i can’t recall a single band that has been as cryptic and frustrating as they’ve been satisfying and important to my personal tastes and musical growth. worship & tribute, while one of my all time favorite albums, came out in 2002, and the band has yet to properly release anything since then. nearly 8 years later, on a thursday two weeks before austin’s biggest music conference, they managed to sell out a show in two week’s time. let’s face it; there aren’t many bands that premiere a song at show in late 2006 and put the recorded version up in 2008, and completely get away with it the majority of their fanbase. glassjaw’s inactivity is almost endearing at this point.

after having traveled to fort worth in late 2006 to catch their last texas date, there wasn’t the slightest chance that i wouldn’t be attending this show.

hit the jump for the recap.

-grizzly

arriving to the venue at 8:00 p.m. sharp (doors) for the first time in what seems like years, we muscled our way in to mingle with friends from different phases in time. it was apparent from the start that the show included all of the people you saw at shows growing up, just in a different city. over the years, glassjaw has developed an incessant cult following that could only be described in a handful of words, and in this case, the word was ‘united’ or “elated.”

for months, the opener was ‘TBA’ so the natural process of guessing who it would be occured, taking into huge consideration that some local fort worth cock-rock outfit took the reigns as the opener the last time around. that band was so forgettable, that daryl palumbo himself forgot the name of the band when they took the stage. this time, signs were posted and dispersed throughout the venue, reading ‘glassjaw @ 10 p.m.’ indicating that there would be no opener. it was for the better, anyway.

10 p.m. rolls around and glassjaw hits the stage. the cult can now be described as ‘maniacal.’ frantic to get to the front, folks hurting and shoving (heyo) each other to get as close as possible, while the band premieres a new song for the first time. in 06, they opened with ‘lennon,’ and now, with the same act of pushing the anticipation to its limits; as they kicked off their first texas set in 3 and a half years with a new song. durijah lang, now a permanent member of glassjaw, rattles into “john lennon,” which then turns that cult into “terrifying.” it’s now seemingly impossible for a majority of this crowd to miss a beat.

palumbo had an omniscient presence that night. he had a commanding stage persona and the crowd hung off of his every beckon call, screech and melody. for the past three years, beck has been glassjaw’s only guitarist, and you hardly notice that the band used to have two guitarists. manny carrero and durijah lang are heaven sent rhythmic backbone of glassjaw, noodling bass lines and rolling out drum fills fit for a veteran act.

it’s hard to be disappointed with a glassjaw set, as it was naturally worship & tribute heavy, but also managed to squeeze in a huge chunk of everything you ever wanted to know about silence. notables were your obvious candidates, (“siberian kiss”) as well as an impromptu answers to a crowd request (“when one eight becomes two zeroes”). they even managed to throw in a total of four ‘new’ songs and “star above my bed” from 97′s kiss kiss bang bang.

it’s funny how much of a blur the show was. i spent the first half of the show in the crowd fighting for air and spent the last half standing off on the sidelines, eyes closed and flying through my post-hardcore adolescence. somewhere along the way, sunbear and i separated, and i found myself flying solo. not to worry, the 1000-capacity venue was filled with like-minded and equally brainwashed fanatics that filled the void of that separation.

photos courtesy of krista de la rosa

at the end of the show, it’s almost as important to be one of these elite 1000 who were there to witness this show to have actually seen it, if that makes sense. there was a powerful force on stage that is almost indescribable, and those who haven’t previously seen the band, experienced that type of musical captivation or ever given a shit about glassjaw couldn’t possibly understand. i mean, this paragraph alone makes me one of those freakish ‘cult’ members i’ve been clamoring about, and i’m not exactly ashamed.

i find it hard to believe that there is another active band out there with this kind of pull. no label, no promotion, no web presence, no proper releases in 8 years, no regards to any frustration of the fanbase. and still manage to make as big of an impact on that same fanbase as they did 7, 4, 3 or 15 years ago.

all of you should be jealous.

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[SETLIST]

new song
you think you’re john fucking lennon
tip your bartender
mu empire
star above my bed
ape dos mil
the gillette cavalcade of sports
stuck pig
pink roses
pretty lush
lovebites and razorlines
when one eight becomes two zeroes
jesus glue
natural born farmer
all good junkies go to heaven
el mark
convectuoso
two tabs of mescaline
siberian kiss
babe

videos provided by the minions on gjnet.

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full audio bootleg soon. xoxo.

-grizzly