Jesse Lacey, Brand New - Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN - 10/11/15 (Full Speech)

[@aidiotonadirtbike]

At the end of the day, he spent his entire career admitting to his evils, albeit vaguely. He spent most of his adult life realizing he was garbage and unworthy. He spent his writing days trying to figure out how the devil inside of him was going to effect his eternity and how he should or could even be defined. He literally told us all that the devil was raging inside him. How many other of the 'me too' accused can say they spent their careers acknowledging that they were bad people and trying to figure out where to go and how to get on with life or even break away from it. For that I retain my respect for him. Life isn't as easy as people would like to suggest it is. Everyone has their 'evils'. Sure some are bigger than others but what separates us is how we deal with them. Do we justify them? Ignore them? Perpetuate them? Or do we fight internally and externally to break free from our evils, to work on being a better person and wrestle with our fate? He knew here that he wasn't worthy of any of his success. I think what people currently hate about him is that he gives an answer they hate. They want the Weinstiens who deny it and justify their rage. They don't know what to do with a guy who is like, 'Yeah I suck, I spent well over a decade trying to tell you all that.' Who agrees with people's claims about him. How do you further respond?

[@demonkingpiccolo6667]

I hate what he did but he owned up to what he did. Brand new got me through so much for so many years. I try to separate the art from the artist. I still have my Brandnew tattoo and didn't get rid of my merchandise.

[@timsopinion]

You're right. He spent a long time telling us all how much he loathed himself and sang songs that made it seem like it was OK to grapple with the same feelings we all have about certain parts of ourselves that we hate to look at. None of the art he made, though, can ever excuse the pain he's caused those girls over the years and years of abuse and self gratification he gleaned from them. And yeah there's something to be said for being honest and owning up but according to the accounts of what took place, these incidents weren't some random one-off moments that he deeply regretted -- these were behaviors he continued engaging in over years and years. At what point does his professed "self-hatred" become sort of a persona he used to justify the actions and the abuse? Where do you draw that line and recognize that, hey he may have been able to write about all this internal conflict but for some reason wasn't able to recognize how that was being practiced? I don't know. I'm just as confused. I love this band, and I love their music, and I identify pretty fucking closely with the songs but it stings.

[@Macyisforlovers]

To start, I think he needs to make reparations with his victims.

[@ReedHarvey]

Love this comment

[@feraldolce]

watching this now, after all these allegations have surfaced... i mean, i will never know. none of us will ever really know, but he does sound heartfelt and wracked with guilt and shame. so. so at least there's that.

[@david0hinckley]

I mean I don't see how so many people have missed his self-condemnation and guilt that are so prevalent in his lyrics. I mean I know Vin wrote handcuffs, but shit that's about drowning babies and Jessie inhabits the role perfectly. "Jesus Christ" sings about someone ELSE's face, which is the kind of face someone could save, while as for Jessie, "if they don't put me away, it'll be a miracle." "Me vs. Maradona..." clearly depicts him using someone for sex in a gut-wrenching way (listen to "Lover I don't Have to Love" for a great comparison), and if anyone needed another hint there's "your daughters weren't careful, I fear that I am a slippery slope" from "You Won't Know." What more did we need? But what astonishes me is that his entire culture is screaming a "kill and eat" mentality at him (that is--"Dude! did you get some??!") and when he admits that, well, yeah, I got some and was selfish about it, we freaking demolish him. No grace from an entire culture that encourages young men and women to follow their instincts with no expectation of being hurt? Come on, that's just naive. I hope culture changes to where women are respected without mention of whether they "put out" and where masculinity is measured by protecting the honor of women, not deflowering them, but that's not the world they live in. We kinda made this bed for Lacey to lie in, let's not act like we're surprised he took the bait.

[@david0hinckley]

What I also mean to say is that I'm so impressed and thankful that you see some nuance in this instead of the prevalent narrative of "fucked up once, done for life, no redeeming qualities, all your art is void and null." Speaking for myself, I definitely have my positive moments but I've been a fucking demon in other moments.

[@hushthesky]

idk. I'll always love Jesse Lacey. 🙅‍♂️

[@Nootlest]

I don't feel sorry that I wish he was back, to be honest.

[@CEOofpsychosis]

Woah.. almost cried

[@powerstation0872]

Watching this is so hard. Listening to Brand New is so hard. Cuz on the one hand, what he (probably) did to those girls is not okay, and I can't forgive him for that. But at the same time, I love their music. They were my boyfriend's favorite band before he died, and they're mine now, their music helped me a lot when I lost him, and still help me to this day. So it's like, I'm so conflicted.

[@grayskull1521]

Has he even been charged with anything?? Fuck that listen and believe horse shit. When he's charged and convicted, my opinion of him will change. Until then, rock on!

[@b_a_entertainment145]

General Shittalkington it's been proven that chick lied about being underage. And I'm not shocked a rock star slept with groupies. :P

[@nickdoeseverything431]

It just sucks ass the damage is done. I don't doubt he did terrible things, but this is a guy who is 40 years old with a family. He has opened up about his problems, and he's talked for years about how he knows he's not a good person. Now this happens and nobody is willing to give him any kind of love or support. It's sad

[@jeanettejensen9076]

I hate that i hate him now.

[@Jytube231]

You don't need to.

[@redfordreddington8834]

@Noob Saibone everyone is different and that's okay.