#7

Rapture Cabaret (final show, at least using that name)
Man Will Destroy Himself
Pavlichenko
Wall


RC were thrown on at the last minute, due to their drummer and singer deciding to quit the band. A bummer, but I can't say I was that surprised. I'm curious as to who they'll hire to replace them.


I think this was Wall's first show at a bigger venue, if not their first show overall. Three piece grind/powerviolence with some ex-members of Jangoh, who I never saw, but heard plenty about. It was noisy, ugly, and pretty damn cool. Kind of sounded a little like Magrudergrind at times. I could have sworn their singer was only 12 or 13 years old. They could have been a little more animated, but thats a minor complaint.

Pavlichenko were pretty damn good too. Three piece thrash. I've known their guitarist for a little while now and I'm happy to see him do something that fits his music taste perfectly. One of their songs even had a Neurosis riff or two in there. Vocals could have been a little higher though.

I missed a little bit of MWDH due to talking with friends. Then I realized I actually wanted to see this band and got up to go to the front again. I think only the crusties there seemed to really be into em, but I dug the heck out of em. Good ol' fashion hardcore/crust. Their singer bashed himself in the head with the mic a few times, which made me wonder how the sound guy felt about that. I'll try to catch em again at Reggie's in a few weeks. They were also selling vol. 1 of "This Comp Kills Fascists" on vinyl, which I would have snagged had a lady there not beat me to the punch. Dang it.

Rapture was on next, and like I expected, all the crusties/hardcore kids left. Hey, it happens every time. Honestly, it was good job. But it should have been more, I dunno, spectacular? I think Brandon was tired and a little bummed that all the kids left and it was basically just friends and acquaintances left watching. The sound guy didn't give it his all either. Honestly, the whole gig performance-wise was good, but sound-wise, it was below average. They also only played 5 songs, which was rather short for a "final" gig. But hey, R.I.P. Rapture Cabaret. Ya had a good life. Now just put out the damn album!

Went to Waffle House afterwards, where a huge argument opened up about whether it was cheaper to buy your own taco material and survive for several weeks, or just do dollar taco days instead. The food almost made that worth it though. Probably one of the best times I've been there as far as their food goes.

#6

Oceans Over Monuments.


I got into this one for free since I offered to give a pal I know named Jim a ride to the show. To show his gratitude, he paid my way in. I got there and saw there were quite a few people I know who I was somewhat surprised to see. I mean I know most of them were out there supporting our friend Jessi, but I was still surprised. What was more surprising was that I immediately recognized the singer for OOM: a gentleman I know by the name of Korey. I last saw him sing at the innagural show (or rather, first of only two shows) at the Grind Hut with his band Shao-lin's Road/Face the Firing Squad/Whatever they're called now. I always thought his vocals were the best thing about that band, so I was happy to see him doing something else. Band sounded pretty tight for their first gig though. It's metalcore, for sure, but it's enjoyable. I'm starting to get some good shots at Reggie's nowadays. I was a little taken back by the fact that there were a couple of other "photographers" there as well. I only quoted that because they seemed to own the same type of not-too-expensive cameras that I have. I recognized one of them from either in person or on myspace. She was rocking one hell of a lame shirt though: in big black letters it read "I LOVE MY BOYFRIEND." Wow cool. Nobody really cares.

I peaced out after they were done, seeing as how I really wasn't in the mood for more live music. ILM, Champion of the Sun, and See You There were on after them, but I'll just catch them another time.

Tomorrow is Rapture's last gig as that name. Gonna try to make this one as memorable as I can.

#5

Show number 5 of 2009 was at Reggie's/The 42nd Street Tavern/whatever they call it now. It's still a crummy bar if ya ask me. The bill was Mortal Man, Colossus, Rapture Cabaret, and ILM. I will admit, it's become a bad habit for me to smoke before any show with any sort of stoner/sludge band on the bill, though I'm sure most would say that's perfectly fitting. Another plus of this was that I didn't have to pay to get in. No guestlist or anything like that, I think they just plain forgot to ask me for a cover charge.



Rapture went on first, which was kind of surprising. They did a good job, with the sound for them as good as it could be for the venue. I've shot Rapture probably close to a dozen times, and this was one of the best sets I think I've taken of them. Heck I even got some good pics of Vic and Brad for once! Can't wait for that album to come out.
























Mortal Man fucking rules. I hope they get around to touring or putting out some recorded material soon. Now that I mention it, they actually WERE recording and filming this show for something in the future. Maybe something for Slow Southern Steel? Anyhow, they sounded flawless and the crowd loved em like always. Our town may not be perfect, but our musicians have a knack for riffs.
















































I saw Colossus back in August at Beer Wolf's last show (with Blacktusk, Black Skies and ASG, who I didn't watch) and thought they had a real talent for emulating the old 70s style heavy metal in the vein of early Iron Maiden. I wish I had taken some more pics of them, but I think I was too intoxicated to move correctly through the crowd and didn't want to obstruct anyone's view of their awesomeness. I would have bought some merch had it not been ridiculously overpriced. Seriously, you guys are from Raleigh, aren't signed, and you're charging $15 for shirts? Weak...

