Review by Luke Wise<\/p>\n
For the past decade, fans of the experimental Washington-based quintet, The Blood Brothers, stirred on online forums, speculating when, if ever, the band would finally take the stage again. Combining elements of post-hardcore, noise, and screamo with cleverly impudent lyricism, The Blood Brothers carved a niche that was uniquely their own. During their active ten-year run, the band released five full-length albums, each one evolving its distinctive sound but never once losing the abrasive edge that made their music so captivating. After announcing their initial disbandment following their 2007 tour, dismayed fans held their tongues, hoping for a reunion someday. Seven years later, in 2014, The Blood Brothers surprised fans with a small series of shows but quickly faded into inactivity again shortly thereafter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After another long ten-year hiatus, with the 20-year anniversary of their beloved album \u201cCrimes\u201d on the horizon, The Blood Brothers announced a full U.S. tour to the great surprise of their dedicated fanbase. Fans new and old rejoiced at the chance to once again see the chaotic flurry of Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney\u2019s dueling shrieks over the backbeat of Mark Gajadhar\u2019s drums, Morgan Henderson\u2019s assertive basslines, and Cody Volantos\u2019s frantically dissonant guitar work. However, in the back of many longtime fans’ heads, one question brooded: would the band still deliver the frenzied, high-energy performances they were renowned for after all these years?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On a rainy Monday evening, fans lined up outside of Boston\u2019s Paradise Rock Club in anticipation of The Blood Brothers\u2019 sold-out show. With many fans donning pre-reunion merchandise from the band and patch-laden jackets featuring Blood Brothers contemporaries like Orchid and Converge, it was abundantly clear that the audience knew exactly what they were getting themselves into. Fans piled into the venue, palpable anticipation growing as the lights dimmed and the opening act began.<\/span><\/p>\n Psychic Graveyard\u2019s onslaught of grinding electronic noise took the audience by storm. A base of hypnotically gritty synth lines and emphatic drum beats laid beneath the vocalist’s sass-fueled lyrical wanderings created a sound so confidently disordered no one in the audience could turn away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At 9:20 PM, the lights dimmed once again, and The Blood Brothers took to the stage, walking out to the dramatic theme song from the movie \u201cTerminator,\u201d a humorous prelude to their set. \u201cFire, Fire, Fire!\u201d yelled Johnny Whitney, kicking off the band’s first song, \u201cSet Fire to the Face on Fire,\u201d a fan favorite from their 2006 album \u201cYoung Machetes.\u201d Red and white lights pulsed from above as Whitney violently barreled around the stage, belting out synchronized screams with the band\u2019s other vocalist, Jordan Billie. The band followed with two more beloved songs, \u201cTrash Flavored Trash\u201d and \u201cUSA Nails.\u201d During the latter, Whitney leaped into the crowd, surfing over waves of fans in spite of the signs posted throughout the venue strictly forbidding stage diving and crowd surfing. The crowd screamed the song’s infectious hook with Whitney as they hoisted him up. Whitney\u2019s renowned tendency of crowd surfing would become a theme for the night, with him spending about equal time on stage and in the hands of the audience for their whole set.\u00a0 As the song finished, the band took a moment to ask if the crowd was alright, clearly acknowledging the fierce energy brewing in the room.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The band continued the set with a series of hits, fan favorites, and deep cuts, including \u201cAmbulance vs. Ambulance,\u201d a personal favorite, \u201cWe Ride Skeletal Lightning,\u201d and \u201cCrimes,\u201d the titular track of their fourth album. In between two of the songs, the band asked the crowd how many people there were seeing them live for the first time. A stark majority of the crowd raised their hands, signifying the staying power of the group’s music even after several long hiatuses. \u201cMakes you feel old,\u201d Whitney quipped in response.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They closed the set with two of their biggest hits, \u201cLove Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck\u201d and \u201cCecilia and the Silhouette Saloon.\u201d The audience clapped along as the last song\u2019s iconic synth loop began. Whitney jumped into the crowd once again, this time stepping from hand to hand with various audience members and walking above them. As the song ended with a discordant guitar riff from Cody Volanto, the band exited the stage, and the audience roared violently in hopes of an encore. The band returned and played an incredible four-song encore, ending the set with \u201cThe Shame.\u201d Billie and Whitney repeated the song hook and namesake of their tour, \u201ceverything is gonna be just awful when we\u2019re around,\u201d and I couldn\u2019t have disagreed with them more, having just witnessed one of the greatest shows I\u2019d ever seen.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Review by Luke Wise For the past decade, fans of the experimental Washington-based quintet, The Blood Brothers, stirred on online forums, speculating when, if ever, the band would finally take the stage again. Combining elements of post-hardcore, noise, and screamo with cleverly impudent lyricism, The Blood Brothers carved a niche that was uniquely their own. 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