The Menzingers And Jeff Rosenstock Paid Homage To Women And Graceful Aging At Their Vibrant Show On Wednesday Night At Trees.
With its penchant for sentimentality and singalong hooks, pop-punk is pretty much an inherently nostalgic genre. But last night at Trees, as The Menzingers and Jeff Rosenstock came to Dallas on tour, things felt definitively in the moment — and a vibrant good time at that.
Certainly so in the eyes of the guys on stage, too, despite the fact that this show wasn’t quite the sold-out affair that it would’ve been in a just world.
“I’d like to confirm that this is the best Wednesday night of my life,” Menzingers co-vocalist Tom May announced to an abundance of cheers at one point after he overlooked a couple hundred bodies throwing its fists in the air to the beat of his band’s songs and singing along to its hooks.
Consider that the mark of a band that’s come to terms with its place in life. The Menzingers’ recently released After The Party LP mostly thematically centers around the notion of coming to grips with life as one ages into their 30s, and while a less sure-of-itself band might’ve been burdened some with self-doubt over the fact that this crowd was decently sized but not as big a turnout as its seen elsewhere on this tour, the band instead reveled in the fact that this crowd was passionate in its support.
“This is by far our best Dallas show to date,” May announced at another point in the night.
That kind of appreciation, folks, is called maturity.
Actually, for all of the angst on display in both the Menzingers’ and Rosenstock’s songs on this night, the whole affair felt pretty mature. Earlier in the evening, Rosenstock’s offering took a decidedly adult-like turn at one point: Following a pretty poor stage dive attempt from one fan, the performer politely requested that no one else stage dive during his set; he didn’t want anyone in the crowd to get hurt. Rosenstock’s performance was filled with such consideration: Recognizing that this show fell on International Women’s Day, Rosenstock announced from the stage that 10 percent of his band’s merch sales at this show would be donated to Dallas’ Genesis Women’s Shelter. Naturally, this followed a rant against sitting president Donald Trump, whom Rosenstock criticized as a misogynist and a bad role model.
“Everybody in this room,” Rosenstock said, “we need to look out for each other from now on — y’know, by not groping women, and definitely not groping women at shows, and stopping that shit if you see that shit.”
Fortunately, no such incidents appeared to be playing out on this night, which mostly elicited smiles from the audience from start to finish.
Was it the best Wednesday ever, as The Menzingers’ May had announced during his band’s set? Maybe not. But it was pretty damn fun just the same.