I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve seen Jeff Rosenstock live. Per my estimation, his show on Friday at Roadrunner was the minimum 11th time. It doesn’t help that there’s been so many permutations – solo, with Laura Stevenson, with Bomb the Music Industry!, with Arrogant Sons of Bitches (the final BTMI! show and ASOB reunion show are two of my biggest “I was there!” gigs) – that it’s easy to lose count. At least one of those BTMI! shows was Jeff solo, too. But this time was different. For one thing, he was playing Roadrunner – a fierce rise above the semi-filled small venues he was playing just a few years ago. And, he’s on the heels of his new album HELLMODE, which is his most tempered and “adult” record yet. The record proves that the songwriter can embrace the maturity he’s long resisted while still giving in to punk whims, and the show highlighted this mixing well.
But before we get there, we’ve got openers, because the whole night was a celebration. Up first was Gladie, who by sheer coincidence I was seeing for the third time in a year (previously as support for AJJ and, well, Jeff Rosenstock). The Philly indie-punk band played a number of cuts from their genuinely excellent 2022 record Don’t Know What You’re in Until You’re Out, including “Born Yesterday,” “Mud,” and “Nothing,” as well as older cuts like “Twenty Twenty” and “Thank You Card.” They also debuted an energetic new song “Chaos Reigns.” The crowd – already largely familiar with Gladie – was eating it up. There was already a sizable audience despite Jeff not scheduled to go on for nearly two hours. Jeff’s crowds are unusually wholesome by design, and the love shown to Gladie was special.
On deck after Gladie was Sidney Gish, and let’s be real, if you’re reading Allston Pudding then you’re probably already a Gishhead. The crowd was too, who were all in as Gish played through a hits-heavy set. Though not a native, Gish’s whole career is intertwined with the Boston music scene, so this hometown show was a victory lap for her. As usual, she performed solo on stage, the only backing accompaniment coming from tape. Her set pulled six songs from her album No Dogs Allowed, including a rousing version of “Persephone” and a very fun performance of “I Eat Salads Now,” with age-updated lyrics. She also pulled out a STRFKR cover and, of course, “Presumably Dead Arm,” from her other record Ed Buys Houses. The Boston crowds always love their own, and the homecoming welcome for Sidney was a wonderful set.
As for Jeff, this was the biggest show that his group Death Rosenstock have played in Boston, by a lot. This is likely going to be true for many cities on the tour, as the band aims their ambitions high. To match it, they played a long set, especially by punk standards – a 9:45 start time that ran straight through to the 11:30 curfew. That was enough time for 28 songs, an eclectic mix from records old and new. Four of the first five songs came from HELLMODE, with the NO DREAM banger “Scram!” thrown in for good measure. The whole new album was played throughout the night, with the proper set ending with the album’s final track, the beautiful ballad “3 SUMMERS.” There were a number of the more thoughtful, slower Jeff songs peppered throughout the set, like “HEALMODE,” “I Did Something Weird Last Night,” and “9/10” (which is not to be read as a date but is, coincidentally, the date that I am writing this). The latter is a fan favorite, proving to be one the whole crowd harmonized with. All of this is reflective of the new Rosenstock record, which is his prettiest and most balanced release yet. Jeff’s lyrics have always mastered melancholy, with a keen awareness of the passage of time. But these days, he’s tossed away the specific songs about booze and reluctant immaturity in favor of broader, more applicable themes, and the delicate balance we all walk. The last time I wrote about a Rosenstock show in this capacity was the final BTMI! show – a few months shy of a decade ago. At that gig in Brooklyn, everyone, including the band members, were drinking beyond belief and lamenting an encroaching adulthood. Now, we’re here, and Jeff’s crowds are bigger, more responsible, and younger, with the phrase “Bomb the Music Industry” either a sore subject or one that means nothing, depending on how deep each new fan digs into the Rosenstock catalog.
But Death Rosenstock are playful punks at heart, and it’s impossible for them to not have fun on stage. And as such, it’s impossible for the fans not to revel in it too. The band’s entrance music (different at each show so far) was “Chop Suey!,” and the fans started moshing before the band was even on stage. There was bickering about birthdays, Jeff saying the openers have to be friends with him now, a brief power outage, and jokes about the gig being a BTMI reunion that doesn’t play any BTMI songs. One perennial fan (and personal) favorite “You, in Weird Cities,” Jeff grabbed a saxophone and made his way to the middle of the upper section to play a solo to the fans avoiding the pits on the floor. And there were bangers – “HEAD,” “Hey Allison!,” and “Festival Song” were graced, as was “Leave It In the Ska,” from the tongue-in-cheek album SKA DREAM, a ska rendition of the album NO DREAM. As normal, bassist John DeDomenici provided plenty of entertainment, with his overly-animated expressions and dancing.
What was truly special was the encore – for the first time on the tour, the band closed with part of the WORRY. medley, the best piece of music Rosenstock has ever written. The shortened medley consisted of “HELLLLHOOOOLE,” “June 21st” (this one is a date), “The Fuzz,” “…While You’re Alive,” and “Perfect Sound Whatever.” It’s a set of songs that are both rollicking and poetically devastating and, when hit with it unexpectedly, my eyes didn’t entirely stay dry. It was the perfect way to cap off a night full of songs that were both raw as hell and emotionally balanced. As Jeff shouted out during the set, shout out to the sad guys. We’re all sad adults now. Nothing’s forever, dude.