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It has been 11 years since Bad Religion played the legendary First Ave. in Minneapolis. Needless to say, I had eagerly been awaiting this show since its announcement. I was even more anxious to see which songs they would choose to showcase off of their newest album, New Maps of Hell. I knew BR would not disappoint either way, but was curious to see how the crowd would react to Gallows, embarking on their first proper club tour of the U.S.

The show was a study of polar opposites. Gallows got things started, to my surprise, with no singer to be found. The band sounded tight and urgent with vocals coming from nowhere. A friend then pointed out that Frank was in the crowd trying to get the pit of maybe 100 people moving. It didn't work. In fact, the most entertaining part of the show was listening to the guy behind me yelling at him with a fake British accent. The band played four or five songs, getting more and more upset with the sparse crowd before jumping into their "Nervous Breakdown" cover. While they weren't bad, it was clear to see that the band's cockiness was wearing thin on a crowd of people who had probably never heard them before. A couple more songs with some shit-talking of the Midwest thrown in for good measure and it was done.

The Briggs came out and surprised me. I had never seen them, let alone heard their music before, but really enjoyed their set. Both guitarists were more than capable with their vocal duties. I was expecting more of a street punk sound but I would describe them as almost pop-punk. Good pop-punk. Good set.

The only thing worrying me about BR was the fact a bartender told me they had only sold 500 tickets to the show. It was obvious when the doors opened that it wasn't going to be sold out. Could this be the final rollercoaster drop of the band? I don't know, but they sure as hell don't disappoint. I had seen them 12 times prior to this -- not easy for a guy living in the middle of Iowa -- and this was by far the best set list I have heard them play. There was a great mix of old and new songs coupled with a great attitude by the guys in the band, which left the crowd of 800-900 people walking out hoarsely saying how powerful this band still is.

Set list:

  1. Fuck Armageddon
  2. Supersonic
  3. Social Suicide
  4. Requiem for Dissent
  5. Tomorrow
  6. Atomic Garden
  7. Conquer the World
  8. Digital Boy
  9. New Dark Ages
  10. God Song
  11. 52 Seconds
  12. Heroes and Martyrs
  13. Skyscraper
  14. Dearly Beloved
  15. Modern Man
  16. No Control
  17. Recipe for Hate
  18. Suffer
  19. The Defense
  20. Lookin' In
  21. Generator (festival version)
  22. You
  23. Sorrow
  24. American Jesus
    25. Encore:
  25. Only Gonna Die
  26. Infected




People who liked this also liked:
Brutal Knights - Feast of ShameThe Clash - London CallingAlkaline Trio - GoddamnitJawbreaker - UnfunOperation Ivy - Operation IvyBad Religion - Against the GrainPropagandhi - How To Clean EverythingGreen Day - 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy HourDescendents - Milo Goes To CollegeFace To Face - Face To Face



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    Posted by alkaline59 on 2007-11-14 11:44:02

    I thought Gallows were good, he was right tho, the crowd was weak. Only like 1/3 of the people were moshing and getting into it. Everyone else acted like it was a damn get up kids show. BR was awesome. Everyone there was saving for them obviously. I just saw The Briggs again w/ the dropkick murphys at the myth like 2 days ago and they were awesome.

    that fat bouncer in the purple cutoff shirt who was standing in the crowd and grabbing anyone who got up crowd surfing by the shoes and throwing them down was fucking lame tho.

    Posted by acharmingman on 2007-10-12 00:30:56

    The set list is decent, but Bad Religion is a band I really wanted to see live in middle school....now, I'm not so anxious.

    Posted by MN_punkmaster-skaman on 2007-10-11 20:00:19

    Too bad I wasn't at this show, even though it sounds like the Gallows were disappointing.

    Posted by nocontrol on 2007-10-11 13:55:14
    My Score:

    Tomorrow is an amazing song!

    Posted by Ravnos on 2007-10-11 10:39:15

    Tomorrow is on Generator.

