Review
Leathermouth at Bamboozle 2009
- Author:
- Review Date:
- 4/8/09
When a band has to leave a song out of their live set because the U.S. government says so, you know you are in for a wonderfully inflammatory show. Leathermouth finally plugged their instruments into the amps after a ten minute set up and stared out into the blazing sun with squinty eyes. I wasn’t sure they’d survive through the heat and give a good show. Not until Frank Iero, the lead vocalist and outspoken New Jersey punk, walked onstage in his 4’11’’ glory wearing a shirt with the phrase “Legalize gay: Repeal Prop 8” stretched across his chest; he told us that the band would not be able to play their song “I Am Going to Kill the President of the United States.” Frank shrugged a little and said, “I guess the U.S. government didn’t find [the song] as funny as I did.” The crowd (an eclectic mix of fans) laughed and cheered in response. After his statement, James Dewees, drummer, counted off and Leathermouth launched into an energetic and rather hostile set.
The band started off with the song “Catch Me If You Can Mr. Musk” and swiftly moved into “5th Period Massacre” and after that, “This Song is About Being Attacked by Monsters”. Leathermouth doesn’t waste much time between songs. Iero didn’t talk much (just a bit to stretch out their set) but I’m glad for the swiftness as the heat was terrible and a lapse in energy would have driven me away to the shade. But the band never lost energy during the songs, and Iero barreled into each one with renewed vigor. His vocals sound even better live than on their record. His vocalization wasn’t just screaming; the screaming had a militant rhythm. James Dewees is definitely the musician of the band; his precision on drums brought what could have been a mess of sound into an aggressive musical march. Rob Hughes and Ed Auletta listen to each other well as they sounded almost completely unified.
But the real showstopper was Iero. I questioned his abilities as a front man (I’m used to seeing him play as My Chemical Romance’s rhythm guitarist). But he retains a down-to-earth yet charismatic persona that I found irresistible. As my brother said, Iero “sexed the crowd”. He is like a man possessed on stage: he closes his eyes in ecstasy, he wraps the mic chord around his neck like a noose, he screams in fans’ faces. He’ll even yank your hair if you get close enough. I decided not to go there. It wasn’t until the band’s last song “Murder is the Case They Gave Me” that I decided to really give in and jump around like a lunatic. Like I said, irresistible.
I went into this show as a skeptic. I’d heard Leathermouth’s music before, and although I loved Iero’s lyrics, which retained a beautifully nihilistic quality, I wasn’t much a fan of the continuous screaming and snarling into the microphone not to mention the rather simple repetitive chords. Seeing Leathermouth perform their songs live completely changed my mind. The band is not only fun to watch, but I found myself being sucked into their music like a dust bunny into a vacuum. The aspects about the show I found lacking were the short set time (every song was less than three minutes, so the set clocked out around 15-20 minutes) and the band’s tendency to get too laid back between songs.
Leathermouth is not for the faint of heart or the conservative-minded. If you’re either one, you might want to just sit this one out.
The band started off with the song “Catch Me If You Can Mr. Musk” and swiftly moved into “5th Period Massacre” and after that, “This Song is About Being Attacked by Monsters”. Leathermouth doesn’t waste much time between songs. Iero didn’t talk much (just a bit to stretch out their set) but I’m glad for the swiftness as the heat was terrible and a lapse in energy would have driven me away to the shade. But the band never lost energy during the songs, and Iero barreled into each one with renewed vigor. His vocals sound even better live than on their record. His vocalization wasn’t just screaming; the screaming had a militant rhythm. James Dewees is definitely the musician of the band; his precision on drums brought what could have been a mess of sound into an aggressive musical march. Rob Hughes and Ed Auletta listen to each other well as they sounded almost completely unified.
But the real showstopper was Iero. I questioned his abilities as a front man (I’m used to seeing him play as My Chemical Romance’s rhythm guitarist). But he retains a down-to-earth yet charismatic persona that I found irresistible. As my brother said, Iero “sexed the crowd”. He is like a man possessed on stage: he closes his eyes in ecstasy, he wraps the mic chord around his neck like a noose, he screams in fans’ faces. He’ll even yank your hair if you get close enough. I decided not to go there. It wasn’t until the band’s last song “Murder is the Case They Gave Me” that I decided to really give in and jump around like a lunatic. Like I said, irresistible.
I went into this show as a skeptic. I’d heard Leathermouth’s music before, and although I loved Iero’s lyrics, which retained a beautifully nihilistic quality, I wasn’t much a fan of the continuous screaming and snarling into the microphone not to mention the rather simple repetitive chords. Seeing Leathermouth perform their songs live completely changed my mind. The band is not only fun to watch, but I found myself being sucked into their music like a dust bunny into a vacuum. The aspects about the show I found lacking were the short set time (every song was less than three minutes, so the set clocked out around 15-20 minutes) and the band’s tendency to get too laid back between songs.
Leathermouth is not for the faint of heart or the conservative-minded. If you’re either one, you might want to just sit this one out.