Images: Brand New, The Front Bottoms, Modern Baseball November 1, 2016 at The Chelsea

On the 10th anniversary of their 2006 album The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me, Brand New returned to the city of sin, bringing along for the ride East Coast natives Modern Baseball and The Front Bottoms, surely creating what had to be the best lineup this year.

As I anxiously sat in my seat awaiting for the show to commence I tried to grasp the reality of the fact that I was about to see three of the greatest bands my ears have ever experienced, all in one night.

Modern Baseball was up first. The Philly band is currently promoting their newly-released album Holy Ghost, so naturally they opened up with the title track. Throughout the set vocalist/guitarist Brendan Lukens repeatedly expressed gratitude towards the fans that made it out early to watch them do what they love. About four songs in they did what they called “throwbacks on a Tuesday,” which was where they played songs from older albums. This really brought the crowd to their feet and me to almost losing my voice. They finished strong with their best known song “Your Graduation,” which saw drummer Sean Huber trade places with vocalist/guitarist Jake Ewald so he could sing his signature closer to the crowd.

The beauty of watching The Front Bottoms play is that there is nothing out there quite like Brian Sella’s voice. Wearing an avocado shirt with an acoustic guitar in hand, the musician signaled off the beginning of “Flashlight” and then followed with their hit “Au Revoir (Adios).” The energy and charisma coming from the stage made the experience so much more than the best concert line up. Brian jokingly expressed his excitement to be back in Vegas and then called out for his ex-wife in the crowd. They closed out with another fan favorite, “Twin Size Mattress.”

Finally the act we were all waiting for. The lights went off and all you could see was a flashlight leading the band on stage. The lighting (or lack thereof) set a nice mood as Brand New came out and began playing “Sink,” and everyone went crazy! People were getting up from their seats and singing so loud and coughing up lungs shortly after. They continued playing hits from their albums Daisy and Deja Entendu, much to the elation of the fans, before transitioning into playing Devil and God straight through.

At about half way through their set, while playing the relatively mild Millstone, frontman Jesse Lacey abruptly stopped, dropped his mic stand and kicked someone out for fighting. He asked the audience not to crowd surf or mosh for the remainder of the show, joking that we’re all too old for it. The band closed off with “Luca, ” and I left The Chelsea completely mind blown and wanting the night to happen every night for the rest of my life. Overall I can truly say it was heaven sent, and I won’t dare forget.

-Bia Leyva-Mena

Photos by Hunter Wallace | https://www.flickr.com/photos/hunter_wallace/