söndag 31 Jan 2010, 18:24

Fri 29 Jan – The Number Twelve Looks Like You LAST SHOW
The Number Twelve Looks Like You has always been one of my favorite metalcore/mathcore/whatever-the-fuck-core acts, not to mention one of my favorite bands, so when I heard they were having a farewell show it was bittersweet. I'd seen them twice before, as openers for Protest The Hero and The Dillinger Escape Plan, and was obviously saddened to hear the news, but when I heard the last venue they'd play was only an hour and a half away, I knew I had to go. Even factoring in gas money, tickets were pretty cheap, and I really feel for anyone that tried to go but didn't get tickets. It's happened to me before and it sucks, which is why I was sure to get tickets.

Anyway, onto the show. Some band I'd never heard of called Will Killmore was the first opener, and I showed up around their last song. They're apparently don't have any releases but if you wanna check them out their myspace is www.myspace.com/willkillmore. I didn't really pay attention to their set, I was too busy eating and checking out merch.

After a little bit, Irepress came on stage. I had heard their latest CD a couple of times before the show, and it didn't blow me away, but managed to be fairly interesting spacey post-rock/metal. Their live show definitely exceeded my expectations. The only song I recognized was the opener of their latest, Diaspora, but it didn't matter. All their songs were very well done and exectued top-notch. Special props to their drummer, who was probably the loudest out of the mix but showed why. His energetic drumming kept the usually long songs feeling interesting and fresh throughout. The whole affair felt kind of like just a heavy post-rock concert; songs would meander and build up to intense tremelo-picked climaxes, with occasional shouted vocals coming from the guitarist and keyboardist. They played for around 40 minutes, and although the crowd wasn't feeling them enough to mosh very much, I really enjoyed the set.

But of course, everyone who was there was there for The Number Twelve Looks Like You. My memory is a bit out of order after they came on stage, so I'm just going to try to describe everything I remember. People were constantly crowdsurfing, with many jumping onto the stage and hugging Jase before diving back into the fray. There was a bit of a pit for some of their heavier songs, but other than a few exceptions it was mostly deathcore kids flailing about in that retarted windmill-spasm thing they do. Jase jumped into the crowd a few times, including one crowd-surfing song where he shouted into a megaphone as he was carried (can't remember which song). The guitarists too were constantly moving about and occasionally jumping into the stage. Several times throughout the show Jase grabbed this huge ass rainbow peace-sign flag he said he'd bought "on tour" and waved it about. For those of you who haven't ever seen TNTLLY before, they have a tradition of picking a boy from the audience who's never been kissed and finding a girl to do the honors on stage, and this show was no different. Jase constantly thanked people, including the fans, and several times invited his tour manager (or something) Jesse onto the stage to speak and in general seemed very thankful for all the band had brought him and seemed to realize this was the end of the road. Setlist as best I can remember it (everything is out of order except the last 3):
-Grandfather
-Jay Walking Backwards
-Paper Weight Pigs
-The Weekly Wars
-Texas Dolly (Or the devil's dick disaster…not sure)
-The Proud Parent's Convention Held In The ER
-Like A Cat
-Don't Get Blood On My Prada Shoes
-If These Bullets Could Talk
-Glory Kingdom ("This is a song about wanting pussayy"
-Marvin's Jungle
-To Catch A Tiger
Not sure about: Imagine Nation Express, Clarissa Explains Cuntainment, Bambi The Hooker & A Case Of Beer
I'm pretty sure I'm missing a few and some of those might be wrong.

At any rate, right before they played The Garden's All Nighters, Jase said this would be their last song *wink*. And after that they played Jesus and Tori followed by Rememberance Dialogue. During To Catch A Tiger, pretty much the whole crowd rushed on stage and surrounded the band after someone in the band said that a kid sitting on stage was alright. Rememberance Dialogue was a song I never would have expected to hear live and in hindsight it was the perfect closer for their career. The entire crowd sang along as the dirge played out, with Jase's vocals becoming increasingly more emotive and frantic. He called all of his friends onto the stage and they lifted him as the song trooped on and the crowd continued to chant. As the song reached its death throes, Jase took a final bow and the band left the stage, leaving a packed School Of Rock to let the finality of it all sink in. Every song they played was amazing, and I'm struggling to describe it more than that. They played a top-notch, highly energetic show that showcased material from all four of their CDs and certainly gave me my money's worth. They will certainly be a missed musical force and I will never forget the feeling of the crowd as we all chanted THIS IS A REMEMBERANCE DIALOGUE one last time to send them off.