Alkaline Trio - live in New York City (Cover Artwork)

Alkaline Trio

live in New York City (2003)

live show


"I've been waiting a long time to do this, just for New York." Dan Andriano said that right before he broke into an amazing solo rendition of Enjoy Your Day, a song rarely ever played live, but I'll get back to that later.

Since it was a Vagrant tour, of course there would be many bands. No Motiv was first up, and played only about 5 songs before going away, they weren't bad, but nobody was on the floor listening. From Autumn to Ashes came on and so did the pits. Halfway through the second song there was already a fight, which security had to break up. Reggie and The Full Effect was next and did a great cover of the Slayer song "Raining Blood"

Then came the band that most people were waiting for, Alkaline Trio. With an amazing backdrop of their heart skull logo on the horizon of a graveyard, and a coffin on each side of the drum set, their had the most visual setup of the night.

Everything was calm until Matt Skiba walked on stage, everybody in the room pushed to the front as Derek and Dan were joining him. As they always do, they opened up with "This Could Be Love", in which everyone was chanting out the steps in which Matt Skiba envisions his own death. Without any break between the songs, "We've Had Enough" was next, lead by some spectacular drumming from Derek Grant, the newest member of the trio. As if playing two consecutive tracks from Good Mourning wasn't enough, "100 Stories" was the next song, and the first time Dan Andriano got to the microphone that night. It looked as if Alkaline Trio was going to play songs only from their Vagrant releases when Matt Skiba dedicated the next song to everyone who owned Maybe I'll Catch Fire.

As they broke into "Keep Em Coming", everyone in the crowd who knew the song went crazy, singing along with every word. Next up was the title track off of the very same cd, "Maybe I'll Catch Fire". Since they played 3 songs in a row from Good Mourning, why not 3 in a row from Maybe I'll Catch Fire. Skiba dedicated "5-3-10-4" to anyone who was a bike messenger.

The next song was a song never played live until this tour, "Trucks and Trains". Skiba even gave a little respect to NYC by changing the lyrics "…the west coast shore" to "…the east coast shore" in what was one of the best songs of the night. "Crawl" was next, in which Skiba sang as much as Adriano did, adding some depth to the song. The next song is one that is normally not played halfway through a show, but a request from the front got it. The intro to "Radio" got every single person in the crowd on their feet, singing so loud that even in the front you could hardly hear Skiba at all. Dan added in some bass to the intro, making the song even more amazing.

Matt Skiba dedicated "Queen of Pain" to New York. Quickly following was another old song of the trio's, "This is Getting Over You". As Derek and Matt walked off stage, it appeared that it would be over. Then Dan emerged from the side of the stage with a guitar in hand. Just the site of that made people know they were in for a treat, as that is something rarely seen. As he stood in front of the mic, he said he had waited a long time to do this, and wanted to do it in New York. The crowd went quiet as Dan went into the intro of "Enjoy Your Day", and then softly sang along until the very end, in which Dan received an amazing applause, and his band mates came back on stage.

Since it's a Vagrant tour, of course more new stuff was coming, and "Continental" came next, another great sing along. The second song of the night off of Goddamnit, "Message from Kathlene" was next. Matt approached the mic and said the next song would be their last. "All on Black", the next single, was the last song, which the crowd sung along to just as they had to all the rest. The trio walked off stage, but not for long. There were chants for many songs, but finally the crowd started chanting "one last song", and Matt Skiba walked back on, minus the suit and tie he had worn all night, now only clad in a short sleeve shirt and his black pants. Slowly he started playing "Blue in The Face" as he stood on stage by himself. Midway through the song, Derek and Dan came back and manned their instruments, joining him to finish the song full band.

The crowd had sung along all night, and the trio knew it, as they stopped playing just in time for the crowd to scream "Your coffin or mine?" to end the night.

The night started off with many new songs, but the Alkaline Trio went into an old song overdrive. Playing songs rarely or never played before such as 5-3-10-4, Keep Em Coming, Trucks and Trains, Message From Kathlene, This is Getting Over You, and of course, Enjoy Your Day.

All in all, it was a great place to be, as every second was thoroughly enjoyed.

Setlist

This Could Be Love
We've Had Enough
100 Stories
Keep Em Coming
Maybe I'll Catch Fire
5-3-10-4
Trucks and Trains
Crawl
Radio
Queen of Pain
This Is Getting Over You
Enjoy Your Day
Continental
Message From Kathlene
All On Black

Encore:
Blue In The Face