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2007 CMJ Music Marathon

live in New York (2007)
live show

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: GlassPipeMurder
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on October 30th 2007

Ahh, CMJ Music Marathon: The perfect opportunity for a poor college student to get school funding for a bunch of punk shows in New York City. College Music Journal’s Music Marathon 2007 was special to me for several reasons. Foremost, CMJ `07 marked my first time in New York City. Nestled up in Hostelling International, I was about two blocks from Central Park and Broadway, and a subway skip from some of the best venues in Manhattan. Furthermore, the week-long festivities would eventually take me to performances of some of my favorite bands, beginning with co-headliners Lifetime and Bouncing Souls, to Moros Eros and the Forecast, American Steel, the Falcon, and the Lawrence Arms, and an acoustic showcase of the New Amsterdams and 1/2 of Saves the Day.

Tuesday

Though none of my friends were interested in seeing the Jersey darlings Bouncing Souls and Lifetime, I was fortunate enough to run across a girl in the Detroit airport who was also headed to CMJ and gung-ho about catching the Souls (hi Annie!). This made it a little easier venturing across the city to Webster Hall on the first night.

The Low Budgets were first on the bill, sporting a keyboard front and center and Joe Jack Talcum’s tongue-in-cheek humor. The guitarist seemed to have problems with his amp, but the set was delivered in fine fashion, as the band’s fun, fast, and witty music helped waiting for the headliners a treat.

Set list (all set lists are in no particular order, with just the songs I remember):

50 Cents
Leave Us a Loan
Sweet Tooth
I Wipe My Ass with the World
Fat Cop

Shortly following was Modern Life Is War, who actually set up in less time than the schedule had allotted, and had to wait around ten minutes to keep with the venue’s timetable. Having lived about 45 minutes away from MLIW’s hometown of Marshalltown, IA for the last 21 years, I was amazed at the following this small-town band had in the cultural hub of the world. That’s not to say I was surprised though, as the band puts on one of the most intense shows in punk, and singer Jeff Eaton may have the best hardcore voice since Lou Koller started singing in Sick of it All.

Set list (same rule applies):

Marshalltown
Stagger Lee
D.E.A.D.R.A.M.O.N.E.S.
Fuck the Sex Pistols
Midnight in America

Despite Lifetime’s celebrated years launched from the swamps of Jersey, there were surprisingly a fair amount of those in attendance who hadn’t heard the band’s music. However, everyone seemed to enjoy Lifetime as they rocked through a set of fan favorites, old and new. Lead vocalist Ari Katz kept the crowd in motion, packing them in close for sing-alongs, while guitarist Dan Yemin made some humorous remarks in support of positive hardcore after a kid in the front row who lost his shoe was reunited with the other half of his pair as it inexplicably came flying down from the balcony.

Set list (rule applies):

Turnpike Gates
25 Cent Giraffes
Airport Monday Morning
Starsixtynine
Haircuts and T-Shirts
Northbound Breakdown
The Boy’s No Good
Just a Quiet Evening
Daneurysm
Young, Loud, and Scotty

Any time the Bouncing Souls play, you know there’s going to be plenty of dancing and group sing-alongs. When playing in their the second home, NYC, New Jersey’s Bouncing Souls inspire a cult-like response. The set list spanned their entire career, featuring music from Maniacal Laughter through The Gold Record, even pulling out rarities like “Moon Over Asbury.” The only bad part of the set was that for some reason, many of those in the pit seemed to think the Bouncing Souls’ music was suitable for hardcore dancing, so everyone else had to put up with a barrage of floorpunching, windmills, and picking up change. Personally, I can look past that since one gentleman in the pit located my cell phone on the floor after it had been flung out during “The Gold Song.” For the encore, the Gold Record canvas backdrop was lowered, and a screen of incandescent stars was raised, which had a wonderful effect for “Night on Earth.”

Set list (rule applies):

Hopeless Romantic
That Song
Sing Along Forever
Kid
Midnight Mile
Moon Over Asbury
Lean on Sheena
East Coast, Fuck You
The Freaks, Nerds, and Romantics
The Gold Song
Gone
Argyle
True Believers
The Ballad of Johnny X
Night on Earth

Wednesday

Wednesday night I showed up in the middle of a Victory Records showcase to catch one of my favorite new post-punk acts, Moros Eros, as well as the Forecast, in the middle of a bunch of screamo and post-hardcore bands (i.e. acts like Driver Side Impact, Endwell, and Farewell to Freeway). I cannot stress enough how impressive Moros Eros is, from their songwriting abilities and implementation of absolutely crazy arrangements and chords I’ve never even seen before to their tight live show. The Forecast were good as usual, but I was still in awe following Moros Eros, who played a couple songs off their upcoming LP that sounded stellar.

