Alkaline Trio @ Norfolk, VA -- 07.16.2008

Wow. Just wow.

Best Alkaline Trio show I've ever seen, and this was number 6 for me. The band was animated, they played tracks from almost all of their albums, the crowd response was great, and Matt Skiba didn't yell out the wrong city name or forget any lyrics. They played several songs I've never heard live before, including 2 off compilations. All in all, a great night.

Set List
1. Calling All Skeletons
2. Nose Over Tail
3. I Lied My Face Off
4. I Found Away
5. In Vein
6. Private Eye
7. Mercy Me
8. Warbrain
9. Continental (I think I've got the wrong name on this one)
10. Old School Reasons
11. Armageddon
12. Do You Wanna Know
13. Dead and Broken
14. Goodbye Forever
15. Crawl
16. Help Me
17. Bleeder
18. This Could Be Love
E: 19. For Your Lungs Only
E: 20. Radio

Alkaline Trio -- The NorVa, Norfolk VA -- 7.16.2008
Band:
Stage Prescience: 4/5
- They were all over the fuckin' place.

Showmanship/technicality: 3.5/5
- Matt wasn't drunk, so he was paying attention to the crowd. They're both singing so they're tied to the mics, but even during short breaks between verses Dan and Matt made efforts to connect with the audience instead of just stand at the mic. They got a 3.5 because neither of them is a great musician; rather, they're phenominal lyricists.

Song Selection: 5/5
- Amazing. New stuff. Old stuff. Everything in between. Rarities. 2 songs off compilations that I never expected to hear live. Amazing.


Crowd:
Audience participation: 4/5
- The crowd was way more into the show than The National. Instead of just standing and listening, they were actually getting into it.

Venue:
Ticket price: 4/5
- $18. Not too bad. I also had drinks at Kelly's before the show to get it early, spent $15 there.

Sound quality: 4/5
- Had some trouble discerning lyrics, but that's probably due to the fact that I was in the front row (sound is usually focused ~10 rows back). Nothing too terribly annoying though.

Drink/food: N/A
- I didn't buy anything.

Overall show rating: 4.5/5