|
The
World/Inferno Friendship Society graced Long Island Friday night, February
17th, on their second-to-last tour date in support of their latest full-length record,
The Anarchy and the Ecstasy. Despite recent personnel changes, including
departure of second longest-lasting member, guitarist Lucky Strano, the
World/Inferno Friendship Society set upon a short tour  with the ample vigor and
the distinguished grace which it has honed in its sixteen year existence.
The partially
scattered crowd rushed to the stage as the curtains parted to reveal the
World/Inferno Friendship Society as they broke into the time-tested set opener
"Tattoo's Fade". Frontman and mainstay
Jack Terricloth provided extra percussive detail prior to leading into the
opening lyrical verses. As the music
climaxed the crowd into a tumult, the audience and performers collectively
projected the song's refrain.
The unlikely and
somewhat surprising venue of Ollie's Point in Amityville, New York, nestled on
the south shore of a sleepy Long Island town, hosted the show. The environment of this particular venue
permitted the band's cult-like following, known to some as ‘Infernites,’ the
accessibility the group commands and the audience expects. The intimate setting of the venue allowed for
the staple features of the experience that encapsulates a World/Inferno set: Stage-diving, crowd surfing, while still
providing adequate room to waltz.
 Punctuating the
set with his characteristic musings, Jack Terricloth touched on such topics as the
tour passing, but not stopping at, his home base in Brooklyn with a slightly
feigned sense of melancholy. Later, when
referencing a pre-show stop at an eatery in Rockville Centre, Jack likened the
atmosphere to his self-imposed stigma laden home state of New Jersey and the
disquieting reminiscence of living under high-tension power lines.
After performing
songs that ranged their entire catalogue, and spotlighting tracks from their
latest release, the World/Inferno Friendship Society ended their set and left
the stage. The short stint off-stage enticed
the audience to raucously summon the band's return for an encore. After retaking the stage, Jack Terricloth
jocularly quipped about being a mere four feet away. Wrapping up their set with a track off of Just The Best Party, the group tore into
a lively version of "Zen and the Art of Breaking Everything In This Room".
The performance
concluded with Jack Terricloth and the World/Inferno Friendship Society
inviting the audience to the final show of the tour as it prepared to conclude
the following evening.
Preceding the
World/Inferno Friendship Society's set, Philadelphia-based group, and
compatriots Mischief Brew, directly supported the headliners. Acting as a three-piece for the night, due to
bass player Shawn St. Clair's personal, though temporary, leave, the band
touted the set as something of a "band practice." Though unexpectedly foraying into performing
one member shy, Mischief Brew plowed through their set while ramping up an
already energetic and anticipating crowd.
|
Fueled with Voodoo Doughnuts, Alcoholic Faith Mission
delivered to a rockin' crowd in Portland.
Those lucky enough to
enter the House of Blues Boston took a spacey journey
that felt like one long dream starting with opening act I Break Horses.
The student-filled O2 Academy in Manchester started heaving
forward the instant the visual art showed "The Cribs" on the backdrop.
