#40-#51 (aka about damn time)

I realize it's been ages since I posted a new entry, and I assure you, it wasn't due to a lack of shows. No, it was more like I was just incredibly lazy. Sorry folks. These will be rather short due to me not wanting to be up until 6 in the morning.



#40

Judah Friedlander

@ DC Improv 06/20/09


Dude was very funny. My pop, stepmom and I went to see him during my most recent trip up to Maryland. His openers was pretty damn funny too, making a very clever joke about how Twitter is just a collection of "3 year-old thoughts." Most of his material derives from exaggerated lies, but man are they fucking hysterical. Got to talk to him afterwards about the Feast flicks. Got a picture, but alas it's lost to the world due to it being taken by some random dumb blonde who didn't stay around for me to tell her my e-mail to send it to. Oh well.



#41

Salvacion
Mortal Man
Conquer Me
Wrathlord

@ Lucky's Pub 06/26/09

A.K.A. R.I.P. Conquer Me. It was one of their last shows, for the band would break up not that long after this. It was also Mortal Man's first show at Lucky's Pub, and they killed it. Pretty damn good turnout for this one. Wrathlord started out okay (it's been a year or two since I've seen them, and they haven't changed much), but it got pretty bad towards the end. Conquer Me stuck out like a sore thumb, but they were warmly received anyway. Josh (singer) made a funny little quip about "we're a HARDCORE band!" MM killed like always. Salvacion is the new band with Carlos (who used to run the awesome, but short lived Grind Hut) and they're more akin to old 70s hard rock and metal. Their Rainbow cover made me blow my voice out. Worth it.



#42

Faith Collapsing
Champion of the Sun
Oceans Over Monuments

@ Rumrunners 07/05/09


I was very drunk for this one, and honestly forgot there was a show that night. Luckily had my camera with me, and also happened to sort of enjoy the bands who were on the bill. OOM had added a 2nd guitarist and did pretty well. COTS were fun, but they're kind of suited more for covers, as shitty as that sounds. Faith Collapsing were much better than the previous times I've seen them. Maybe being sloshed helped. Kind of sucks that they're breaking up too. Not a good time to be a Wilmington band.




#43

Energy
Fallen From the Sky
Debaser
Ripper
Hivemind
Already Dead

@ Lucky's Pub 07/06/09

The turnout was pretty weak, but it was good seeing Energy and FFTS back at Lucky's. Already Dead didn't play. Hivemind were pretty cool, and were nice enough to use the pics I took of them on their myspace page. Ripper didn't really impress me the last time I saw them, but something must have happened because they ruled pretty hard here. Solid songs, solid dudes, very funny in between song banter. Debaser were more fast punk, kind of like The Nerve Agents. They did a Descendants cover, but I can't remember it to save my life. Fallen From the Sky continues to be one of the only things on Eulogy that doesn't fucking suck. Kind of surprised that they remembered me from the show the previous year. Energy did a solid job as always, playing most of what the kids wanted to hear, and closed with their Operation Ivy cover. Good times.



#44

The Hammer Bros.
The Bonus Army
The Fake Boys
Fingers Crossed

@ Lucky's Pub 07/08/09

There were maybe about 20 something people here, which is a shame considering almost 100 were out at Lucky's when TBA played with the Carrier. Fingers Crossed were pretty tight. Good energy, good Madball cover. I thought the Fake Boys were pretty disposable. Just standard punk rock. Singer for THB on guitar and vocals. The Bonus Army could have been better. The singer lost most of his vocal "ability" midway through the set and it sounded pretty bland after that. The Hammer Bros. were pretty damn good, but man their set was over pretty quickly. I was a little pissed, though maybe not as much as the band themselves were on stage.



#45

Who's Bad (Michael Jackson tribute)

@ Downtown Wilmington 07/10/09


Gee Golly Jeepers was this crowded! Then again, it was not that long after the King of Pop passed away, so it was understandable. My friends and I were lucky to get a decent view of the stage, but it took a while to find it. I gotta say, tribute acts aren't really my thing, but these guys were really damn good at it. Several different wardrobe changes, with nearly every one of his hit singles (even some from the Jackson 5 era) being played rather well. I'd be willing to catch these guys again in the future, though I hope tickets for their shows aren't going to skyrocket in price. I also got interviewed for the local news that night, which I managed to tape and hear my voice for a few seconds. Reminded me of that "It's Always Sunny..." episode where Mac talks about being on the news.



