The Menzingers have been touring across America and recently made their way West with I Am the Avalanche. The band is currently ramping up to release a new album later this year, so I guess you could consider this a warm-up tour. The tour rolled through The Glass House, so naturally, I didn't want to miss it.
After 6 years, I Am the Avalanche are gearing up to release their new album, The Horrow Show on April 10th and have been using this tour to try out the new material. The band has already released a couple of tracks from their upcoming album including the title track, but they snuck in a couple extras from the new record. One song entitled "I Miss California and Every Dog I've Ever Met" and "Alive on 14th Street." After over 20 years, I Am the Avalanche have amassed their own following, and they showed up to sing along. It's not often that you hear a large chunk of the crowd singing along to the openers, but The Glass House made sure to give them a warm welcome when the band jumped into favorites like "I Took a Beating" from their debut LP and "Brooklyn Dodgers" from their critically acclaimed Avalanche United. After spending most of the night tromping around and interacting with the crowd from the stage, vocalist Vinnie Caruana decided to jump down to the barricade to sing along with the fans towards the end of the set.
Next up were The Menzingers. I've lost count of how many times I've seen The Menzingers over the years, but it's been enough to have grown accustomed to them walking out to The Ramones' "Do You Wanna Dance?" Imagine my surprise when Dire Straits' "Walk of Life" starts blaring from the speakers. The band jumps into "America (You're Freaking Me Out)." An appropriate kick off to the set as headlines continue to get flooded with unfathomable headlines daily. The Menzingers continue to maintain a set of fan favorites from After the Party and On The Impossible Past, with those two albums occupying half of the setlist. The other half was a smattering of Hello Exile, tracks from their latest album, Some of it Was True like "Hope is a Dangerous Little Thing, " "Try" and "There's No Place in This World For Me."
The band is also playing their newest single, "Nobody's Heroes," which was just released a little over a month ago. The personal highlight for me was when the band broke out a Chamberlain Waits classic, "I Was Born." Ultimately, anything pre-On the Impossible Past has been absent from their sets for the past couple of album cycles, so it was nice to see them revisit it. It didn't feel out of place amongst their later evolved sound. We were almost lucky enough to get "Irish Goodbyes," another pre-OTIP track, when it was put to a vote against "Casey" and "Your Wild Years." The crowd opted for "Casey," which was undeniably the right choice. The Menzingers finished out the night with "Lookers" and Rented World's "In Remission," which has become the band's closing staple.
While this is a Menzingers headlining tour, having support from I Am the Avalanche makes it a pulse-pounding pairing on equal footing. Both bands put on strong and entertaining performances. Whether it's Vinnie Caruana stomping around the stage or Tom May pogo-ing back and forth nonstop for an hour. There are only a few dates left, but don't miss out if it strolls through a town nearby.
