It was either a sign of the Apocalypse, or the most awesome day ever: a free, city-sponsored outdoor concert featuring Talib Kweli, The Ataris, and – Against Me!(?) No really, I think the aligning of these three musical acts is mentioned somewhere in the scary part of the Bible. I arrived on the cordoned off Ben Franklin Parkway this Saturday ready to enjoy some free stuff courtesy of Campus Philly, an organization devoted to the promotion of um, college in Philly. There were some interesting booths, including representation from PETA, Ikea, and various Philadelphia arts organizations; sadly, a disheartening lack of giveaways. But I quickly brushed off this disappointment, and made my way over the main stage at the foot of the Art Museum minutes before Against Me! began to play.

There are some people who might have refused this show on principal alone; one of punk rocks’ most anti-corporate bands playing a corporate sponsored festival has to inspire a lot a whining in certain circles. Watching Against Me! play should shut a lot of those people up. It’s obvious to me that these dudes couldn’t care less whether they were playing a basement or the main stage at Warped Tour. I rarely see musicians have as much fun onstage as this band does; Tom Gabel had a goofy grin on his face the whole time, and Andrew Seward kept wearing his bass like a hat in between shredding it. Their set was supremely satisfactory, managing to include my personal favorite older songs (“Pints of Guinness,” “Don’t Lose Touch”) with almost all of New Wave (Sire) in the hour long plus time slot they had. My friend swore to God he saw Tegan (of “Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart” fame) wandering around, but when the moment of truth came, it was just Gabel and James Bowman performing a heartwarming duet about how they don’t really love each other. Cute, guys.

The crowd was, eh, meh. The last time I saw Against Me!, I was almost trampled under an enthusiastic mob of dirty punk rock boys. This time, the few punkers who tried to start some semblance of a pit got dirty looks from the college girls who were just there cause it was free. The front of the crowd, though, knew every darn word to every song, which garnered them appreciative looks from the band.

The band finished their set to chanting of “One more song!” They had to make way for Talib, so they threw their fans all the rest of their water, guitar picks and drumsticks to make up for it. One of the greatest concert moments I have ever witnessed occurred when Democratic mayoral candidate Michael Nutter took the stage immediately following the bands’ exit. It was pretty evident that he didn’t have a clue who Against Me! was, and the following is a direct quote:

To crowd: “Let’s hear it for…Against Me!”
(scattered applause)
Pumping fist: “Now just keep in mind that in the fall election, you should be…for me!”
(silence)

Fantastic.

Tags: Against Me, News, show review //