By Shannon Kirsch, Special to OnMilwaukee.com   Published Jul 02, 2015 at 10:06 AM

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Honestly, I didn’t really want to see Brand New live. They are an often incredibly depressing band that would bring down my Summerfest high. However, I owed it to the angsty 15-year-old Holden Caulfield in me to see this group in concert, one that used to be incredibly influential to me.

Brand New is an alternative rock group from New York. They began as a generic pop punk band in 2000, and by 2003 transformed into a darker, more serious group. To give you perspective, a bridge on their first album when they comparatively weren't as dark is, "Cause I’ve seen more spine in jellyfish/I’ve seen more guts in 11 year old kids/take another drink and drive yourself home/I hope there’s ice on all the roads/and you can think of me when you forget your seatbelt and again when your head goes through the windshield."

However, just because I wasn’t psyched to see them doesn’t mean I am saying they’re bad in any regards, because their music is some of the most impressive that I’ve seen in the past 10 years. Within the past few albums, the band's lyrics have gone into incredible depth with feelings of loneliness, death and worthlessness that countless other bands strive to achieve but fail.

Don’t be surprised if you haven’t heard of this group since they don’t do all that much or really any self promotion, including taking three-year breaks between releasing new material. Their last full length "Daisy" had one radio single but was devoid of any music videos; the last music video they released was 10 years ago. However, somehow even without self promotion, "Daisy" reached number six on the US Billboard 200.

The lack of self promotion didn’t hurt them at the Miller Lite Oasis either, which was packed Wednesday night with countless college aged kids.

When the concert started, the band appeared on stage and played through four fast-paced songs without acknowledging the crowd or even being lit for minutes on end. There was prolonged minutes of darkness which I have to say I have never experienced at a concert. Usually artists want the audience to see them at all times since that’s usually a big factor in coming to SEE a band. I felt like this might have been because the group might want the audience to focus more on the live music than the sight of them actually playing it hence the stage being devoid of light occasionally.

Main vocalist Jesse Lacey was decked out in a sweatshirt with the hood up and a knitted hat underneath. Needless to say, my initial reactions thought either the singer was uncomfortable being on stage or was well aware of the cold temperature. I’m thinking possibly the former because until the last few songs, he didn’t acknowledge or try to speak to the crowd.

Also, it was hard not to notice the microphone covered in flowers, which was incredibly odd since it was the only stage decoration. However upon some research, I found out it is a nod to the crooner Morrissey, who has flowers on stage for his shows and is a major influence for Brand New.

The way Lacey sings is like he’s having a major fight with someone who wronged him, and he’s pouring his heart and soul into every verse, almost like the depressing lyrics he’s singing are currently happening to him and he’s unloading years’ worth of bottled anger. Although every song was emotionally riveting, tracks that really stood out vocally were, "Degausser," "You Stole" and "Sowing Season." The instruments were also exceptional on these songs, accompanied with energetic guitar licks and fast paced drums.

There were radio friendly songs such as  "The Quiet Things That No One Every Knows," Seventy Times Seven," "Mix Tape" and "Soco Amaretto Lime" which the audience could sing, dance and bob their head to. However, there were certain songs that I saw people bobbing their head to and dancing which seemed weird to me, namely "Jesus Christ" which is a slow paced song about feeling worthless and depressed while having a conversation with Jesus.  

Near the end of the set, Lacey started conversing with the crowd but talked to us like we were at a dinner party he was hosting and said, "Thanks for everyone being here. You have a beautiful city. I really like it. Have a good night." The sheer adorable awkwardness of those few sentences being spoken in an indoor tone in an outdoor setting made me less critical of Lacey’s introverted stage presence throughout the show.

Needless to say the grave subject matter did affect me, but hearing the emotion Lacey put into the vocals and well paced instruments made for a great show.