    Posted by theoriginalsmellgoats on 2007-10-11 03:14:44

    kentucky got do what you want, anesthesia, recipe for hate, no 52 seconds, no tommorow (is that even a song or is the reviewer mistaking it?)

    Posted by fallingupwards84 on 2007-10-10 21:11:10

    thats a good fucking set list

    Posted by MaxEThunders on 2007-10-10 14:50:18

    I wish I would have gone to the show in Milwaukee on Sunday now.

    Posted by Ravnos on 2007-10-10 14:28:12

    @Mustard: I have a few older bootleg versions of Skyscraper played live, but it's rare for them to do it after the first few shows of a tour. Apparently the song is fairly high up in Graffin's normal vocal range and as the tours go on, he has a tougher time hitting those notes.

    Posted by -Strewtho- on 2007-10-10 07:12:46
    My Score:

    I like that setlist, nice variety.

    Posted by gundy on 2007-10-10 02:09:05

    Opies represent. MC for life!

    Posted by feeeding5000 on 2007-10-09 23:08:49

    I would hate to see the crowd for this show. Well, the people who came there to see the Briggs, at least.

    Posted by xkidxdynamitex on 2007-10-09 21:12:01

    i was there too and BR were excellent.
    gallows were very cocky and annoying i thought.
    briggs dissapointed me, i love them but it wasnt as tight as it usully is when i see them, not a great performance.
    bad religion more than made up for it though, they were amazing. i loved the song they played in honor of the quest, the worst venue in Twin Cities history.

    Posted by mustard on 2007-10-09 20:53:18

    Skyscraper? I never heard them play it live before and i love that song. I should definitely catch the NYC show.

    Posted by cpp_ on 2007-10-09 20:12:38

    Thats pretty awesome that they opened up with fuck armageddon this is hell. I hope they open up with that in toronto whenever they come.

    Posted by KurtTGS on 2007-10-09 20:04:46

    The person below me has bloody, chronic diarrhea.

    Posted by gallowsfan on 2007-10-09 19:11:26
    My Score:

    It seems to me that the reviewer is a little disingenuous. There were three exceptional bands covering a rich spectrum of punk rock. All were special in various ways. I suspect, however, that the 'Gallows Humour' may not travel well and (as the Brits always say) the irony can sometimes get lost towards the midwest. Gallows like nothing better than to involve the crowd and sometimes you win on this and sometimes you don't. Cockiness...not Gallows ever! I guess peole were there to see one band (mainly) and stomach the others. Music should stand above the banter.

    Posted by JerryCola on 2007-10-09 17:23:32

    It's pretty lame that they play the exact same set-list.

    I went to the Chicago & Milwaukee show and they were both pretty much the same except that Chicago got Let Them Eat War and Milwaukee got Recipe For Hate & Skycraper.

    Posted by whatchokesbegin on 2007-10-09 17:08:35

    Wit the exception of two songs, this is the exact same set list as the Pontiac, MI show. It looks like they're disregarding the votes from pickrset.com. That's kind of lame.

    Posted by niveK82 on 2007-10-09 17:07:45
    My Score:

    Almost the same as Chicago but we got 'Let Them Eat War' w/ guest Tim McIlarth.

    Posted by RightLaneEnds on 2007-10-09 15:51:05

    Same exact set list as the Milwaukee show. Graffin said he hates your city

    Posted by theonetruebill on 2007-10-09 15:41:17

    Same exact set list as the two nights sandwiching it. Yuck.

    Posted by jacknife737 on 2007-10-09 15:13:35

    good setlist

    Posted by Spalmer on 2007-10-09 14:06:03

    Also- did you see "Spencer"? The guy in the green T-shirt and Bermuda shorts who was clearly on Ecstacy in the pit? He was hilarious

    Posted by Spalmer on 2007-10-09 13:56:25

    I was there, the singer for Gallows was such a little baby, we didn't like your shtity band, boo hoo. Nice move starting out the first two minutes by mocking the city you are in. And then storming off before the last song was finished. God.

    Bad Religion rocked, my first time seeing them.

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