Against Me!, Mastodon, Cursive
Words: James Ferreira
Photos: James Ferreira

Appeared:
May 25, 2007
House of Blues, Orlando
 
The men in black have yet to disappoint this old fan.

Every once in a great while the stars align, parts of existence fall into place, and everything begins to make sense. This was the case on a particular Friday night, in a town home to the world’s largest rodent. I vividly remember a few months back, and the awestruck gaze that no doubt came over my face as I looked upon a show listing which displayed the line-up for this show.

It’s no secret that I consider Against Me! to be one of the only bands that still matter in punk rock today, and they were the selling point. Throw in Cursive, pioneers of the indie-emo scene (and not in the generic radio friendly Taking Back Fall Out The Disco sense) as well as the progressive thrash metal outfit Mastodon, some good friends, plus a short road trip and there was no way in hell I was missing this. The formula seems so mind-numbingly simple, that I just don’t understand why more concerts don’t try to bring three leading names in different genres together more often.

Cursive dominated everything.  Aside from an unfortunate sound mishap which caused the beginning of my favorite song (The Recluse) to start off painfully soft, they were flawless.  Pulling off one masterful rendition after another, Cursive recreated the complex sound of their albums meticulously.  It was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen, and my only complaint about having such a star studded line-up was realized; they had to play an opener type set, which left the crowd thirsting for so much more. Se la vie. Mastodon proceeded to shred the fuck out of the House of Blues, with powerful metal ballads that harkened back to heavier days in popular music.

Against Me! was near perfection, as usual. The last handful of times that I’ve seen them, they’ve led off with my favorite song (Pints of Guinness Make You Strong), and tonight was no exception. This song is a passionate way to inspire a crowd full of AM! fans old and new. An action packed set included lots of old favorites, and even a couple tracks off their upcoming album. Tom Gabel’s charisma and stage presence has really become second to none.  The men in black have yet to disappoint this old fan, and the spectacle of the entire evening will not be forgotten by this aging punk fan for quite some time.