Leathermouth - the light at the end of CMJ

The last night of this year's CMJ festival in NYC was my first night taking in some shows, and let me tell you things didn't get off to a good start.

On our way to the Knitting Factory to see Leathermouth (the hardcoreside project that propells My Chemical Romance power guitarist, Frank Iero, to frontman), we got caught in two hours of traffic, thanks to Jon Bon Jovi (my high school obsession) and Leanne Rhymes filming in the streets.

Things got even more nerve racking once we actually made it to the Knitting Factory and were told by the burly women working the door (with the signature ghetto-style pulled back pony tail glued to her scalp, I might add), informed us that the venue was at capacity and no one else-- not even those like us holding CMJ badges- could enter. Except, everyone who was a ticketholder or on a guest list entered with ease, as the industry who paid $500 a pop for badges has to wait like sardines behind a velvet rope. Doesn't get more posh than that.

So we took matters into our own hands and got in thanks to Josh from Purevolume (catch that shout out?), who came out and pretended he just added us all to the guest list. Take that, bitch.

Now, the upstairs stage was filled to capacity with folk awaiting Saves the Day, The New Amsterdams (pretty b-or-i-n-g if you ask me), The Color Fred and the like. But the real new music spectacle was taking place downstairs in the Tap Bar. We totally missed Paper Rival, which bummed Jen out, but got there just in time for Leathermouth.

One great thing about CMJ is that we can enjoy the "scenster" music without having to be bothered by all the kids trying to be different but who really look exactly the same. Only a limited number of tickets were sold to the public and everyone else was either a fellow musician or industry member.



I doubt anyone even knew that Iero fronts Leathermouth, because a lot more people would have been there. I'm not complaining though, cause it was a once in a lifetime sorta intimate show (and the band's second ever).

Well, intimate but far from tame. See evidence below. And that's all you'll see cause we didn't want to fight through the Skeleton Crew fans upfront and risk damage to our cameras!



Iero was impressed that fans were screaming along to songs including "Body Snatchers Forever" and noted how "that creepy MySpace shit actually works." But he did offer them some guidance, saying "Don't forget to leave your house and actually live your life." Words of wisdom, indeed.

My Chem fans may not all cross over to this style of music, as Leathermouth is not for the faint at heart. (That means all you Z100 converted fans who are probably not even cool enough to read our little blog, so why am I even typing this?). However, everyone will be more enriched getting insight into Iero's lyrics. Songs about killing the president and sunset meetings with shrinks are what you can expect once the album is released.

The too-short set wraped up with "Murder Was the Case That They Gave Me." It was great to see Iero back on the mic. Even during MCR shows, Iero oftern steals the spotlight, so it's great that he's going to be actually getting the recognition for it now. Be sure to check out www.myspace.com/leathermouthlives for handwritten lyrics, and if you're ultra cool and have a print edition of Planet Verge's feature interview with Skeleton Crew go reminise.

*Joelle, who once again appologises for accidently wacking Frank in the face with a giant lollipop.