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Epitaph Records -- Millencolin

After over a year of being slayed by multiple melodic and technical punk rock songs by A Wilhelm Scream, I was finally able to experience it in the live setting for the first time.

Locals the Fad opened things up, and, being local, encompassed plenty aspects to which are common for local bands: pop, punk, rock, ska upstrokes, fun, energy, and halfway tongue-in-cheek hardcore punk moments. However, what separated them a bit was how professional they sounded. It's hard to draw comparisons, but something like a more emotional take on Steal This Record-era Suicide Machines came to mind (and no, not neccessarily meaning self-titled era). The lead singer, who was a dead ringer for Matthew Lawrence circa his "Boy Meets World" years, was rather peppy throughout the set, usually skanking in place or making sure the band's loyal following there (moving about and moshing aplenty) was getting their vocal takes in. A fairly inspired cover of the Minutemen's "History Lesson, Pt II" was included, and their last song was joined by JT of fellow locals Arrogant Sons Of Bitches for his rapped contribution to the song, to which he performed rather admirably. Not a bad set.

Florida's Whole Wheat Bread, as most of you likely know by now, are a three-piece pop-punk band who convey their race -- African-American -- rather bluntly. After the first time you see them live, the novelty (initial press releases for the band's record, the aptly titled Minority Rules, made sure to highlight their race noticeably) has worn off, and it's at best a gimmick act offering very little substance. Sure, if nothing else, they were competent musicians who knew how to work a crowd, offering mildly catchy pop-punk numbers and employing multiple call and response chants of "whole wheat-" / "bread,!" which resulted in a ridiculously receptive audience of kids who wouldn't stop the continued "mosh" brought over from the previous set. Seriously, 75% of the room slammed into each other's 15-year-old bodies chord after chord, non-stop. It didn't stop the fact that WWB sound like one of the 5000 Blink-182 clones that materialized post-"What's My Age Again?" with Simple Plan's throwaway lyrics and really didn't offer anything new despite some gangster rap segues (and one rather dark-sounding song made up most of that). "Broke," "Old Man Samson," and "Police Song" found its way into the set amongst other college theses.

Finally, A Wilhelm Scream took the stage, and blasted into "Killing It," and the song title had a nearly literate effect on the crowd: They were dead. For the band's first two songs, this one and the immediate followup in "The King Is Dead" (the quiet intro of which was cut straight out), every person was about as stationary as could be. I and one stranger in the room at best seemed to know the words, but there was nary a movement from anyone else. No mosh. No jumping. No singing. No head-bobbing. It had to be one of the most disheartening views at a show in quite some time. Even when things started to pick up after said second song, it was due to several crowd surfers and the people's below general response. At least the band was, indeed, killing it. They were completely on performance-wise, even if there was a solo completely boggled in one song in particular. The energy was there and the left stage guitarist always had a smile on his face as he sang out the words to open air. And on top of that, a splendid mix of Mute Print and Ruiner was played. However, the final disappointment of the set (again out of the band's respective hands) was yet to come, as upon the finish of "The Kids Can Eat A Bag Of Dicks" (a sentiment I was in full agreeance with at the moment), the sound guy could be heard muttering "one more, guys." Apparently he hadn't realized the band had a 45-minute set scheduled, and not just a half hour, as I would learn after the set. I would also learn upon acquiring the planned set list that "Mute Print" and "Me Vs. Morrissey...," easily two of my five favorite AWS songs in their short catalog, had been cut out. Bogus. That "one more song" message frazzled the band a bit; vocalist Nuno Pererira said something along the lines "oh, that changes our plans," and he asked the crowd whether they'd prefer "The Rip" or "Morrissey." Now, personally, I love the former, but not to the point of its mass popularity amongst fans, and firmly voted on the latter, which is an official pick for my year-end mix tape (as well as plenty others, I'm sure); however, several fans came out of the woodwork shouting for "The Rip," and thus, it was played, with more fingerpointing than the band had seen the entire night. Regardless, it was a fantastic set, and a lackluster crowd response didn't detract too much from it. Plus, who am I to bitch, as this coming Thursday will present one of the most consistently awesome live lineups I'll ever see (Bullet Train to Vegas / AWS / No Trigger / Crime in Stereo).

