THE MENZINGERS AT THE BASEMENT EAST IN NASHVILLE
It was raining heavily and freezing in Nashville, but that didn’t stop fans from selling out The Basement East and crowding in to express their love for this stacked line up featuring The Menzingers with support from Tigers Jaw and Culture Abuse.
If you've never seen Culture Abuse then you’re truly missing out. After seeing them back in February at Louisville’s own hardcore fest LDB, I was just blown away by their stage presence, and sore from from all the bruises by the constant stage diving. It was beautifully chaotic. I knew what to expect when The Menzingers had them opening. Though the crowd didn’t get as rowdy this night, there were plenty of people still watching while singing along and bobbing their heads. Their vocalist, David Kelling, made sure to keep the crowd alive with his playful attitude. Overall, I couldn’t have been happier to see these wavy Cali punk-rock boys again!
Along with Culture Abuse, Tigers Jaw is another band I have followed for quite sometime and love everything about them. After seeing them on tour with The Wonder Years back in June of last year in Chicago, I had been anxiously waiting to see them play again. Tigers Jaw opened up their set with Charmer’s opening track “Cool”, followed by many songs of their self-titled album and a few of their latest release Spin. At the end of their set, the band announced that they would be releasing a new album by next year.
Pennsylvania's very own, The Menzingers, greeted their sold out Nashville audience with their newest single “Anna” off their newest studio album Hello Exile, and had the crowd immediately losing their minds as they screamed along and stormed the stage. What little I was able to watch, the band truly puts on one hell of a show, and I wish I was able to watch the full set. From the people surrounding me and what I overheard, this was some peoples’ first time ever coming to a show, and the demographic was a mixture of older punk fans and young college students. To me, it’s great that a band such as The Menzingers still has such a strong pull to such a young audience. They’re truly keeping the genre alive.
Though they’re finishing up their fall tour in the beginning of December, you'll be able to catch them in Europe and Australia this winter!