song off what I’m sure is the upcoming Up In Them Guts full-length, though, which is being released June 15th if I’m not mistaken (no pun intended), sounds great. It seems like it’s a lot closer to the self-titled style that you abandoned so hastily a few years ago. Actually, it would’ve been nice to hear some of that stuff considering it’s your best work in one’s humble opinion, but I digress. I did grab the set list when you finished up. This is it, right?
6 INCH Dear Against Me!, Although after a few minutes, things got crazy, I’m not sure what the fuck you’d like to call those first two songs you played. Warm-ups perhaps? I’ll call them shit. Even two people standing next to me were more than willing to inform you “sounds like shit!” Granted they were drunk, but those intoxicated words were the truth. I liked the Easter blessing you gave to those “who it means something to” as well. But after that and the terrible problems with the lead guitar were through, we got the anthemic, fist-pumping chants we all know and enjoy…for the most part. Sure, hearing (in no particular order) “Those Anarcho Punks Are Mysterious,” “Reinventing Axel Rose,” “Pints of Guinness Make You Strong,” “Sink, Florida, Sink,” “Turn Those Clapping Hands Into Angry Balled Fists,” “The Politics of Starving,” and “Walking is Still Honest” brought out the fan boy in all of us, including myself, there is the issue of the encore. It might be unfair to get my panties knotted up over such a small issue following a spectacularly raw set of singalongs with the entire crowd, especially in considering it may have been out of your hands, but you didn’t even play “We Laugh At Danger” or “Cliché Guavara,” which undeniably would’ve made for a great one-two finish. Yes, it was nice of you to blatantly tell us there’ll be no encore, despite numerous requests, and the mellow, light finish of “Cavalier Eternal” was a nice little conclusion, but the night felt incomplete. Nonetheless, we heard most of the staples, and at least for that I, as well as the rest of those in attendance Sunday night, can be grateful for such. People who liked this also liked:   ![Champion - Different Directions | The Last Show [CD/DVD]](/images/covers/thumb/champion-different_directions_the_last_show.jpg)       ![Seasick - Awakenings [10 inch]](/images/covers/thumb/seasick-awakenings.jpg) Please login or register to post comments. What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?
lets clear some things up. "is from wales(really close to Britain." i think bsd is beyond conceited. you guys are weird a 16 year old fucking douchebag. which means that basically you are worth shit. I'm nothing but a mere fucking douchebag. I'd just like to remind everyone that BSD is 16, just let what he says roll off your back. He's just a kid, and in ten years will not be the same idiot he appears to be today, just let it ride. Think of Robin Williams' speech to Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting, thats about the same thing. ok so what they have one bad show. Not that big of a deal AGAINST ME! is still #1 in my heart. i have gone to plenty of not so good shows but we all have our days right give them some slack. show some respect. "Fuck you guys. Punk bands like this give anarchy a bad name, but if you're taking your political queues from rock bands and their lame fans, you should be shot, regardless. "why don't we sum this up right quick for everyone: 1) Against Me! makes me smile Swingin' Utters have been making great music for years on Fat.....yet they still have second jobs to feed thier families. This selling out shit is pretty lame. Next topic please. why don't we sum this up right quick for everyone: oh and the "Baby..." encore and the new song in Baltimore were awesome too. HAHA. I win. They played both those songs you missed while in Baltimore. Haha. Thanks for being my comedic relief every day, BSD. What's funniest is that you don't seem to realize what a fucking douchebag your comments make you out to be. Go fight a polar bear. Fuck you guys. Punk bands like this give anarchy a bad name, but if you're taking your political queues from rock bands and their lame fans, you should be shot, regardless. marathon needs to tour more. the west coast misses good bands No it's not. the song which you're referring to, baby im an anarchist, is a sarcastic, satrical song anyway. A couple of things: I've got a couple comments for Boldredletters. Although you're comments are a nice, intelligent change of pace from the usual fare on this site, I have a couple corrects/opinions: Anarchy is for morons and uneducated brats, parliamentarly socialism is the way to go. ha ha, Baltimore got an encore and you didn't! (that would've been me, below) a true anarchist, like a true existentialist, doesn't need to believe that anything will "work." "and anarchy is just a naive dream that is maintained