Re-Viewed: The Bravery at The Vic
By Julene McCoy in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 5, 2005 4:06PM
Last night at the Vic, The Bravery took the stage with their new wavey brand of rock-n-dance. Are they style over substance? Probably, but we also believe that they are just some boys who are having a great time being rock stars and their performance demonstrated that.
Sam Endicott spoke before every song to explain what it was about, but the lyrics don’t need much explanation since they’re just not that deep. Before “Tyrant” he let us know that it was a song about a girl that fucked around on him and before “The Ring Song” he stated that it was about opening your eyes and still not being able to see.
He also made sure that we knew they had opened for U2 in Dublin, which only served to make the fans grab for him more during “An Honest Mistake”. The last song before the encore was “Unconditional” and Mike Hindert, the bass player, climbed up on the stacked amps and played from there. Then he dropped the bass into the arms of a motorcycle helmet and Speedo wearing roadie (why?) before jumping down. Typical young rocker antics, but that’s what The Bravery are and we would be disappointed if they didn’t act this way. Hindert’s acting out came after a particularly blazing guitar solo by Michael Zakarin.
The first song of the encore was a new song called “Old Glory” which is almost – dare we say it? A ballad. Then they segued into “Fearless” and ended it all with INXS’ “Don’t Change” which proved that INXS didn’t find the right guy to front the band. Just kidding, JD.
Here’s our advice regarding The Bravery – shut up and have a good time. Don’t think about the lyrics because it’s unnecessary. Also don't argue about who they sound more like – The Cure or The Killers or whoever else, because they are derivative, but it doesn't stop us from having fun along with them.
Openers for The Bravery included People in Planes who have been working the industry from SXSW to the CMJ Marathon. Following them were The (International) Noise Conspiracy.