Images: Alkaline Trio, Smoking Popes, Dead Country, Dave Hause July 22, 2011 at the Hard Rock Cafe on the Strip

Alkaline Trio’s 2007 Occult Roots tour became sort of a gold standard for me. On that tour, they played their 1999 debut album Goddammit all the way through, gave frontmen Matt Skiba and Dan Andriano each a solo set, and played an additional set of songs voted on by their fans. It seems to me that a perfect show for any band that has been together for longer than 10 years should include the band’s most popular songs, the b-sides, those harder-to-find songs made not-so-hard anymore due to the internet, and the deep cuts, or songs from older records that don’t get played live much anymore. That kind of set, with perfect balance, is what we got last week at Alkaline Trio’s show at the Hard Rock Café on the Strip with Smoking Popes, Dead Country and Dave Hause.

Alkaline Trio once again took to the internet, taking votes from their fans for what should be played on this tour, which also marked the band’s 15^th anniversary. And while the “hits” generally got the most votes, and a few of them got played, “Private Eye,” for instance, which got the biggest crowd reaction of the night, it was the rarer b-sides and deep cuts that made the show for me. They played “Old School Reason,” which is one of my absolute favorite Alkaline Trio songs, originally found on the Thick Records Oil comp and later the b-side collection Remains. I love how Matt and Dan share lead vocals on the song, similar to the Crimson track “Mercy Me,” which we were also treated to that night. Their voices complement each other so well and make for great harmony and I wish they would do it more often.

As far as deep cuts are concerned, “Mr Chainsaw” and “Another Innocent Girl,” my two favorite tracks from their breakthrough Vagrant release From Here to Infirmary, caused the crowd to break out in a chorus of harmonious sing-alongs. Many of them, like myself, discovered the band through that release and have gone years without hearing those songs live.  Of course, the Trio is touring in support of their acoustic album Damnesia right now, so a portion of their set was dedicated to those tracks, including “You’ve Got So Far to Go” and “Clavicle,” as well as a bouncy acoustic cover of Violent Femme’s “I Held You in My Arms” that saw openers Smoking Popes join the band on stage. When it was all over I noticed many in the crowd lamenting the lack of usual show closer Radio, and while I love that song, I was more disappointed by the lack of even one song from last year’s highly underrated This Addiction. You know “Radio” will be back for their next dozen tours, I just hope This Addition doesn’t get forgotten.

As much as I love Alkaline Trio and was looking forward to their set, it was openers the Smoking Popes I was most excited for. I’ve seen Alkaline Trio over a dozen times, but this was my first time seeing their Chicago brethren, who I’ve been listening to for just as long. And frankly, I was very impressed that the band, having been together now for over two decades, had as much spry energy as they did. Brothers Eli and Matt Caterer on bass and guitar spent pretty much the entire set leaping up and down and across the stage. I’m only 28 and I don’t think my knees could take more than two or three of those a night, let alone per song. Frontman Josh Caterer sounded perfect as he crooned through favorites like “Star Struck One,” “Wish We Were” and “Megan”, the latter of which was dedicated to Bayside, their acoustic cover and vocal admiration for the band being a big factor in the Popes continued popularity with the younger generation.

Dead Country was a band I was completely unfamiliar with before the show was announced, and I was initially skeptical that they could live up to the veterans they were touring with. That skepticism was unwarranted. They mixed Alkaline Trio/Hot Water Music style guitars with a Bloc Party/Interpol style rhythm section that ultimately created something very unique. This is a band that can play their instruments damn well without making it sound too detached or overly technical and I could see them fill venues this size on their own in the next couple years. Dave Hause got the night going, playing a charismatic set to the 20 or so people that were fortunate enough to show up on time. A mixture of songs from his band the Loved Ones, including “Jane” and “Pretty Good Year,” songs from his solo record, Resolutions, and a great cover of Hot Water Music’s “Trusty Chords,” which incited quite a sing along, set the mood for the evening.

– Emily Matview

Tyler Newton | http://500px.com/spottedlens