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Poor newspaper tries to give Brand New a bad review, Internet attacks

After Brand New’s recent performance at Edgefest, the Buffalo News ran a concert review titled “Edgefest 2014, A Winner Despite One Flop” (yes, the “flop” they’re referring to is Brand New). In his review, “pop music critic” Jeff Miers calls Jesse Lacey & Co. “one of the worst bands I’ve ever seen in decades of concert attendance.” Did he see the right band?

Miers states, “So horrible was this band’s set that it pains me to relive it presently” and goes on to describe the emo-rockers:

“Horribly out of tune, dedicatedly dirge-dedicated, apparently hostile to anything resembling a melody, and, one would guess, comfortable with the idea of blending emo, metal, hardcore, and punk with an ear for the atonal, the group offered a set that just didn’t seem to want to end. It did, eventually.”

You can read the full piece here. Since its publication, the review has been getting trashed in places like the AbsolutePunk forums. It’s also been getting flogged in its own comments section. Here’s a sample of what some commenters have said:

“Is the author someone who doesn't like Brand New or thinks that Brand New is a good band that didn't perform well on this occasion? If you're not a fan of the music, you're in a less credible position to analyze a band's sound and performance.”

“Perhaps the crowd liked Brand New because they actually like music. Unlike the reviewer, here.”

“I should've stopped reading when Brand New was labeled as screamo. Fortunately the majority of commenters, of which are presumably attendees, are able to recognize the obvious, yet unfounded, disdain you have for the band. To say Sheila Devine delivered above and beyond that of Brand New is shockingly false, as easily indicated by the crowd. The only insufferable aspect of Edgefest was a seemingly out-of-touch hack that has no intention of expanding his musical knowledge beyond the simple view of 'me like way this sounds. It gud music.'”

“Are you kidding Brand New was amazing they played a great set and had the crowed rocking even Shredd and Ragan this morning said that Brand New fans where the loudest. The writer of this article is seriously mistaken.”

Watch fan-shot footage of Brand New performing “Seventy Times 7” at Edgefest below:

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