The Bravery at Terminal 5

A couple days after a very eventful concert night, I am prepped to write about my experience. Unfortunately, the great show the Bravery put on was overshadowed by several disappointments. I'll start with the bad and end with The Bravery, which is pretty much the chronology of my night. After a delightful pre-party at my friend T's place on the westside (great Quac T), the four of us decided to take a road beer for the trek to Terminal 5. While smoking casually and finishing our beers, disguised in the never obvious blue solo cup, we were approached by two undercover cops. "What'd you mix with the vodka guys?" they smugly questioned. Befuddled, we replied with something like "it's beer, dude." Not realizing our surroundings in Hell's Kitchen, littered with bottles of vodka, something that resembled paint thinner, and cigarette butts, it suddenly occurred to me that these guys assumed we were having a much better time than we actually were. Imagine their disappointment when they checked our IDs and realized we really were 25 yr. old, upstanding citizens with real jobs, definitely not trying to get fucked up on the scattered substances on the sidewalk, and not among the slew of underage kids roaming around Terminal 5 who would have been much more fun to harass. We received a court summons and a $25 fine for our crime. Disappointment number 1. We finally left the cold and entered the venue to find that it was in fact 10 degrees colder inside and the Bravery weren't coming on until 10. Disappointment number 2. Opening act #1 was decent (based on 30 sec of one song we made it in for), but opening act #2 was horrifyingly bad. While every song started with a danceable drumbeat and a riff-heavy guitar intro that resembled The Bravery and its contemporaries, the moment the lead singer opened his mouth things went down hill. Bad vocals, worse lyrics, and trite stage antics equaled the longest opening 40 minutes of any show I've been to in awhile. Keep in mind, I had just worked a long day with a horrible hangover that I was still battling, so my judgement may be a bit harsh. But still, disappointment number 3. Finally, after several cold beers I had to drink with my gloves on in the chilly meat locker of a venue, The Bravery stormed the stage with furious bass and drums and a roar of synth that would make The Cure steal a smile. As they launched into "Public Service Announcement" from the band's first album, I was finally happy and ready to dance. I couldn't have asked lead singer, Michael, to land that ludicrously awesome "you put the R in retarded" line any better. They tore through several songs from "The Sun and the Moon," a few new tracks, and got everyone dancing for the old hits like "Tyrant," "Fearless," and "An Honest Mistake." After some unnecessary political ramblings and a brief but punchy encore, I was satisfied and ready for bed. An eventful night and a fun show with old and new friends.