#46

Poison the Well
Madball
Terror
Trapped Under Ice
Crime in Stereo
The Ghost Inside
War of Ages
This is Hell
Death Before Dishonor
Embracing Goodbye

@ Hooligan's Music Hall 07/12/09


I just want to go out of my way right now and say Hooligan's is the worst venue on the East Carolina shore. Good god that place sucked. Staff were douchebags, prices were ludicrous, NO re-entry whatsoever, and a pretty lousy sound system too. Complaints aside, the show was pretty fun. I missed Embracing Goodbye (big whoop) and DBD (seeing them in Jacksonville, Marinetown, just spells disaster). This is Hell did a good job, but most of the crowd didn't know what to make of them. Performed a Warzone cover that nobody recognized. They even admitted after the show that the Wilmington kids were the only thing that made this show worth anything to them. I skipped War of Ages. Didn't like what I heard. I don't know why I watched The Ghost Inside. Oh wait, yeah I do; I wanted to see them do their American Nightmare cover...which they didn't do. Blargh. It was a pretty painful performance. Crime in Stereo were kind of boring to be honest, which was a shame considering they were the one band I hadn't seen on here that I wanted to see the most. Trapped Under Ice, as expected, brought the insane mosh (including yours truly). New songs sounded pretty good live, even though I can't get into the full-length. Terror did a bang up job as well, though I would have liked to hear a few more old songs. Vogel seemed to be in a great mood. During a brief fight, which made security jump the barricade in order to break it up, he even screamed "Now's your chance! There's no security! Get up here! Get up here!" Gotta love the guy. They got the only stagedives of the night. Madball weren't as good here as they were at the soapbox earlier in the year, but they still did a damn good job. Set seemed rather short. A lot of the crowd left before Poison the Well came on, which was a shame, but I guess I can sort of understand. They did pretty well, but the big stage and barricade kind of ruined any chance for crowd interaction (though it didn't stop most of the bands earlier on). One of the new songs sounded rather post-metalish, which was pretty cool. Overall, for $10, it wasn't a bad show, but any chance for a truly fun "hardcore" show was ruined by the stupidity of the venue.


#47

Evergreen Terrace
Thick as Blood
Unholy
The Word Alive

@ Lucky's Pub 07/13/09

This was the last time Mark from Lucky's said he'll book another big "national" tour, though his announcement of booking Marcy's Playground makes me now question that statement. Such a shame the turnout here was lousy. The Word Alive stank, as did Thick as Blood (who have some pretty damn douchey fans), but Unholy surprised the hell out of me with their patented metallic hardcore. Imagine Advent with a little more "metal" to them and you'd get this band. Evergreen Terrace have officially won me over. I wasn't a big fan when I first saw them two years ago with Hatebreed, God Forbid and Terror, but they've gotten better every time I've seen them. They had barely anybody watching them, but it didn't stop them from playing their hearts out. I got around to talking to their singer Andrew afterwards, and talk about a super nice dude. If I wasn't in a hurry, I would have loved to just chat with the dude for the remainder of the time there.



#48

Dark Castle
Bloody Panda
Beard of Antlers
Burn Heavy

@ The Soapbox (Downstairs) 07/25/09


Oh my. Well, as you may have seen in the other blogspot I have, BOA is the band I sort of/kinda sing for and this was the first gig. And my first time on a stage. I think we did pretty good, though I really didn't have any lyrics written down for my song. People seemed to dig it though. Burn Heavy were, well, heavy. Their guitarist looked just like my friend Mary, so much so that I texted her (then) b/f Mario to tell him. Ha. Bloody Panda were bloody weird, experimental drone/doom with a very quiet and shy Japanese girl howling over the music like something out of a twisted J-Horror film. Most of the crowd could not get into these guys at all, but I thought it was pretty cool. Dark Castle were incredibly loud and slow, just like the first time when I saw them with Blacktusk. I think they went on a little too long, but they were still really good. Think I may have a little crush on their guitarist/singer. *blushes*




