“I’m Kevin Devine and this is The Goddamn Band” was all he muttered before it started. The Band then launched into the intro of “Brother’s Blood,” and Kevin picked at his electric guitar, making each note hang above the audience at Irving Plaza. The deliberate tune commanded and spoke to the crowd the way the pioneers of the electric intended it to. Kevin didn’t wait for lyrics to start his song. But when they did come, his clear vocals made the studio version seem timid and tame. The guitars came out to play again at the end of the song, Kevin’s and Mike Strandberg’s pinging across the stage at each other relentlessly, carrying on the raw passion.

 
They toned down for the first half of “Carnival,” and the Kevin Devine fans in the room began to sway slightly. Devine was the 3rd opener for Thrice, and after having sat through 2 previous acts, Thrice fans were more than impatient and restless. A momentary incident broke out during Devine’s set, and he addressed it cool and mildly surprised yet uninterested, “got a mosh pit going?”

The mouthful first verse of “Another Bag of Bones” gave way to an equally explosive song, with Kevin adlibbing “for your gods to get up and sort.”

The Band then launched into “Cotton Crush,” and the crowd echoed the chorus, screaming along with Kevin who backed off of the microphone for the first time all night. He sailed through “I Could Be With Anyone,” releasing raw screams that retain proper range, followed by an energetic “Buried By the Buzz”

Devine then honored a Patrick and Emily with a shout out and dedication of “Just Stay,” which rocked the room in repeated pleads and declarations “I’m okay, okay”

The set wrapped up with a new song “She Stayed As Steam” and a quietly loud cover of the LCD Soundsystem song “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down.”

Full band, Kevin goes full throttle and outdoes any studio recording he has to date.

*This review was composed by Emily Coch