Speaking of shirts, my friend Aaron was turning 25 this night and picked up a shirt that featured like a colossal misprint (no pun intended I swear! Well, okay maybe a little...). The back of the shirt featured Colossus' logo, as did the side. The front however, featured the Mars Volta's logo. Seriously. You had two completely different bands (and styles) on the same shirt. How could the band members NOT notice this? I'm sure that's gonna be considered a valuable item though.

As for ILM, well, they weren't very good from what I saw. I think the promoter put them on last, knowing that the crowd wouldn't be into them, and would thin out. Kind of messed up. Oh well. At around 2, a portion of us drove to Waffle House for some late night grubbage. I proceded to get drunken text messages from my mom saying she was getting a ride home because she had gotten quite hammered with her friends at Katy's. Awkward, but at least she'd be safe.

All in all, a very fun show that I didn't have to pay for. Can't really complain.

Figured this would come...Show reviews #1-4

I have been meaning to find a way to keep track of all of the shows I attend. And might as well review em too. It'll help me remember what bands to avoid like the plague.

For 2009, I've only attended 4 gigs. Would have been more had I not contracted the flu and was thus forced to stay out of commission for a few weeks. These reviews will be a little short, but the ones in the future will be more detailed.

Calling on Revenge @ Luckys Pub 01/02/09
Virgins/Gatorface/Battle! @ The Soapbox (Downstairs) 01/26/09
Indifference (final show)/Soul Control/Roam Alone/Nations @ The Hazmat 02/08/09
Catalepsy/Oceano/Acirema/A Sunset Mourning @ Luckys Pub 02/12/09


#1:
Calling on Revenge-It was fun set to shoot, and every person in this band is pretty righteous. Well, at least the people I know. I just can't get over how this band used to be the Ivy League, and now they sound like He is Legend now. I didn't watch any of the other bands on the bill, nor did I have interest to. Jimbo (the bassist for COR) said the next time I go to one of their shows, he'll put me on the guestlist. Cool.


#2:
This was in the soapbox downstairs, much to my surprise. I really thought more people would show up for Battle!, but I guess most of their fans from town were waiting to see them with Indifference the next day. They did a good job, did a cover that I couldn't remember. Gatorface was kinda standard stuff. Got some pretty cool shots of them. I enjoyed Virgins' set, wish I could have bought one of their records. Kinda reminded me of a more controlled Paint it Black at times.


#3:
I really wasn't too ecstatic on this show, but when I heard it was Indifference's final gig, I decided to travel down. First off, the Hazmat (which is basically a warehouse that doubles as a practice space) rules. Very DIY, all good dudes running it. Photographers would have a blast there. Nations were awesome, band is so heavy. Roam Alone were cool, too much mosh at times for me. The crowd went bananas for em. They drove up at the last minute to play when they heard Indifference were calling it quits. Soul Control were pretty good. Very melodic, real change of pace from Roam Alone. I didn't know they were sporting a new singer. They closed with a cover of Refused's "Rather Be Dead." That makes two times in 3 months I've heard that cover, the other who performed it was FC5. Indifference closed the show, and two songs in, their singer Patrick gets punched in the face (it's debatable if it was intentional or not) and breaks his nose. He's out for a few tracks, while Justin, the old singer from At Half-Mast, and some other dude I didn't recognize, took over vocal duties. Justin sang the cover of "The Storm" by Judge and Patrick came in for the last two songs. They closed with a cover of "AM/PM" by American Nightmare, where Patrick gave the mic for the chorus two separate times to those who knew the lyrics. For a brief time period, I was a frontman. And man did it drain my voice. But it ruled. Everyone hugged at the end, but the good vibes were brought down once you went outside. Patrick and some members of this crew called "Get Wrecked Hate Crew" were loudly arguing over the punch. It was a bummer to see such negativity after something so tremendous, but mercifully no fights broke out. R.I.P. Indifference.

#4:
This show was just laughably bad. I had a debate: either go to this and watch Acirema play as a 3 piece, or go see the new Friday the 13th film, which I had no real desire to see unless it was with other people (and if I was preferably intoxicated). I chose the former. I got there a little late, hoping I'd missed A Sunset Mourning. Found out Too Pure to Die, who were supposed to headline, dropped off due to a van mishap. Oh well. I've been to a few gigs with these guys on the bill, and managed to avoid them every time. Not this time. I suppose it had to come sooner or later. It was really bad deathcore, with all the little kids from Shallotte who you never see at shows mawshin' it up. Acirema went on after them and man, they really need a singer. I know Dave just quit and all, but this was just...not very good. The bassist situation be damned, I've seen these boys almost 20 times, and this was their weakest performance by far. Some random dude got up to do vocals on the last song. Oceano were up next. I remember seeing their bassist wearing a Harm's Way shirt in their promos, and I thought that was kinda rad. That's the only good thing I could say about this band. BREAKDOWN AFTER BREAKDOWN AFTER BREAKDOWN AFTER BREAKDOWN. These guys are on the same label that used to have Morbid Angel and Napalm Death. I keep repeating this to myself. And feeling sad. When you're even more monotonous than Emmure, that's saying something. I didn't know if I should stick around or go home, until I saw that Catalepsy had two singers. That was enough to convince to go home and read comics for the remainder of the night. I guess the only good thing I got out of this show was watching all the band dancing and moshing and spotting a couple of cute scene girls. That's it.