Brand New's Gloom Is Better Than Emo

If there's one word you could use to sum up Brand New's ever-changing sound, it's "brooding."

The Long Island, N.Y.-based band have increasingly moved their music and lyrics into darker territory with each release, and as they demonstrated at the first of two sold out gigs at the Kool Haus in Toronto this weekend, they're not afraid to explore their gloomy side on stage.

Recently reunited Long Island post-hardcore vets Glassjaw are also for the ride on this tour. The four-piece are heralded in some circles as legends, while just plain ignored in others. They set up on stage in a circle facing one another with only guitarist Justin Beck actually facing the crowd.

Glassjaw were no doubt trying to mimic the vibe they create in their practice space, and this arrangement would probably make for quite the performance in the small basement or community centre shows that both they and the night's headliners were brought up on. But in venue the size of the Kool Haus, it tended to create a wall between performer and audience.

Only lead singer Daryl Palumbo was willing to break the fourth wall and address the crowd directly between flailing around on stage. Still, the band's intensity and Palumbo's manic screams definitely broke through, thoroughly pleasing old fans while impressing the uninitiated.

Brand New hit the stage to a barrage of sound, that included two drummers and three guitars to replicate the instrumental "Welcome To Bangkok" before launching into "Sink" from their latest album, Daisy.

Lead singer Jesse Lacey and guitarist Vincent Accardi looked like identical twins in white v-neck T-shirts and toques. Lacey didn't utter a word to the crowd until the five-piece were four-songs in, and even then it was only a simple hello. The band played with precision and intensity. Only Lacey's tendency to scream even the most hushed lyrics into one of his two mikes seemed out of place in their performance.

Brand New stuck with tracks from Daisy and previous record The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me for the vast majority of their hour-and-a-half show and completely ignored their Your Favourite Weapon debut.

They broke this rhythm briefly to deliver a pretty rote take on "Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades," as well as "Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't" and "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows," all from 2003's Deja Entendu. These songs received rapturous applause from the crowd and had the entire place singing along to Lacey's confessional lines of jilted romance — not that the reception was going to change the band's setlist. They pressed on into their previous groove before ending the night with fan favourite "Play Crack The Sky," opting not to return for an encore.

Brand New have made great strides to distance themselves from their early pop-punk and emo-influenced recordings in lieu of sprawling and sonically ambitious numbers. Their audience has thankfully followed them down this road, welcoming every song they played with eager joy.

But it's clear those first two records occupy a special place in fans' hearts. It would be nice if Brand New recognized this and threw their fans a few more bones. It would have made what was an already pretty terrific show into something downright amazing.