#49

Shai Hulud
Reign Supreme
The Carrier
Advent
Signs of Hope
Where it Ends
At Half-Mast

@ Lucky's Pub 08/09/09


The last hurrah for hardcore at Lucky's in a loooong time, seeing as how this would be Scottie P.'s last show for Lucky's, and Mark's last big "tour" he'd book for quite some time. If this is it, then hot damn it went out on a pretty high note! The only band I didn't see was Where it Ends, who I didn't care for a whole lot when I saw them with Death Threat. They broke up only a month after this show though, which kind of bummed me out. At Half-Mast is on what, their 15th lineup? :P Either way, they did an excellent job, and Nate was made to front this band. The new songs were incredible. I always say keep an eye on these guys, because they're going to be huge, and damn it, I still mean it.

I don't honestly remember much about Signs of Hope, other than the hype about them before the show happened. I do remember the Leeway outro they did, which caused the floor to erupt.

Advent were very heavy like last time and got a much better reaction than I thought they'd get. Kids were into it, and not chastising the band for being Christian either (though they never brought it up). They did a new song which was quite good and closed with One Crushing Blow. Good job guys. You're one of my favorite bands in the Carolinas.

The Carrier opened with a new, slow song that set the mood well. They then went into the usual business of things, meaning most of the songs off the CD and all of the 7". The more I listen to these guys and really study the music, I think they're worth the hype. Kids went bananas for em, just like last time.

I was actually more excited for Reign Supreme than I was most of the bands on the bill (give me shit go ahead) and they didn't disappoint. They were down a guitarist from the last time I saw them, and their set was shortened a tad bit because of it. Didn't hurt the intensity of it though. Played most of "American Violence" and some of my favorites from the new one. It's hard NOT to mosh while these guys are playing. Picked up the new record on a limited edition tour press vinyl. Cool.

Shai Hulud had yet another new singer for this tour, and he did a competent job but not a great one either imo. Most of what I knew by them was played, and played rather well. Kids who knew the lyrics were screaming like their lives depended on it. Had a rather good convo with Matt Fox after the show was done. Incredibly nice guy and pretty well spoken.


#50

Doug Stanhope
Mersh

@ Level 5 City Stage 08/11/09

Without a doubt, some of the best standup I've seen in years. Doug's brand of humor isn't for everyone, but if you dig folks like Bill Hicks and George Carlin, you're guaranteed to love his stuff. His opener Mersh was very funny, but only did about 5 minutes worth of material. When Doug came on, he had a bucket full of beer bottles and ice with him. I knew from that sight, I was in for something special. I DEFINITELY knew I was in for something special when I was told they were recording this for a cd. Awesome. I'm in the front row. Or rather, front table. Good god. He was on fire. He went on for I want to say an hour, and none of the material failed. Got to meet him after the show and got a pic too. I can safely say I was a fan that was converted into a superfan after this gig. Go see him if you get the chance to.

I've attached a couple of clips from youtube just in case...








#51

Infernal Stronghold
Pavlichenko
Banal
Stinkbomb
Beard of Antlers

@ The Soapbox (Downstairs) 08/14/09


BOA's 2nd show, and I think I was more comfortable this time around. Didn't hurt that I had actual lyrics this time. Good turnout too.

Stinkbomb did a pretty good job, but they kind of messed up a little towards the end, though they admitted they hadn't practiced for a bit.

Infernal Stronghold actually set up to play next, and played on the floor as opposed to the previous two bands. These guys are going down in my book for one of my 10 best discoveries of the year. Raw and fucking brutal crust punk/black metal from Philly, with some nasty riffs thrown in for good measure. If I had more money on me at that moment, I would have bought a shirt or album.

Banal is a 3-piece powerviolence band that started up not that long ago, and features the bassist from Pavlichenko on guitar/vox. Their set was pretty short (no shit) but pretty good. Liked the song about Street Fighter. Oh how geeky I am.

Pavlichenko played last and did a stellar job like always. Chris Marshall really is one of the best dudes in this town when it comes to booking stellar shows, and he's an awesome drummer to boot.



That's it for now. The rest to come later...