Mar 29

Mar 29 Show Review: Jawbreaker Celebrates "Dear You" in San Francisco

Jawbreaker
w/ Jawbox, Team Dresch, Kaseem Bentley
March 24th, 2022
The Fillmore
San Francisco, CA

Photos and Review by Jared Stossel

It's crazy to think that Jawbreaker’s Dear You is 27 years old. The three-piece band that helped usher in a new wave of emo and punk in the 1990s is currently on the road celebrating the album’s anniversary, stopping at San Francisco’s iconic Fillmore last Thursday for the first of a three night-residency. All three nights sold out very quickly, and I think there’s something beautiful about that; an album that initially led to the dissolution of the New York City trio has now brought hundreds of people together. It’s poetic.

For the first time in my life, I ended up at a concert that was opened by a comedy act. Comedian Kaseem Bentley got the show kicked off as the doors were opening performing a funny and entertaining twenty-minute set. Bentley’s set was followed by the first band of the evening, Washington punk act Team Dresch. The five-piece act, who made a significant impact on the visibility of the “queercore” movement of punk rock in the early 90s, put on a hard-hitting performance that got the show started off on the right foot. Jawbox performed one of the most tightly put together and time efficient sets I’ve seen in recent memory, leaving little to no time for crowd banter and powering through song after song from their expansive catalogue. There’s a lot of history with bands like Team Dresch and Jawbox, so while each of the acts could have played for hours more, I think their performances served as a great introduction for those who may have never heard of them.

Jawbreaker took the stage to a roar of applause as they began their set. While they did in fact play every song off of 1995’s Dear You, it wasn’t in order. The band opted to mix things up, opening instead with 24 Hour Revenge Therapy’s “West Bay Invitational” before leaning into Dear You tracks like “I Love You So Much It’s Killing Us Both”, “Chemistry”, and “Oyster”. While there were a few stories thrown into the mix from vocalist/guitarist Black Schwarzenbach, there also wasn’t a lot of banter in between songs. It was full speed ahead through a shuffled version of Dear You, along with the addition of songs like “Condition Oakland” (from 24 Hour Revenge Therapy). Before closing the night with a powerful rendition of “Basilica”, the band’s encore consisted of a sampling of non-Dear You songs: “Parabola” (from their sophomore effort Bivouac) and standalone tracks like “Sea Foam Green” and “Kiss The Bottle”.

The term “emo” has changed meanings countless times over the years, but the movement began with bands like Jawbreaker in the late 80s and early 90s. I’m forever grateful that this music is what set the course for the music that I love today, and it was awesome to finally catch one of their shows in person, let alone one that was celebrating an iconic album. I saw Jawbreaker back in 2019 when they helped close out the Vans Warped Tour 25th Anniversary show in Mountain View, but I always like to see an artist in their own show environment outside of a festival. It gives you more of an idea of who they are, and what it’s like to step into their world for a couple hours. Their residency at the Fillmore provided me (and many others) with that experience.

JawbreakerSet List
West Bay Invitational
I Love You So Much It’s Killing Us Both
Oyster
Chemistry
Fireman
Condition Oakland
Save Your Generation
Million
Bad Scene, Everyone’s Fault
Lurker II: Dark Son of Night
Accident Prone
Sluttering (May 4th)
Jet Black
Unlisted Track

Encore:
Parabola
Sea Foam Green
Kiss The Bottle
Basilica