LIVE REVIEW + GALLERY: Frank Iero and the Future Violents in Boston, MA (06.02.19)
(photos by Lauren Zaknoun (IG @laurenzaknounart and FB: Lauren Zaknoun Photography)
We’ve been buzzing about Frank Iero’s latest album, Barriers since the moment it landed in our promo inbox nearly two months ago. Last night, the new tunes came to life when Iero and his current band, the Future Violents, Swung through Boston. The group took the stage in all white jumpsuits at Brighton Music Hall to a packed room with roaring cheers coming from the crowd and even some mixed chants of “Gary! Gary!” a reference to an inside joke James Dewees otherwise known as Reggie and the Full Effect made during his opening set.
Dewees took on the sound duties for former band mate Iero who once performed together as the duo Death Spells. Despite the newest album, Barriers, being out for just two days, songs played from the album had the crowd singing along. Be it the crowd favorite “Young and Doomed” – where Iero gives a tongue in cheek shout out to his My Chemical Romance days with the line, “I promise I’m not okay / oh wait that’s the other guy” – to the dreamy “A New Day’s Coming” that opens up the new record, the room didn’t stop moving through out.
While Iero provided backing vocals sprinkled throughout his catalog with MCR, it’s clear that Iero shines most in the front man role. This album was one that wasn’t always in the plans for him, but it was one that he felt had to happen after the horrific accident he was in when in Australia just weeks before his second record came out. Thank god this record happened as it was easily the most high energy and ecstatic crowd I’ve seen so far. His band line up changes with each album, as does the moniker, and with his band consisting of previous collaborator Evan Nestor, Tucker Rule of Thursday and Matt Armstrong of Murder by Death and completed with Kayleigh Goldsworthy currently, it’s a match made in heaven. The band didn’t stop moving and neither did the crowd.
Maybe the only thing that did stop the band’s constant motion was when a fan literally lost a tooth while in the mosh pit with Iero responding, ‘If I find it in the crowd, I’ll return it to you’. The crowd interaction was minimal but when Iero did interact with the crowd, it was a hundred percent on point. Commenting on the current score of the Bruins game to fully relating to the audience, including saying ‘This one’s about me, it’s about you” when it came to aforementioned “Young and Doomed.” Barriers is an incredibly personal record for Iero and it deals with a grand variety of emotions, stylistic tools and instrumentation that we haven’t really seen before from him.
Besides a great amount of this brand new record being represented, of course fan favorites from “Stomachaches” and “Parachutes” were present as well like ‘Weighted’, ‘Joyriding’ and ‘Oceans’ which he closed out his encore on, but it’s clear that “Barriers” is an album Iero is incredibly proud of and for good reason, it’s the focus of his live show right now. With this first tour doing so well off of “Barriers”, hopefully it means a lot more to come this year from this incredibly talented act.
Photos: Frank Iero and the Future Violents at Brighton Music Hall in Boston, MA on 06/02/19:
