#52-#63

Again, I'm probably gonna be rushing through a few of these. Sorry.


#52

Gollum
Mortal Man
Dim the Darklit

@ Reggie's 08/28/09


Pretty fun one, even Dim the Darklit were better than usual (and that is saying a LOT). I still say that once Mortal Man releases an official demo, this town's music scene is done for. They're not gonna be able to compete. Gollum were good, but I've seen them so many times I'm kind of sick of it.


#53

Down
The Melvins
Weedeater
Haarp
Evil Army

@ House of Blues 09/04/09

My friend David reminded me about this one. Even though it was kind of expensive, and I still hate the House of Blues, I decided to bite the bullet. Good thing I did because this turned into one of my favorite shows of the year. Evil Army were a good start that probably confused a lot of Down's stupider fans, playing a good mesh of horror punk and thrash. It did get a little old admittedly, but they were better than I thought they'd be. Phil even introduced them, as he did the next band, Haarp. Incredibly heavy and evil sludge/death/doom. The singer spent most of his time on the HoB floor. Cool. And of course, the almighty Weedeater, who were thrown on at the last minute, tore it up. They were right up the crowd's alley. It's weird seeing these guys on a big stage as opposed to the Soapbox or Reggie's. I had never seen the Melvins before, but had always wanted to. For this tour, it was technically Melvins/Big Business, which was even better. They were amazingly tight and just all around awesome. I wish they had played a little longer, but I know now that whenever they tour next, I will NOT miss it. No excuses. And finally, it was time for Down. I hadn't seen Down in 7 years (Ozzfest 2002 was the last time) and had a better knowledge of their material now. They played pretty much everything I wanted them to play. Phil sounded awesome, Pepper, Jimmy and Kirk did spectacular jobs, and the two bassists they had rotate (Rex was out for reasons I can't remember) were great too. For the encore, they brought out Big Business and Dixie Dave from Weedeater for a jam at the end of "Bury Me in Smoke." Undoubtedly one of the best encores I've seen in a loooong time.


#54

Pavlichenko

@ The Soapbox (Downstairs) 09/06/09

Pavlichenko played for free. It was part of a DIY weekend thing the soapbox put on. They admittedly weren't in top shape that night, but it was still fun.

#55

Patriot
Death of an Idol
Oceans Over Monuments (sans singer)

@ 16 Taps 09/11/09


Bit of an odd show. Two bands or so dropped off, so it turned into just the three bands mentioned above. OOM did a nice job, but it was weird seeing them without their singer Corey (who couldn't get off work in time to make the show). Death of an Idol is the new band with ex-members of Acirema, Die Like the Rest, and Choose Your Weapon, and they fucking ruled. Kind of like the Classic Struggle at times, but a little thrashier and with better grooves. Plus, how can you not chuckle at Dave's explanation of a song? ("This is about the night I took mushrooms. It's called "The Night I Murdered Everyone.") Patriot ruled too, always good to hear some good old fashioned street punk/oi. Eddie's a great frontman and gave some good speeches. I wish they'd play a little more often.



#56

Kylesa
Tombs
Bison B.C.
Beard of Antlers

@ The Soapbox (Upstairs) 09/17/09

BOA's third show, and our first with some really big bands. Cool. I thought I could have been better, but I remembered more lyrics this time. Good turnout that I think mainly came for us (not trying to sound egotistical I swear). I've always liked Bison B.C. on record, but live is where they shine. They remind me of Mastodon if they decided to stop experimenting and just kept producing riffs galore. Cool. Tombs didn't blow me away at the Isis show, but something must have happened because they were incredible at this one. Their post-metal/black metal mix just seemed more fitting tonight and even though it seemed to bring down the "party and feel good" vibe that was somehow set up from us and Bison B.C., it fucking ruled. Ironically, the guys in the band said they thought they were sloppier tonight. Heh. Finally, Kylesa came on. This show was being advertised as them performing "Static Tensions" from beginning to end. Seeing as how that was one of my favorite records of the year, I was only more excited. I was, however, mildly disappointed after they were done though. I wasn't disappointed with them leaving out "Insomnia for Months" from the previously mentioned record. I was disappointed with the sound man at the Soapbox. Apparently he decided to drink heavily and turn everything up on Laura Pleasants' end, and everything else got shitty sound. Moron. After the ST set, they did a few oldies/goodies like Bottom Line and Descend Within. Nice gig, but good lord I wish the soapbox would fire that sound guy.



#57

Mono
Maserati

@ Local 506 09/25/09

I originally didn't have plans to make this one due to distance and money, but I received a call from my friend Nate in At Half-Mast and he told me he had a free extra ticket. I made a wise choice to accept his offer for the ticket, because this might rank as my top show of the year (it's a tie between this and DEP). The drive to and parking for the venue was a pain, as was most of the crowd, but everything else was absolutely phenomenal. Also, I know some aren't going to approve of this, but I smoked a couple of bowls here and there before and during the show, so they certainly helped as well. I had never really checked out Maserati before, and I'm mad at myself for not doing so. They were amazing. Fantastic post-rock/groove/dance that you just found yourself swaying to whether you could help it or not. If I had more cash, I would have bought an album. I hadn't seen Mono since they appeared with High on Fire back in 2007, but I was blown away then and even more now. They were touring in support of their beautiful and powerful "Hymn to the Immortal Wind" and they played a few selections from it, along with some tracks I recognized from "You Are There." The amount of emotion and just pure beauty (I sound really lame right now, I know) that emanated from them was amazing. I turned from a casual fan into a "holy crap amazing!" fan just after this one. After the show was over, I bought a shirt and the HTTIM double LP, which might be the best piece of vinyl I've ever seen.


#58

Day of Suffering
Pulling Teeth
Moutheater
Peregrine
Wall

@ The Soapbox (Upstairs) 09/26/09

The old time school xVx band reunited for the first time in quite a while and played a good, but not great show. Sourvein dropped off, and Wall were thrown at the last minute. They're a two piece now, but sound just as loud and awesome as before. I liked what I heard of Peregrine online, but wasn't that impressed live. Super nice guys though. Moutheater, however, I wasn't impressed with online but they fucking ruled live. Very noise rock/sludgy. Pulling Teeth were good, but like what happened with Kylesa, the sound guy ruined it. Their set seemed rather tame too considering that I expected a pretty big ruckus for them. DOS were very tight and it was kind of cool seeing so many out of towners screaming their lungs out. I bought a couple of 7"s that night from PT and DOS.

#59

Weedeater
Mortal Man
Akris

@ The Soapbox (Upstairs) 10/03/09

Riverfest weekend. I really don't recall much about Akris, other than them being a two piece with a girl and not being very good. Mortal Man were awesome, but somewhat ruined by the crowd. Weedeater were damn good too, but again, crowd sucked. I should have mentioned ASG were headlining this one, hence why I left early.

#60

Bracewar
Rise and Fall
Creatures
The Network
Robotosaurus

@ The Brewery 10/07/09


How the hell was this underattended? Kids used to love Bracewar in NC (even though I always thought they were kind of boring). Robotosaurus and the Network were on a separate tour that got combined with this one, hence the obvious difference in sound. Robotosaurus were kind of like Converge, but a little sloppier. Their singer seemed quite drunk/angry and didn't like the fact that people on the floor were so quiet/demure. I should mention that them and The Network played on the floor, whereas the others played on the Brewery's actual stage. The Network were much cooler, playing a real frenzied style of metalcore along the lines of Coalesce, Botch and Deadguy. I gotta give their new record a listen. Creatures weren't very exciting, too generic for my tastes. Rise and Fall were amazing. The new songs are putting them in a different league than other hardcore bands. I heard pretty much all I wanted to hear from them. Bracewar sucked. I wanted to see if they'd do better than the previous times I've seen them, but they didn't.


#61

Bane
Blacklisted
Foundation
Folsom
Just Die!

@ The Brewery 10/22/09

This was thankfully saved by the "B" bands. For some reason, the Brewery told people they couldn't leave the venue that night, meaning I had to suffer through the two bands I really didn't want to watch. Just Die! were pretty cool, did a nice "Pay to Cum" cover that got the crowd going off. Folsom were pretty bad, only real highlight was laughing at all the kids moshing for them. I still don't like Foundation either, although I got a kick out of their joke about Greg from the Mongoloids, who was working merch for Blacklisted. Blacklisted were great, though I wish they had played a couple or so more songs. No "Wish" was surprising. I wasn't sure how Bane was going to follow them, but they did an awesome job. Good to see so many people singing along and just having a lot of fun. The new song they played was great, and I got a bit of a chill when Aaron (frontman) talked about his g/f telling him "those highway lines will never love you back." I wanted to try and talk to George from Blacklisted, but didn't get much of a chance and talked to their temporary guitarist, who also plays in Paint it Black. Super nice guy.

#62

Maserati
White Tiger and the Bed of Roses
Coup De Grace

@ The Soapbox (Upstairs) 10/23/09

After being blown away by Maserati at the Mono show, this was a no-brainer. Coup De Grace were surprisingly really good, cool post-rock with a "tech" edge. White Tiger were cool, but a little too "rock and roll" for this show if you ask me. Maserati blew me away again, band is so talented. I got a moment to talk to their drummer and mentioned seeing them at the Mono gig. He seemed a little surprised that I was there seeing them not that long ago. Nice guy. I was shocked and saddened to hear that he passed away only a couple or so weeks later. Terrible loss of an amazing drummer and person. R.I.P. Jerry Fuchs. Your talent will be missed.


#63

Mortal Man
Holy Dirt
Hog

@ Reggie's 10/27/09

Cool gig, every band was awesome. Hog were straight up stoner/sludge goodness from Raleigh with ex-members of Tooth, who were a solid band as well. Should have bought a CD but didn't for some reason. Holy Dirt were awesome, great noise/stoner rock from around Jersey if I remember correctly. They sounded very similar to Fight Amp, which is always a good thing. Mortal Man were, well, Mortal Man. They're making it a habit to cover Nazareth's "Hair of the Dog" now in their set and they do it really fucking well.