as reality in the minds of ignorant, unobservant, unquestioning and unthoughtful people. this score is for marathon. they own. For anyone interested in checking out an new unreleased MARATHON song, please check out www.purevolume.com/marathonny dear reviewer, In response to boldredletters, I'm pretty sure the tour with A-F wasn't in clear channel venues. I know they played at First Avenue in Minneapolis and that is not clear channel affiliated. So much so, that there's been rumors of it shutting down because it is getting pressure to go clear channel and they won't. Daer agenzt me! to add to american idle's comments: To reviewer: i don't get the exclamation point. Hey geniuses just because you may not like a band doesn't mean they need to quit!! THere are plenty of people who like all of the bands that you people trash! I wish marathon were playing with them here! Dear ABC, against me! is fucking lame, they need to quit, i saw them and they fucking had more fans on stage than they did in the fucking crowd, thats lame.. to know people in the crowd dont like you and accepting it is one thing, having to have people on your stage to please you is another. fuck against me! if you think against me has sold out , you need to do some serious growing up. also the one below is for this shitty annoying fucking review. wouldn't bsd have been like 10 when the first AM tape came out? Dear anonymous loser, Crime was better than Axl. this score is for against me. take away "reinventing axl rose" and they are nothing and its an anti bush comp..not a pro kerry comp.. Somehow that review format bored me. This score is for the review. "(personally, I didn't know the chances of seeing a pretty heavily touring DIY band twice are that small)." 'planes mistaken for stars was great, but one of the guys' asscrack was hanging out the whole time. ' "Just saying, you should know what you're talking about before you go shooting your mouth off. AM! are stand up guys, and somehow because you have a friend whos been into them since "The beginning" [probably not true"] you think it gives you liscense to be a dickwad?" 1) No Choice are from Wales (UK), not Russia. Hating Against Me for selling out is one thing. Defending them personally saying how nice they are is another. Honestly though, should either matter? I really think all that SHOULD matter is if you like there music. They might be the most money hungry dicks on the planet, or they could be the sweetest guys alive. Who fuckin cares? There a group of people who play instruments. In the big scheme of things, thats not to big of a deal, I think anyway. I'm also not trying to put down anyones opinion either. If you think they sold out or not or whatever thats fine, I for one just care about the music they play. saw these guys on the 2nd. excellent show even though they didn't play some of their greatest songs. "should have said "DIY anarchist political bands"." A band doesn't have to agree with the label owner's exact political views to sign with them. I think the only thing in common with Against Me! and Fat Mike is that they both have a disdain for Bush at the moment. I think if you look into it, AM!'s politics probably greatly differ from Fat Mike's. "They cut "Baby I'm an Anarchist" out of their set list... I've seen them twice. Once a year before signing to Fat and once 3 months afterwards. They can say whatever rhetorical bull shit intellectual nonsense they want, but they sold the fuck out. I knew kids who'd been with them since the beginning, when Tom would critisize bands for doing exactly what his band did... "And the problem with Fat is...? They are a great way for bands that don't want to deal with major label bullshit to get great distribution and actually make a living... "I find it hard to enjoy a band whose main motivations have always (have been said to be) political when they're on FAT." "And the problem with Fat is...? They are a great way for bands that don't want to deal with major label bullshit to get great distribution and actually make a living... Those Anarcho Punx Are Mysterious = best AM! song "What the fuck is that about? Every band has to be huge as fuck and well-known for you to not be pissed? AM(?) played a show in my friend's fucking garage once. Get a life, asshole." They played it both times I saw them in January. "I would normally be pissed off about having to sit through some no-name band who got on the bill unlisted" They cut "Baby I'm an Anarchist" out of their set list... I've seen them twice. Once a year before signing to Fat and once 3 months afterwards. They can say whatever rhetorical bull shit intellectual nonsense they want, but they sold the fuck out. I knew kids who'd been with them since the beginning, when Tom would critisize bands for doing exactly what his band did... I'd like clarification on the sell-out charge... "dear reviewer, Dear InAGreenDase, |
