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 | Hot Water Music / The Lawrence Armslive in Sayreville2008 live show 
  Review by: Brian See others by this writer ![[staff]](/images/icons/staffsticker.gif){kind=icon}
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Published on January 29th 2008
Train-hopping three different rail lines was nothing compared to the distances some had traveled to see Hot Water Music play their reunion performance in Sayreville, NJ. Living a modest 1:58 away out on Long Island paled albino-like contrasted against the I-95s and 400s traversed by road warriors wearier than I. Props.
I'll admit the band was oddly heavy on the Epitaph era as they alternated tracks from Caution and A Flight and a Crash their first five songs -- and this comes from someone who hails Caution as their best album and prefers the Epitaph to No Idea (/Doghouse/Some) era. Well, maybe I'm just cranky because they leaned most heavily on my least favorite of the Epitaph era (A Flight and a Crash had 7 songs here, No Division being the runner-up at 5); the underrated (at least, IMO) The New What Next only beared 2 selections, and they weren't even standouts on the album! (Those would go to "Poison," "The End of the Line," "There Are Already Roses," "Keep It Together," "The Ebb and Flow" and "Bottomless Seas." But that's a discussion for another time.) 
Still, just about every classic from their back catalog was rocked, and even though the Epitaph songs kept a steady stream of fans busting their gut and flailing about, those numbers like "Rooftops" and "It's Hard to Know" had the entire venue in a chorus. Fans packed out every corner of the Starland floor; speckled with five o'clock shadows and perspectives practically a mile away, even the rear room patrons were still clenching eyes and shouting along in pleasurable glory. 
About those aforementioned flailers: The pits did get to be over-the-top obnoxious in some instances; maybe it was Kelly in the aforementioned incident, maybe not, but some sort of fight actually did break out during "Choked and Separated" and the band immediately quit playing (inadvertently bringing the title to life, perhaps). One of the band members (Wollard?) ensured they wouldn't go on until things were settled; once they were, they picked up from the bridge and finished out the song. From my vantage point, I couldn't quite see what exactly was happening, but I'm sure we'll get eyewitness accounts. Alcohol-fueled overzealousness aside, Hot Water Music delivered just what we all hoped for (again, despite some oddly imbalanced album dependences). The performance was clearly sincere and spot-on, and they even managed to bring along perfect openers to whet our appetites. [You can find an album-by-album breakdown below as well] Set list (9:57-11:08):
Forever and Counting: 2 No Division: 5 A Flight and a Crash: 7 Caution: 4 'Til the Wheels Fall Off / Moonpies for Misfits: 2 The New What Next: 2 All photos by Jason Bergman More HWM photos More photos of the Lawrence Arms and Static Radio NJ People who liked this also liked:           Please login or register to post comments. What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?
See you dudes in Chicago tomorrow night! Best lineup of any of the shows, if you ask me (HWM/Lucero/Able Baker Fox). Absolutely peeing myself in excitement for tomorrow. glad i skipped this. don't know how anyone thinks the epitaph stuff is HWM's best work. Kick ass set but i really wish they played no division, the bitter end, or alachua. Regardless they rocked hard and the larry arms played a great and hilarious set too. Score's for the show overall. haha its funny to see Chris's (Larry Arms) beard develop over time 'I would have loved to have been at this show. great review. I would have loved that HWM set, I think "caution" is by far their best, with "new what next" and "a flight" coming in at 2nd and 3rd. i don't know why so many worship their No Idea stuff, its good, but their musicianship, vocals, and sound quality all stepped up later in their recording career.' "early roll call for the Saturday show in Chicago anyone?" early roll call for the Saturday show in Chicago anyone? Security at this club was nothing but a bunch of roid-raging jerks. At one point they came up into the bar (right side of stage) we were in an started shit with Chris from TLA. I have a photo pass and they wouldn't let me in the barricade to take pics after the first 3 songs....yet others seemed to have no problem. wish there was more from Fuel For The Hate Game. Every song on that cd is intense and has great melody. ....jasonblackmanboobs I also agree that "The new what is next" is criminally underrated and "a flight and a crash" is weak. I travelled approximately 5,000 miles to see HWM at the Gainesville & Orlando shows! I agree with those who said that the setlists leant heavily on the Epitaph side of things, but with the exception of maybe 'Just don't say you lost it' or 'three summers strong' from forever and counting they pretty much covered all the songs I wanted to hear, so yeah the journey was worth it!! Several things: I only saw HWM once, but it was great. that would have been the Caution tour, fall 2002. I had to walk a whole 3 blocks to club laga in pittsburgh to see it too. opening was an "illusion of safety" era thrice. dope. I would have loved to have been at this show. great review. I would have loved that HWM set, I think "caution" is by far their best, with "new what next" and "a flight" coming in at 2nd and 3rd. i don't know why so many worship their No Idea stuff, its good, but their musicianship, vocals, and sound quality all stepped up later in their recording career. I'm not the hugest HWM fan (In fact the only albums of theirs I love are No Division and Caution) but this was easily one of the best shows I've ever seen in my life. Incredible. Seeing HWM this Saturday in Chicago and am getting pumped for it (and the roadtrip with four other people that will be bookending