Set list (straight from the paper and accurate):

  • KILLING
  • KING
  • FAMOUS
  • -----------------
  • ANCHOR
  • WALDEN
  • DREAMING
  • -----------------
  • SOFT SELL
  • BAG O' DIX
  • -----------------
  • MORRISSEY [offed]
  • MUTE [offed]
  • RIP
Oh yeah, Catch 22, who I enjoy, headlined this, but something about the idea of standing by myself in the back of the crowd in a fairly healthy coating of my own sweat singing along to coarsely-performed ska-punk songs just didn't seem all that appealing, so I hit the road.

As a side note, I was informed by AWS's merch guy that the band would be back in November with Alexisonfire. Being that Alexisonfire is based out of Canada, and AWS Massachusetts, it's highly unlikely this is a one-off, so I'd expect a tour announcement for that soon.



People who liked this also liked:
So Many Dynamos - FlashlightsGlos - HarmoniumChampion - Different Directions | The Last Show [CD/DVD]The Fall of Troy - ManipulatorJohnny Cage - The MotionsShook Ones / Easel - SplitVarious - Our Impact Will Be Felt: A Tribute to Sick of It AllThe Humanoids - Are BornHoly Roman Empire - The Longue DuréeSeasick - Awakenings [10 inch]



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    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 24, 2005 at 9:22 PM (EST)

    whole wheat bread is the shit. those guys can out play anyone on any instrument

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, September 19, 2005 at 6:13 PM (EDT)

    Whole wheat bread fucking owns!

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, September 18, 2005 at 1:00 PM (EDT)

    AWS definetly played about 45 minutes at the trc in philly.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, September 17, 2005 at 3:05 PM (EDT)

    Wilhelm played a 30 min set EVERY SINGLE night of the tour, sometimes less than that.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, September 17, 2005 at 11:01 AM (EDT)

    I like the way you people think. i mean catch 22 play maybe 4 songs from keasbey nights every live performance (on&on&on, sick N sad, keasbey nights, 12341234), with the other 12 or so songs they do from albums post tomas. yeah lets lynch the bastards up for playing the songs that half of the band were involved in writing! did any of you even care when Jeff Davidson was c22's singer and they did the old stuff?

    get into AWS. they will fuck your life up

    Posted by wehavecomeforyourchildren on 2005-09-16 18:55:26

    i'll bet this show was exactly the same at every stop.

    2-12 kids loving wilhelm scream. everyone else too angry about having to sit through a second band that doesn't have horns.

    Posted by stevejonestherealbones on 2005-09-16 11:48:27

    "i think that is an unfair statement. a lot of people, including myself, don't go to see catch 22 because they're still holding onto the songs that they didn't write. they seem like a bunch of hacks trying to pull off something that just isn't them anymore. kind of like when the dead kennedys tried to keep playing after jello was gone or the misfits after the loss of both danzig and michael graves. just an observation. also their albums after the first one are frankly garbage."

    inagreendase = brian

    i think you missed some of the sarcasm

    - jones the bones

    - stevejones8770@yahoo.com

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, September 16, 2005 at 10:33 AM (EDT)

    "i think that is an unfair statement. a lot of people, including myself, don't go to see catch 22 because they're still holding onto the songs that they didn't write. they seem like a bunch of hacks trying to pull off something that just isn't them anymore."

    something that everyone would know, IF the person writing the review would actually review the whole show, and not just the opening bands.

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, September 15, 2005 at 10:47 PM (EDT)

    "I'd say over 99 percent of the crowd at this show was there for Catch 22. It's just half-jaded kids who write for zines that are the ones not going for them."

    i think that is an unfair statement. a lot of people, including myself, don't go to see catch 22 because they're still holding onto the songs that they didn't write. they seem like a bunch of hacks trying to pull off something that just isn't them anymore. kind of like when the dead kennedys tried to keep playing after jello was gone or the misfits after the loss of both danzig and michael graves. just an observation. also their albums after the first one are frankly garbage.

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, September 15, 2005 at 8:25 PM (EDT)

    It's alright, Catch 22 is washed up. They're lame live and painful to listen to at times. Especially if you liked the Keasbey Nights album, they murder every one of those songs now by playing them way too fast and then stumbling over themselves when they do it. They're just a shell of the band they were when Tom was still with them.

    Posted by MrStabone on 2005-09-15 11:37:25

    thank god someone has the balls for calling Whole Wheat Bread out for being terribly mediocre and a total fucking gimmick.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, September 14, 2005 at 11:50 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    The only good thing these guys ever recorded is Mute Print.

