40 -- Alkaline Trio -- Thursday, April 30, 2009 -- The Trocadero -- Philadelphia, PA

They didn’t play “Mercy Me” OR “Armageddon.” That was disappointing. I also held out hope that they’d end with something other than “Radio.” From now on, I’ll just embrace its fixed placement. I’ll approach it as a ritual, as a comfort, not a letdown.





Other than that, it was gratifying to be back at a full Trio show, with rabid Trio fans. It had been six months since I last saw them – almost a year if you don’t count the painful, six-song Rise Against show. Man, did I miss it. You could choose to stay back and jump, move to the middle and get thrown, or press in right up front and sway five feet from the actual performers. No matter where you were, you were guaranteed a spot next to someone who knew every word. You would have no breathing room, they wouldn’t, and neither of you cared.

Liked the nod to the Ramones with “The KKK Took My Baby Away.” Loved that they played so many early, dark, obscure tracks: “My Friend Peter,” “Tuck Me In,” “Cooking Wine,” and “100 Stories.” In that context, I was even able to embrace “Calling All Skeletons” as mindless fun.







Grade: A

Unexplained Endnotes: Trekking to a Soho gym before the concert, trekking to a Delaware fleabag motel after it, swindling a cop psychologist on my drive to Williamsburg the next morning