#19-#21

Figured I'd knock these ones out while I'm sick. Plus I've been putting this off for god knows how long. Forgive me if they aren't as long/detailed as the other reviews.

#19

Coliseum
Young Livers
Torch Runner
Nations
Conquer Me

@ Luckys Pub 03/30/09

Why weren't more people at this one? One of the better punk/hardcore bills we've had in some time, and it was a pretty decent price too considering Coliseum is getting a tad bigger. Oh well.

Conquer Me was up first. Good job like always, guys are still the best hardcore band in this town (if you ask me that is). I shot some new video footage of em too, but that hasn't been put up yet due to myspace taking so damn long with uploading video. Weird to see nobody mosh for them though. It just doesn't, I dunno, feel right?

I fucking love Nations. I wish they'd put out a god damn demo already and give my ears some mp3 candy, not just live candy. Their set was definitely a highlight, partly due to the great Cursed worship and partly due to the smashing of a guitar at the end of their set. Stereotypical as it might be to say this, but it was total rock and roll.

Surprisingly, it was Torch Runner's first time in Wilmington. They've been blowing up over the past few months and it was only time they visited our sketchy (at times) town. I hadn't seen them since they owned at the Trash Talk show in Raleigh and it was just as loud and pissed as always. Bands like these make me proud to be living in this state.

Young Livers were probably the odd band out here, kinda sounding more like traditional post-hardcore/punk rock to me, but they did a good job nonetheless. I assume they've played here before, or at least have some connections, because as soon as they came on, quite a few more people came in to catch them. It was mainly the Reggies Tavern/Thunderlip crowd, but it increased the attendance didn't it?

I had only caught Coliseum a couple of days before this, but this was a headlining gig as opposed to a somewhat misplaced slot on a moshfest. This easily topped the UB performance, even if Ryan gave somewhat of the same speech as before and the setlist was pretty much the same, minus about 7 more songs thrown in. Ryan Patterson is the man. Dude's got such a good presence on stage and churns out some mean riffs. I picked up No Salvation on vinyl, which I should have done at UB but didn't. It's a beautiful piece too. Yellow with red splatter. Almost shines in certain lights. But anyway...

#20

Sourvein
Ol' Scratch
Dead Commuter
Wall

@ Reggies 04/03/09

My friend Lauren convinced me to go to this one. I was still somewhat fatigued from UB and Coliseum, so I mercifully this wouldn't be too active of a show.

Wall opened and again, it's cool to see a grindcore/powerviolence band in this town. And one that's so young too. Set was over in the blink of an eye it seemed.

Dead Commuter was awesome. Two piece all the way from fucking Kansas. It was great post-metal/stoner/noise rock and they were really nice dudes too. If I had more money to blow I would have bought a shirt. They also closed with a Black Sabbath cover, which is always welcome.

Ol' Scratch was the reason I know Lauren wanted to come out, and she insisted they would be up everyone's alleys. First thing I noticed about the band was they were using all Sunn equipment. I'm not a musician by any means but even I knew that meant it would be LOUD. Sure enough, this band actually managed to be louder than Kylesa, who I had only seen a week before. They didn't outvolume (hell if I know if that's a word) Jucifer, who still remains the loudest band I've ever seen. This band was awesome though. Great VA sludge/doom with some insanely catchy riffage. I suppose my only complaint would be that you couldn't hear the singer all that well.

Sourvein were on next, and even though they did good, the amount of cigarette smoke that night actually made me unable to really enjoy their set, and I found myself having to go outside several times just to make my eyes stop hurting. Lame I know, but hey I can't help it.

After the show was over, Lauren and I went to an afterparty at Shep from Weedeater's house. Everyone seemed pretty cool and it was a good time, but I really wanted sleep. :P

#21

The Hottness
Burden of a Day
Sent by Ravens
Of Machines

@ Luckys Pub 04/18/09

This might be the quickest review I'll do of a show in a long time, seeing as how I became very intoxicated and quite high before and during this show. Of Machines were awful. Like if scene kids tried imitating Radiohead + new day screamo. I watched a bit of Sent by Ravens and they were alright, at least in comparison to Of Machines. Watched the first 30 seconds or so of Burden of a Day and decided it wasn't for me. The Hottness did surprisingly well, considering that I'm not a huge fan of their music (I attended this show mainly out of boredom). Mark from Luckys was trying so hard to get me moshing, and I threw down for a little bit, but I was just too out of it to do much of it. It was cool seeing a lot of old faces at this show too, such as Melissa, the old co-owner of Luckys (who is still mega cool, and still looks mighty fine if I can say so myself :P), phZach, who I haven't seen at a show for what feels like at least a year, and Cando, who was in town for a break from school. It was also funny seeing a ton of women get on the bar to dance Coyote Ugly-style towards the end.