Show Review: Say Anything @ Stubbs (6.28)

History partially repeated itself this past Friday. I made my way to Stubb’s BBQ in Austin, Texas in the brutal heat, an updated car, “Is a Real Boy” streaming on full blast, lugging two cameras and head full of lyrics and hopes of another explosive performance like the experience so many years ago. The sun was finally falling behind the ever expanding skyline. The crowd was buzzing, full of old scenesters and new recruits to the ranks.

As the house music faded, the evening and the show began “with a song of rebellion,” at least that was the spoken word intro from the opening track, “Belt.” Max and co took to the stage and launched into the album head first. Still the ever animated frontman, Max sneered and stomped through the anthemic opener conducting the audience in what would become an hour long singalong. Without missing a beat, we dive head first into “Woe,” a personal favorite of mine and I can’t imagine it sounding any better than I did that night if I’m honest. Granted I stood 8 feet away from these giants of pop punk, emo, or whatever you want to call them.

It’s hard to classify them for a number of reasons. The album itself is a staggering work of lyrical genius and musical arrangement his contemporaries could only ever hope to achieve across all of their albums, let alone one back in 2004. No song is too short, too busy, too sparse, too kitsch. It’s all very aware of what it is and where it is in history just as Max is looking out across the multi-generational pit turned backing gang vocalists. As the band finishes the monumental “Alive With the Glory of Love,” he thanks the masses for braving the heat and checks-in emotionally asking, “are you guys doing alright? This album has been out for 20 years and I got over whatever I was going through 5 minutes after writing it.” Unphased, the crowd screams and cheers as we meander from “Yellow Cat (Slash) Red Cat” to “The Futile” and “Spidersong.”

By now the stage and the band are drenched in sweat and we take a brief respite with Max for an acoustic rendition of “Cemetery” from their 2009 eponymous album before getting back to the album for tonight’s occasion. Crowd participation was still on the menu as we shouted along in call and response to “Every Man Has a Molly.”

The evening continued in much the same fashion of heavy crowd involvement and the band beaming with pride and joy. Very few bands perform better live than they do on albums and Say Anything might be one of those which is hard to imagine given their albums are layered with flavors of perfection. I’m not sure there was even an encore that night since just about every song on the album is a banger…or bops? Whatever the kids are saying. Regardless, we knew the night was coming to its natural conclusion shortly once we heard the all too familiar lofi ringtone of a bygone era reminding us that “Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too” and transforming that gravel auditorium into a dusty dance floor in the process.

I should correct myself. There was an encore. Before the last two songs Max letthe audience know he moved that song out of order and we were about to get a little sad with every emo kid’s mixtape essential “I Want to Know Your Plans.” Couples were embracing, single people were crying, and your author was unlocking long forgotten memories while his friend talked incessantly to stop their own tears from flowing. The lull did not last because we were sent off into the night with an atomic performance of “Admit It!!!” And what a crescendo to end on. The whole of the concert was relatively tame as far as punk shows go with nothing more than some jumping around in the pit, but we finally saw a few crowd surfers ferried to the front. Sacrifices to a band that can be counted among the gods of the scene.

With a final bow and faces aglow, Say Anything, a real band, bid us a good night and sent us off to our haunts and homes drenched in sweat and decked in merch graciously paid for.