Concert Review: The New Trust, Future of the Left, and Against Me! @ The Grand Ballroom, 10/27

The wry prediction implicit behind my Tonight in Rock preview for this show was nearly realized on Monday when my friend began describing it as "open-toe," suggesting that the audience appeared dressed to match the reserved decor rather than any nostalgically anticipated mosh pit. Yet, despite our assumptions and Ted Leo's sudden cancellation, by the end of the night we were lofting teenagers over the chanting crowd, awkwardly linking arms with token shirtless guys and even doing a mosh variation of the chicken dance. The omission of Ted Leo may have affected audience numbers, and the breadth of the accordingly titled Grand Ballroom at times emphasized this slight paucity, but The New Trust, Future of the Left, and Against Me! sustained their mutual humor and energy for a satisfyingly cathartic show remembered by sore necks and ringing ears.

Neither I nor most of the audience was prepared for The New Trust, available from Santa Rosa on short notice, and momentary inertia resulted as people realized they either weren't listed openers Future of the Left or two members of the latter group had very successfully become women between shows. The delayed reaction unfortunately distracted some from a spare yet heavy three-piece performance that proved equally if not more coherent beside the sound of the still all-male trio who would now be providing main support. Josh Staples' clear, resonant bass and shared poetic vocals with guitarist Sara Sanger sounded almost like a less sardonically spastic version of the subsequent act, and even confused members of the crowd noted the vigor of drummer Julia Lancer. Eventually people began to understand their sound and circumstances, however, and the floor only continued to fill throughout their set.

Perhaps because alternative music fans' main dance move involves running into other people from across a big circle and perhaps due to lingering questions about the show's line-up, a bit of audience torpor seemed to linger until Future of the Left definitively announced their newly extended position immediately before Against Me! Then, as remarked by bassist Kelson Mathias, at least one guy started "dancing like Michael Stipe from the "Losing My Religion" video." This sort of dry, dare I say very Welsh humor characterized their set, and the audience was visibly energized by the created sense of belligerent camaraderie. The revised schedule allowed time for "manchasm," "adeadenemyalwayssmellsgood," "the hope that house built," along with the added "plague of onces," "fuck the countryside alliance," and "suddenly it's a folk song." The songs' shifting, staccato rhythms may have challenged potential dancers, but the band's sarcastic good humor engaged a potentially disconcerted audience and renewed enthusiasm for Against Me!

The headliners ignored controversy regarding the release of their newest album, New Wave, on the Big 4 subsidiary Sire, and so did the fist-thrusting crowd. An echoing chorus was audible in the audience from the first song on, helping to form a closer acoustic space within the large hall. Only during a few of the most conspicuously pop-punk moments, including the polarizing "Thrash Unreal," did the motion of the mosh pit indicate some division between those who remember the release of Reinventing Axle Rose and those who first saw the band on Warped Tour. Still, considering their own energy and the amount of crowd surfers who asked me for a leg up, major label ethics and a last minute band swap were not enough to stop the sweaty rock show beneath the chandeliers.

Read more at Future of the Left's MySpace tour blog, including up to date entries for this show.