So this has been a pretty good week or so: I've seen Mastodon / Kylesa, Misery Index and Napalm Death within an 8-day period. Right now I'm so psyched to continue this wonderful pattern of seeing some awesome shows, I am desperately trying to figure out what to see next. I have to keep up this momentum.
I love going to shows. Not only do I love the performances, I also like attending metal shows because most of the time, you feel like you are at a family reunion with like-minded misfits. Last night was one of those experiences where you are surrounded by people who are just as intrigued by the music and the scene as you are. Well, most of them were.
So I arrived just in time to catch the awesome set by Trap Them. I had certainly heard of the band and wanted to check them out - and they didn't disappoint. I'm not going to bother with names, but the lead singer was off the hook. there must have been around 100 people at the front of the stage, leaving a huge gap between the youngsters who were angling for a spot and us old folks who were hanging at the back, but regardless, the singer jumps into the audience and joins the small group of people, choosing to perform the next couple of songs totally immersed in the crowd. Actually, the whole band was incredibly dynamic and really excited to perform. Definitely check this band when they come to your town.
I bumped into fellow metal scribe Kevin Stewart-Panko, who writes for a plethora of metal magazines, including my fave, Decibel. I have been a fan of Kevin's writing for awhile now, and while I think he is totally awesome, I am incredibly envious of him, his drive and the fact that he is heading to the Maryland Death Fest in a couple of weeks (sonofa......!) His friends were really cool and it was fun hanging out with them.
So next on the bill were Coliseum, Toxic Holocaust and Kataklysm. I wasn't too impressed with any of them, really. Not because they sucked or anything, but their music was just radically different from what I had expected of bands who would support Napalm Death. Coliseum and Kataklysm were more straight-up classic / death metal and didn't seem to really fit the bill - even though the crowd seemed pretty hyped about them. The singer in Coliseum was interesting, as he went on this mini-rant about touring and how people needed to 'live their dreams' and not be saddled with what people want you to do, versus following your own goal.......I dunno, some people don't like it when musicians lecture the audience but this dude was pretty passionate, driving his point home with the liberal use of 'fuck' and/or 'fucking' every three words.
One good thing about hanging with a group of seasoned music journalists is that you learn some interesting trivia about the bands that you would have never learned on your own. Apparently Maurizio Icanao, the frontman for Quebec's Kataklysm is quite a businessman. I thought they were simply okay but it was great to see them, as they were another band I had heard a lot about but never thought I would have the opportunity to see.
Anyway, I was there for Napalm Death. However, since I don't have their back catalog I was thinking that I might not know many of their songs. But they did play quite a few from Time Waits For No Slave and I surprised myself by actually knowing some of their older tracks, which was cool. In comparison to the Mastodon show, these guys were incredibly chatty. Barney Greenway - who is this totally rad, 40-ish very conservative-looking dude in shorts, running around the stage in circles, flailing his arms - said some very mean things about former US Vice-President Dick Cheney (funny!) and later talked about Darwinism - was interesting. I don't mean to sound simplistic or even naive, but one of the reasons why I like this band so much is because the blending of political / social commentary with grindcore seems like a perfect match. I was trying to describe the music to someone as sounding like a record being played backwards - fast, as there is this urgency that draws in your attention. Greenway was frenzied, the moshpit - one of the more aggressive pits I've seen in awhile - was a mass of somewhat unorganized violence. It did seem that their set was a bit short, but after seeing five bands, I was wiped.
About the crowd: I actually recognized a number of people from other shows, something that I guess I never really paid attention to before. The attendance, while not sold out, filled about 95% of The Opera house and was an interesting mix of the young (all ages show) and the old. There were gray-haired men wearing vintage Napalm shirts, and the usual bevy of bored young women, dragged to the show by their boyfriends / husbands. I noticed this slightly-unhinged South Asian dude who I saw at the Judas Priest / Motorhead show last year, whom for some reason, chose to wear his pants tucked into black rubber boots that looked a few sizes too big. I saw this young girl stagger out of the pit - it looked like somebody probably kicked her in the face, as there was blood pouring out of her nose and mouth and had drenched her shirt. I took a bathroom break, slipped on a small pool of blood from someone(?) and nearly fell down the stairs. The first thing I did when I got home (after inadvertently interrupting a drug deal in the lobby of my apartment building) was to fumigate my Converse. Yech.
Interestingly enough, I saw this black woman that I also saw at the Priest / Motorhead show. Kevin pointed her out and when I turned around, she was motoring through the crowd with an entourage of white dudes. I would like to know who she is, as by the looks of her, she certaintly knows somebody. She is gorgeous, tall with a red weave, tattoos and a rad bod, decked out in the typical 'leather n' lace' hooker garb, looking like she probably spends quite a lot of time backstage. Just being honest!
Seeing her made me think about the women I am interviewing for my book as when looking at her getup, I immediately thought that if I approached her, most likely she would not want to talk to me. Some people get into predominately white scenes to escape the racial baggage, thinking that they can transcend racial stereotypes by immersing themselves in another culture. I'm looking for women who can do both - navigate various scenes while keeping their cultural pride intact. I am probably being waay too judgmental, but there are times when you can tell by looking at someone how 'conscious' they are. Maybe she will prove me wrong. I hope so.
Anyway, great show - definitely will be catching Napalm Death again. They, along with Trap Them will be playing at the Maryland Death Fest. Check it!
Hat Tip to Justina c/o Brooklynvegan.com for the pic.
