By Ken Baldino
Given the prevalent themes in The Menzingers’ songs—loss, loneliness, longing, and nostalgia, just to name a few—their live performance might justifiably bear a bit of that weight and be infused with some distance. But no, nothing could be further from the truth. They are The Menzingers, after all, a punk band whose music, even in studio recordings, leaps from the speakers with an in-your-face authenticity. In their live set, it simply erupts.
From the time Tom May, Greg Barnett, Eric Keen, and Joe Godino of The Menzingers ambled onto the Kleine Zaal (“Small Hall”) stage, drinks in hand, to aid with their set-up and give a final equipment and sound check, the excitement was radiating from the sell-out crowd. It had been building amongst the tightly packed and rabid fans, a growing anticipation that hung in the air with the smell of sweat and stale beer.
There is undoubtedly something special between The Menzingers, a group that still plays small venues and helps to set their own stage, and their fans. One would be hard-pressed to experience a more electric connection between audience and performers. And it makes sense. The Menzingers’ music explores universal ideas. They are their fans’ champion. They speak to us, but they also speak for us. There is an everyman quality to the band. There is zero artifice, zero pretense. These are guys with whom one could have a beer.
Make no mistake, there’s nothing ordinary about The Menzingers’ passion or commitment on stage. Guitarist and vocalist Greg Barnett has said he likes to frontload set lists with intensity, and this night was no exception. From the time the first chords of “I Don’t Wanna Be An Asshole Anymore” rang through the room, it was a non-stop, high-octane blitz. But whether the songs were old or new (there was an obvious emphasis on their 2014 release, Rented World), the delivery could not have been more immediate. It’s an upshot of the close connection between these musicians and their fans; the two entities were perpetually throwing their energy at each other, colliding like the mass of humanity in the churning mosh pit. Aided by the intimacy of the venue, the urgency in The Menzingers’ records wasn’t just brought to life, it was injected into our collective vein. From beginning to end, the crowd sang every lyric with joyous, cathartic abandon, swelling together in magnetized, stage-ward surges.
These four seemingly down-to-earth friends from Scranton, between whom the familiarity and trust is palpable, unplugged a dam of emotion and at once held back the deluge. In peppering us with their rapid-fire barrage of songs, they gave everything, so how could it not be refracted back at them through the atmosphere of raucous ecstasy? It’s thrilling to watch people doing what they love, and all in attendance were treated to The Menzingers’ sheer enjoyment of playing live. Judging from their performance, they got a similar kick out of watching us, people who love music, revel in theirs.
Setlist:
I Don't Wanna Be An Asshole Anymore
Burn After Writing
I Was Born
The Obituaries
The Talk
Good Things
Ava House
Where Your Heartache Exists
My Friend Kyle
Nice Things
Time Tables
Hearts Unknown
Gates
Who’s Your Partner?
In Remission
Rodent
Casey
Roots Radicals (Rancid cover)
