“Play some new stuff! …I don’t say that often.”
This request from the crowd is definitely atypical for most shows, viagra but it makes sense in this context —The Menzingers new stuff is good. Like, real good. Their show at The Middle East Club in Cambridge had a good mix of the old and new, but you could definitely see a marked enthusiasm for even their newest record, Rented World, which has been out since April.
The last time The Menzingers played at the Middle East Club, it was packed, sweaty, and intense. Saturday was no different. In fact, it was probably a little more packed, since it sold out at the door.
They walked onto the stage to “You Make My Dreams (Come True),” by Hall & Oates — a good sign right from the beginning. They blasted the audience with “I Don’t Want to Be an Asshole Anymore,” a spirited jam from their newest release, Rented World, and then turned it up even more with a double dose of powerhouse songs from On the Impossible Past, their 2012 masterpiece.
If you’re looking for solid songs all the way through an album, OTIP has it. It’s got the ideal batting lineup: it goes deep and never slumps. I first listened to that album in the winter of 2012. I thought it was the perfect winter album. Then I kept listening to it in the spring, then the summer, then fall. I discovered that there’s no wrong time to listen to it. It’s timeless and nostalgic all at the same time.
Back to Saturday night: the only downer at the show for me would be my position right next to one speaker for a while during their set. That’s never a good place to stand because the volume and balance is way off. But out in the middle of the pit, the sound quality was definitely much better.
At shows that are punk at heart, the crowd can get out of hand sometimes. Last time The Menzingers played this venue, they had to stop mid-song and address some outright brawls happening in the pit. This time, they made a PSA about respecting each other and respecting the space to prevent that from happening again and it seemed to work.
Greg Barrett stepped away from the mic during the second chorus of “Gates” and the audience easily took over singing the whole thing. They also wouldn’t let the band leave until they played a crowd favorite, “Casey.”
Their final song brought them back to their beginnings: the title track to their first LP, A Lesson in the Abuse of Information Technology. They dedicated the song to their friend Sophia — a big tie to Boston in their early days in the form of a floor to crash on and many late nights drinking and partying in Allston. And it’s clear that in Boston, The Menzingers will always be welcome.