Set list for Moros Eros:

Today Is the Day
On My Side
Make Me an Angel
Lows and Highs
Insane and Speechless
Madness Seems So Normal

Friday

Friday night was the obvious highlight of CMJ: The Falcon, American Steel, and the Lawrence Arms…on a boat cruise through the East River. Yes, it is as cool as it sounds. I got some great photos of the Falcon and the Lawrence Arms (including a video of them playing “Boatless Booze Cruise"), but tragically, they are now gone forever as my camera must have fallen out of my pocket somewhere between the hostel and LaGuardia (that’s a Silver Fuji Finepix digital with Rayovac batteries, lost Oct 21st -- $80 reward, PM me on Last.fm if you found it). Midway through their set, the Falcon explained that there are four rules for covering a song: 1) It has to be at least five years old; 2) It can’t be in the same genre of music; 3) it has to be from a band that doesn’t play it anymore; and 4) Most European bands suck. From there, they ripped into Millencolin’s “Ray,” which had the whole audience singing along. I had to skip being in the audience for American Steel so I could take photos of the Statue of Liberty and all that shit on the camera that I would eventually lose…but they sounded great despite someone on deck’s comment that they “sounded exactly like [the Falcon]" [Why would you go to a show if you were born without ears? - Ed.]. The Lawrence Arms put on a great show, making the audience laugh with banter like, “Thanks for sticking around” and playing fan favorites that included two Broadways songs.

Set list (probably incomplete?):

On with the Show
A Toast
The Devil’s Takin’ Names
Kitchen Floor
The Ramblin’ Boys of Pleasure
Boatless Booze Cruise Part 1
Recovering the Opposable Thumb
Chapter 13: The Hero Appears
15 Minutes
Brick Wall Views
Are You There Margaret? It’s Me, God

Saturday

Saturday night at the Knitting Factory, post-emo was the name of the game though the distinct styles varied significantly. The Color Fred (featuring Fred Mascherino of Taking Back Sunday) was surprisingly enjoyable despite the terrible name. The band ripped through a set of upbeat pop-punk rock á la Blackpool Lights or Ultimate Fakebook, only slowing for one mandatory boring acoustic song. The New Amsterdams followed, with a “special guest” in the form of Matt Pryor’s three-year old son Elliot on the tambourines. Though he spent most of the time entertained by the flashing blue lights on stage, Elliot was a fun addition to the show that featured the New Amsterdams playing songs from throughout their six LPs in seven years. Though I had to leave early during Saves the Day’s set, I did stay long enough to see Chris Conley’s Kurt Cobain hairstyle and hear some oldies like “Rocks Tonic Juice Magic” and a couple from their very early releases.

All in all, the week of CMJ was a blast. Though there wasn’t as many punk shows as there could have been, it was a great chance to spend time in one of the world’s most cultured cities and for anyone that has the opportunity, I wholeheartedly recommend attending.

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Scruffy (November 4, 2007)

I'm more than a little pissed that the Falcon didn't play "Ray" at the Chicago show. That would've been fantastically odd.

apunkybrewster (November 3, 2007)

I really can't think of a better place to see the Lawrence Arms than on a booze cruise. Nor can I think of a better band to see on a booze cruise than the Lawrence Arms. That was indeed sweet.

I thought I'd taken some really great pictures, until I uploaded them and realized they most of them were blurry pieces of crap - at least I can blame the boat rather than the booze (even if that's not entirely true).

And the confused looks on the faces of the people on the South Street Pier (which the captain inexplicably drove past only about 15 feet away from the end of the pier) were priceless.

Salvation (November 2, 2007)

The Lawrence Arms boat show was so much fun. Definitely an interesting way to see a band.

And yeah, that set is incomplete, I definitely remember there being more songs.

skanknsmile (November 1, 2007)

I actually ended up going to jersey with this Indian girl from columbia. 28 dollar train tickets for a late night rollin in bed sheets, totally worth it....

Mental_Decay (November 1, 2007)

Damn I hate living in Kansas...I have to miss all these great shows.

GlassPipeMurder (November 1, 2007)

one in the same. So I finally know someone on this damn site...

freakin' nice. way to put the mack down on that smoking (literally) blonde. what a fun time.

skanknsmile (October 31, 2007)

..are you the daily show guy?!

one in the same. So I finally know someone on this damn site...

