Concert Review: Simple Creatures Rule Over Brooklyn

While Mark Hoppus (Blink- 182) Alex Gaskarth(All Time Low) were convinced that they were going to suck, so they said, Simple Creatures performed one of the best shows I have ever seen. It was succinct, hilarious, and felt like the most modernized version of emo-punk/rock I have ever heard. Thus, the rockers’ new duo have formed to give breaking hearts a guitar chord they can mosh to.

Watching grown men, in the audience, play “ring around the rosie” and then ignite a mosh pit to the music was a first to me, but it felt symbolic. The crowd had gone from little kid games to full on shoves and punches, but both, equally, left them cathartically giddy. In a way, Mark and Alex are a ripe blend of maturity and pure, childlike silliness. These are the guys that can sing to absolutely hating yourself, and then proceed to make “Yo Mama” jokes. They have, somehow, played into humanity’s ability to be completely charming and f**ked up, all at once. It is as if, through their music, they have spoken to God, and he said, “Yeah I don’t know what to do with humanity, but pump up the bass. Thanks!”

Mark and Alex were premiering new tracks to the audience, but, because their energy is so familiar, it all worked. By all means, people go to concerts because they want to hear “the classics,” but this was not a Blink- 182/ All Time Low show; although their frontmen were, technically, fronting. Yet, Mark and Alex are legendary personalities, and their self-deprecating humor was a representation of what “emo” is all about and what I, previously, mentioned; people may not like themselves or this world but they still want to party. From ballooned animals to a mascot/ logo that was a smiling pill with jagged teeth, the strangeness of their show worked by proving laughs and loathing are not mutually exclusive. We go through both in life and at once.

Simple Creatures give a show that builds your electric energy while helping you vent your negative one. That crowd could not stop dancing to songs that felt fused with the electro frequencies, currently, dominating music, but also gave us splashes of the skate punk both have used in their previous bands. Moreover, epic lighting and their divided set, each of them their own space across from each other, made you feel like you were living in Scott Pilgrim VS. The World. It was a comic-book level performance that could have filled MSG, but we were lucky to have it at MHOW. For More Information On Simple Creatures Click Here.