Brand New @ the House of Blues, Chicago

Okay, so I'm a little late getting this review out, but it's the first chance I've had to write anything up. I drove to Chicago Tuesday night to see Brand New play at the House of Blues. Never been there? Take a look "here.":http://www.hob.com/resources/inc/flashslideshow/FlashSlideshow.asp?name=chicago For the record, I'd never been there before either. The floor is a lot smaller than it looks in the pics, but it's an impressive place to see a band. Which is good, because I'll be here to see Placebo next month! :)Two opening bands on this night. Manchester Orchestra opened followed up by Kevin Devine and the God Damn Band. (Yes, that's really their name.) Manchester Orchestra hit the stage at 6:30. They played a pretty good set of emotion packed songs. I'd recommend checking this band out. They're based our of Atlanta, GA and play some great songs. The lead singer is a little nervous on stage and gets a little winded after singing a song. But, after a few more tour dates (this was day #5), I think they'll be knocking the crowd dead. Kevin Devin was a little less impressive. If you like Ted Leo, you'll like Kevin. The best part of the set was when they covered a Neutral Milk Hotel song. Everyone from MO and even a couple people from Brand New hit the stage to lend a hand. At one point, there were three drum kits and a bass drum playing; in addition to the full band (consisting of a percussionist/violin player, a keyboardist, bass player, lead guitar and rythym guitar) and a second vocalist. The crowd was pretty quite during Kevin's set, but a small pit broke out at one point for MO.It was an all-ages show; so, you had the kids there who were trying to prove something by shoving their way to the absolute front. There were also the token hipster kids talking about how they had bought their gear at shows and not at Hot Topic like the rest of their friends. There was also the obligatory dates with the girls sleeping on the guy's shouders between bands. By 9, Brand New hit the stage. I'd worked my way to within 5 people of the front of the stage. The floor was packed. You couldn't stand without touching at least three other people, and when BN started playing, things got crazy. It was a show of highs and lows really. They belted out the emo-pop of their first two albums for a little over an hour. It seemed like the whole crowd knew every song and was challenging the lead singer (Jesse) for who could scream the lyrics better. After the first hour, I was a bit troubled, because I hadn't heard a single song off of the new album yet. In my mind, I was already planning to drive 3 hours home so I could write a scathing review about playing all the songs off the old album becuase that's the one the band thought all the kids owned. This is where the surprise kicked in. After a small intermission, Jesse and the singer from MO returned to stage to sing an acoustic song. It came across real bitter and real sweet, and you knew that things were about to change. Whereas 'Sic Transit Gloria' was more pop and confidence, 'The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me' is pure bitterness. As soon as the solo finished, the band broke into the songs from the new album, and it was another 45 minutes of pure bliss and swaying with the crowd in the pit. Two hours later, the band finished and walked off the stage. By this time, I was covered in sweat (mine and others) from two hours of jumping and swaying and shouting out the lyrics I knew. By the end of the show, I was soaked and hoarse and still had a 3 hour drive home to head to work. Was it worth it? Hell yeah. But when isn't driving to go see a band you love? When the bands won't come to you, you have to go see them.