GlassPipeMurder (October 31, 2007)

"Ray"

_911 (October 31, 2007)

what millencolin song did they cover?

inagreendase (October 31, 2007)

I was at that Souls and STD show. Both were pretty, pretty, pretty good.

xkingbuzzox (October 31, 2007)

My friend's ex went to this. I wish I was a journalism major like her so I could convince the school to send me to shit like this.

Rastid (October 31, 2007)

man, so sick. highlights included world/inferno at COI in front of an increasingly-dwindingling room of trendy hipsters, seeing mika miko 4 times, getting my head split open by a busted fluorescent light bulb during the death set's set in a basement, the luminescent orchestrii's chanting "puttin puddin in the punim," dan deacon's countdown from 25 that became more of a chant of "wings!," the falcon at the knitting factory wearing their "not lawrence arms" shirts, and cause i've gotta drop at least one name to be cool, seeing jeff rosenstock rocking out to so many dynamos

Torgo (October 31, 2007)

GlassPipe, you know you should have been with me seeing Coheed that Friday.

GlassPipeMurder (October 31, 2007)

Did you remember meeting someone from texas? If so, it's another punknews.org meet and greet!!!

wait, are you the daily show guy?!

greenerton (October 31, 2007)

Friday's show was one of the best I've ever been to in my life. The intimate atmosphere was just incredibly...especially with the reception on those Broadways songs, I thought the fucking boat was gonna flip over.

skanknsmile (October 31, 2007)

I was the guy there with the black guy

Did you remember meeting someone from texas? If so, it's another punknews.org meet and greet!!!

ramo (October 30, 2007)

CMJ was pretty good though. Better than last year's, in my opinion.

Friday I was on the world famous booze cruise along with a buddy of mine to check out The Falcon, American Steel, and The Lawrence Arms. The Falcon was pretty sweet playing songs from their EP, full-length, and the Millencolin cover. Plus poking fun at The Lawrence Arms by saying "they like to eat dog penises."American Steel was pretty good too playing some old songs from "Jagged Thoughts" and "Rogue's March". Glad they are back in the punk world because they were rocking it. And The Lawrence Arms belted a couple of Broadways' songs, banter, new and old tunes, plus more drunk talk.

Saturday I was at Red Leader Records showcase and it was pretty damn good with surprise band Scream Hello getting my attention at first. If you love nineties post punk and emo music, check'em out. Dear Tonight were also great with vocalist Ryan Duffy taking charge as soon as the first song blared. Their live setting definitely captured the high intensity found in their studio albums. Nakatomi Plaza was Nakatomi Plaza, love'em or hate'em (I like'em, though. Finally Polar Bear Club hit the stage with "His Devotee" being the first song on the list. Excellent choice as I never heard this song performed live plus it's the perfect introduction to a choatic set. As soon as the next song "Most Miserable Life"was played, about twenty to thirty kids swarmed to the stage to sing with their "fired hearts". Overall, a wonderful end to a great showcase.

And that was my CMJ experience for 2007.

Ramo

TeaEssAre (October 30, 2007)

I saw a teacher from my ol' high school at the boat show. That was pretty radical.

Also, it was sick seeing American Steel with the Statue of Liberty igoin right by in the back round.

GlassPipeMurder (October 30, 2007)

who were you on the boat Friday?

I was the guy that was there with the black guy. I think that's the best way of describing me.

AlmostPunkEnough (October 30, 2007)

who were you on the boat Friday?

i was the guy who almost got Brendan pissed off enough to hit me. it's ok though, i bought him some shots and he forgave me.

MattyG (October 30, 2007)

score is for the MLIW set. They were absolutely incredible; third time seeing them and I was worried they wouldn't be as great on a larger stage like Webster, but they rocked that shit.

Dan Yemin came out during D.E.A.D.R.A.M.O.N.E.S. and his jaw dropped when he witnessed the pile-on at the end of the song. it was pretty fucking awesome. Plus, they closed with By The Sea.

GlassPipeMurder (October 30, 2007)

thanks for the formatting Brian. i couldn't get the list tag working for the life of me. and yeah, I thought the comment about American Steel sounding like The Falcon was pretty hilarious, especially since it was a frat-boy type who said it.

skanknsmile (October 30, 2007)

you missed some great shows. and obviously the only way to see the lawrence arms and american steel was on the boat cruise around New York harbor.