either end). My dream would be them playing "The Bitter End" and/or "Driving Home," my two favorite songs of theirs, but I doubt either will happen (in all the times I've seen them since 2001, I've never heard either live). FYI: paying to take public transit is NOT the same thing as train-hopping. Great review and pics. I wanted to write a review of the Orlando show from last Saturday, but beer conspires to make the full setlist a little hazy. Great vibes that night from the band and audience alike, providing a real sense of celebration. Jason and Chuck especially seemed somewhat awed by the response they were receiving stating several times, "We never could have imagined". Sorry but this whole show was a terrible disapointment for me and my friends who drove three hours to see it. First off, if you are going to do a reunion show, do it for the fans and play a setlist that is comprised of mostly your older stuff and save your new stuff for if you are planning to get back together. Second having been a veteran of many pre 2k hot water shows (including the one chuck mentioned about the day the melody burned down in NB, so we all went to a basement, of which kid dynamite also played), this was by far a lame performance. They used to have so much energy from chuck breaking mic stands with his face and constantly losing his guitar to black jumping all over the place. I realize they are older, but I am 31 myself and still dance at shows and have a good time. This whole show was spent standing around hoping they would play more pre division st songs. Also no Alachua?? Come on. They were a great band in their heyday and having been a fan for so much of their drama and breakups that this show put the nail in the coffin for me. Would rather see chuck doing his acoustic stuff again than this hot watered down show and setlist. Let the ripping commence... I'll be at the Saturday show, and I'm glad to know they're planning on shuffling the set lists for each show, because I think "Flight" is their weakest album by far. I will probably literally cry, though, if they don't play "I Was On A Mountain". I may be emo, but I'm '98 emo, so there will be no makeup in my tears and no hair in my eyes. and this comes from someone who hails Caution as their best album and prefers the Epitaph to No Idea (/Doghouse/Some) era. My girlfriend and I bought tickets for this show the day they were available, but somehow in the two months leading up to it, we got the date confused and thought it was on the 26th instead of the 25th. We planned a round-trip to New York on a greyhound, arriving Tuesday morning and leaving Friday night, so we could get a good night's sleep before driving out to Sayersville the next day. How we managed to plan everything without double-checking the tickets or the website is something we'll be kicking ourselves for eternally. Needless to say, when we were informed at 4pm on Friday afternoon that the show was in 3 hours and our bus wasn't leaving until 10pm for the 4 hour drive back to Baltimore where our tickets were, it really put a damper on our visit to the Museum of Sex. We felt like Burgess Meredith, sitting amongst the rubble, holding our broken lenses, repeating "It's not fair...it's not fair at all!" in vein for the rest of our miserable, HWM-less lives. So, here's hoping for more reunion shows, or maybe access to a time machine within our lifetime. come on, "Giver" is the best song on New What Next! i really think this show would have rocked!! awesome set list, i love the old and the new HWM, heaps of flight and a crash, but i really don't see that as an issue. i like all there records/songs. honest awesome fucking show...I'm actually more on the No Idea side as opposed to Epitaph. I actually got more and more disappointed by the Epitaph era as it went on. Would have liked two or three more track from Forever and Counting. However with that said....they were awesome. I haven't seen a band that charged up in a long time. You could tell how much Chuck was appreciative...the dude had a grin on his face the entire set. i caught HWM the third (and final?) time they were in Australia. So so so stoked for the memories. I was pissed that I couldn't afford to see Anti-Flag last night here in Melbourne, but then I got on here and saw that live Turnstyles video from this show. Who cares about Anti-Flag after seeing that!! chuck ragan and i have the same haircut and neck beard...cute, i guess. Score is for people spending huge amounts of time and money on played-out bands they could have already seen a dozen times 5 years ago had they not been worshiping Strung Out, Lagwagon etc. Cheers to quarter-life crises. "Plus everytime I see them Brenden is ridiculously drunk. That man has a problem." FYI: paying to take public transit is NOT the same thing as train-hopping. I wish TLA would play older stuff sometimes, I don't care for Oh Calcutta! Plus everytime I see them Brenden is ridiculously drunk. That man has a problem. I was at this show and chuck and ben in boston too,both shows were great but the fans aren't the same "family" they used to be. fuck, just reading that they closed the night with it's hard to know gives me chills. great band. wish this would have come close to baltimore. i can keep hoping i suppose. Score is for A Flight and a Crash, which you plainly diss in your review. Good band all around though. what a show!!!! I hate my life so much for not being able to see this. damnit damnit damnit damnit I can't wait to see HWM for 2 nights at the Metro, it's been far too long since I've seen them live. this ruled. being insanely close to the stage FTW! This show was a fucking blast! Thanks to any and all people that I sang along to The Lawrence Arms with for being super fun and understanding what it's all about. Friday's gonna be awesome Saw HWM in Jersey on Friday night only to come home to Boston and see Chuck Ragan with Ben Nichols from Lucero on Sunday night. Amazing weekend. it makes me cry that i wasn't at this show. |
