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	ALKALINE TRIO CRIMSON TIDE

Alkaline Trio were making a big push for mainstream crossover when they hit the stage last Thursday at Avalon. They had platinum punk producer Jerry Finn (Green Day/Blink-182) on board to bring out the hooks in their pop punk on the new Crimson (Vagrant). And though goth-punk frontman Matt Skiba looked sharp rather than grim in his dark eyeliner, the upside-down cross and the two giant coffins that flanked the drums on earlier tours were gone. Still, Skiba couldn’t help grinning as his band ripped one anthem after another from a songbook My Chemical Romance would kill for. Apart from a portentous piano intro ("Time To Waste") and the clawing, bass-driven "Burn," Crimson’s cuts slid seamlessly into the set, bassist Dan Andriano trading raspy verses with Skiba on "Mercy Me" and looking particularly satisfied as he sang "Do you see my lungs on the dance floor?" on "I Was a Prayer." Not even the spoken-word tribute to Manson Family member Sadie Mae Glutz that blared from the speakers during "Sadie" slowed the mosh-frenzied crowd, and sweaty, shirtless boys continued to launch themselves from the stage during the break before the encore. Then there was the spectacle of a trio of teenage girls and their den mother chanting merrily along to "Send us back to Hell, we’ve had our fill of Heaven." The band picked up on the good vibes, christening "Clavicle" as a love song to Boston and inserting "Fenway Park" into the chorus of "This Could Be Love."