Alkaline Trio - Live in Fireside Bowl, Chicago, IL 10.02.1998 

Emo was definitely “invented”, just hadn’t been bastardized. I miss the old days you are describing.

This is very true. Dan is often seen as sorta “the other singer in Alk3”, and I’ve met a number of people who specifically dislike Dan’s songs, while they love Matt’s. So it’s important to remember that both Dan and Glenn had been in comparatively big, established Chicago bands (Slapstick and 88 Fingers Louie, respectively) while Matt wasn’t known as a singer or even a guitarist- he had primarily been a drummer before Alk3. Anyway, like you said, Dan was one of those guys that was obviously going somewhere with his music- he was an insanely talented bassist, he had experience touring and playing with a successful band, and he was beginning to find his own unique voice as a writer. All this, and he had barely turned 20! If he (and Glenn) hadn’t thrown in their lot with Matt, who knows if he’d have gotten another opportunity and found the kind of success he did with the Trio. And just to address those people who dump on Dan’s songs- it is Dan’s very willingness to stretch out, to explore atypical structures/melodies/tempos, that lets Matt stay in his lane and do the thing he does so well. If Dan wasn’t there to provide contrast and share songwriting duties, Matt would not only have to start using his b-material to fill up albums, which would then start to drag, but his whole aesthetic would likely sour and lose some of its punch. So even if masterful songs like “Crawl”, “Emma”, “I Was a Prayer” or “Little Help?” somehow don’t strike your fancy, you should at least appreciate him for allowing Matt (in more ways than one) to write all those songs you *do* love.

@@patrickbrownson1Dude… I love the breakdown! This is definitely the best comment on this expose. I completely agree with looking at the band as components with their own potentiality. I for one, always adored Dans songs. I liked his bass in Slapstick, and listen often. I love Matt for what he ventured to create always. I think my favorite ALK3 songs are If We Never Go Inside and As You Were. Both very different in era and sound. That’s the great thing about this band and the scene they came up in. I say all the time, if I could time travel; I’m seeing how they built the pyramids AND straight to Fireside circa 1997. Just to hang out with them, The Lawrence Arms. Jawbreaker used to come through. Speaking from my personal upbringing in the SF Bay Area. I have no shortage of punk history here. Dead Kennedys, AFI, Rancid, fucking Green Day. Like, I adore what I have here. But always found myself longing for that time and place in Chicago. Also love Smashing Pumpkins. Probably would want to peek their shows in my time machine

So was I. It's weird watching it now. They've released a good number of shows recently I went to as a kid at the fireside.

I was there too