    -Chinatown

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, September 14, 2005 at 8:04 PM (EDT)

    am i reading the setlist wrong, or are there no songs from benefits of thinking outloud.

    i like that record very much.

    wyzo

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, September 14, 2005 at 6:00 PM (EDT)

    If Scott, P Fresh, and I would have been there we would have def. jump started the crowd.

    "Throw the Kriby MOSH!"

    - Kirby

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, September 14, 2005 at 4:49 PM (EDT)

    "I saw this show in St. Louis.
    1. The kids that were there for AWS (probably 15-25) were super pumped and had a great time.
    2. The ska kids did alot of sitting, leaning against the walls, looking bored, etc, while AWS played.
    3. I did stay for Catch 22 since I had never seen them before, and, well, they're alright but they can't really pull off the Keasbey Nights songs well enough, so they should probably stop playing them."

    better review of a concert than the one above

    Posted by sickboi on 2005-09-14 08:45:57

    I've never seen Catch 22 without Tomas. Do they actually play the songs "Keasbey Nights" or "Dear Sergio"?

    I can see them pulling off other stuff on the album, but how anyone but Tomas could sing those 2 songs is beyond me.

    Posted by Bowen on 2005-09-13 19:54:09

    I saw this show in St. Louis.
    1. The kids that were there for AWS (probably 15-25) were super pumped and had a great time.
    2. The ska kids did alot of sitting, leaning against the walls, looking bored, etc, while AWS played.
    3. I did stay for Catch 22 since I had never seen them before, and, well, they're alright but they can't really pull off the Keasbey Nights songs well enough, so they should probably stop playing them.

    Posted by McGarnicle on 2005-09-13 18:47:28
    My Score:

    Any show that has History Lesson Part II deserves a 5.

    Posted by inagreendase on 2005-09-13 17:28:13

    doesn't anyone go to see catch 22, this is the 2nd review i've seen where the person reviewing the show left after aws...

    I'd say over 99 percent of the crowd at this show was there for Catch 22. It's just half-jaded kids who write for zines that are the ones not going for them.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, September 13, 2005 at 5:01 PM (EDT)

    doesn't anyone go to see catch 22, this is the 2nd review i've seen where the person reviewing the show left after aws...

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, September 13, 2005 at 4:50 PM (EDT)

    nuno is nice
    trever is nice
    chris is the nicest jones the bones is gay

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, September 13, 2005 at 3:40 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Nuno has been nice and bullshitted with me any of the times i saw em

    Posted by stevejonestherealbones on 2005-09-13 13:45:16

    how come no one has said you dont like black people yet? is that joke already yesterday? anyway, whole wheat is lame-o

    - jones the bones

    - stevejones8770@yahoo.com

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, September 13, 2005 at 10:26 AM (EDT)

    "I saw them in Florida and the crowd had the exact same response. They just kind of stood around and acted like they had never heard of the band, and maybe they hadn't."

    It's not that they had never heard them, they were all saying to themselves that they've been watching Hot Water Music do this better for the last decade.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, September 13, 2005 at 9:54 AM (EDT)

    strung out and AWS is gunna be an amazing show

    Posted by Timis on 2005-09-13 09:07:11

    aws is better then nofx, bigwig, and strung out all put together......

    hahaha

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, September 13, 2005 at 6:38 AM (EDT)

    I saw them in Florida and the crowd had the exact same response. They just kind of stood around and acted like they had never heard of the band, and maybe they hadn't.

    Posted by AlmostPunkEnough on 2005-09-13 04:38:04

    nice Brian, no matter what people may say about them "saving punk" or other stupidities, it's hard to deny their ability to kick your ass live.

    i think it's funny that Nuno never really talks to anyone and seems too impotant for wherever he is, while Trevor (who writes almost everything) always takes time to talk to the fans. i've bullshitted with him for at least a few minutes each of the 6 times i've seen them, and he even remebers my name (i'm not trying to name drop or sound like i'm so-fucking-cool, just saying he's an awesome dude).

    Posted by LevitateMe on 2005-09-13 02:42:13

    Brian's always too cool for the headliner.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, September 13, 2005 at 2:24 AM (EDT)

    Ignore my "offed" comment. I understand now.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, September 13, 2005 at 2:21 AM (EDT)

    What's "offed" mean?

    Posted by theundergroundscene on 2005-09-13 02:14:18

    fuck a wilhelm scream rules so much

    they're still better than you

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