[London] A chance encounter after Royal Thunder. This kind of metal walks a fine line with me but this band stayed right on the sweet edge of the line. Super hard, super precise, and with showmanship. A speed metal version of Black Sabbath? The lead singer was a cross between Rob Zombie and a Viking forest gnome – and he would gently inquire after the crowd between ferocious songs. I was trying to figure out who we were seeing and asked a fool kid who had no idea – a more serious man ran after me to reassure me this was Orange Goblin. Just as much as I want to sit on David Lowery’s beachside porch, I wouldn’t mind going into a cave with these guys.

[Atlanta, GA] Fantastic. Of course, the powerful female vocals excite me. I had summed them up as a Black Sabbath cover band in my SXSW preview notes but that wasn’t really accurate. They are a weird amalgam of prog metal and goth country folk weirdness … but I’m lying … the guys’ beards and guitar precision were just distracting … in that this band didn’t make sense insofar as how they looked. The lead singer hunched over her guitar in a black lace dress screaming and wailing broke my heart the whole set. Their sound is kind of a rollicking prog metal with passionate vocals. I was entranced. And there were some Black Sabbath moments.

[England] Officially speaking, I hate this genre – pop punk – cheerful encouraging vocals over hard music. This band was very Cruiserweight – I would have a non-Austin reference except I just don’t listen to these bands. I was there to visit with PatientPassion and CAPITALS, and I trusted their musical judgment. They didn’t fail! This band won me over. Male bassist and drummer fronted by a female singing and on guitar. The males were happy go lucky sorts – one in a rockabilly shirt and the other all smiles and curly hair. She troubled me (a la John Cage). She had a severe blonde bob, very dark makeup on her eyebrows and eyes, and an outfit that was a strange mix of girly/punky and severe business suit. She widened her eyeballs until there were whites above the pupils and stared at the crowd intensely (and cheerfully) when she just didn’t need to – but it worked – maybe she was hypnotizing us. In my imaginings she was a fierce young one who has grown up and created a powerful band. I really fell, though, when they suddenly segued into prog metal – almost of the Dream Theatre variety – it was super exciting! It turned into a jam session. They’re an interesting band and a class act for sure. Oh, and the best part was that the band tried to interact with LuckiestKidEver when she was on her dad’s shoulders with big pink earmuffs, she cried, and the band made note of the fact that she was the second kid they’d made cry at the end of the show. LuckiestKidEver remained mortified but CAPITALS was pleased by the whole situation.

Screamo that was actually pretty good, or we were desperate. Rockboy sighed and said he was actually in the mood for metal – this is what Gunny does to Rockboy, makes him all soft and tolerant – next thing you know, he’ll have long hair. The lead singer was totally ShellFish’s Houston buddy. They were all down because they were missing their bassist but they rallied. The lead singer was kind of a mess but charming in his way. This is also probably our favorite mini venue in Denver, low key and entertaining. Lead singer to audience (by audience, I mean the 20 people bellied up to the bar): “For those who do acid, it’s time to start taking it.” Guy at bar, kind of to himself: “It’s always time.” Lead singer to audience: “Who knocked over my beer?!” Audience/lead singer simultaneously to himself: “You did! / I probably did…” Lead singer to audience: “This song is about – - – nothing.” The guitarist was a stand out, and the double drum was Exciting. Lead singer passed out bacon at the end of the show – I figured out one week later that it was because they’re called “18 Squealer” – get it?

The best part of this band was the beautiful Latino guitarist with the sad eyes and the neck tattoos. The lead singer wasn’t bad but was a little over the top in a way that didn’t feel genuine – kind of Rage Against the Machine vocals, kind of one-with-the-audience with his long outstretched arms, and kind of straight disco drama. In a perfect example, he screamed “rock is dead” and threw the mic… but then he picked it up again. The lyrics were the worst part of this band. ShellFish annotated my notes to note that she ‘hated it.’

[Dallas, TX] So refreshing to hear some hard music (hand to throat). I may have been a little overexcited, but this band was great. Sludge punk, Mudhoney sound, rivers of melody with little blasts of speed metal riffs. Rambunctious lead singer. Also reminded me of Turbonegro.

The name of this band was familiar to me, but we actually ended up at this event (their CD release indoor picnic) as a way to fill time between other events. Their dress was moderately steam punk. There were three guys and one girl. The music was momentous, and they threw their bodies into poses that matched the grandeur of the music. They combined classical, prog metal, gypsy punk, and music that could be a film score. That’s when I remembered that I probably recognized their name because they provide live music for movies at the Alamo. “Phantom of the Opry” was an amusing song. The kids playing on the ground in front of the stage (this was a family event) with balls and hula hoops added an odd but entertaining dimension to their performance. Overall, none of us really liked them – I don’t think they’re meant for causal listening.

I wanted to like this band because they had technical expertise, but they were just sort of bland and clean after the raunchy blues of the band before them. They were closer to speed metal than sludge metal, though they certainly weren’t speed metal. They kind of reminded me of Queens of the Stone Age, whom I feel the same about.

[Abilene, KS] This band was fantastic, outside of the growl vocals. The guys were absolute stoner metalheads, masked in their hair. The music was special though – they managed to blend a lot of groove and blues into their hardcore-ness. They also sell some sort of hot sauce.

[Boulder, CO] This band was the closest thing to Tia Carrera (psych metal) I’d heard in so long and I was in ecstasy. A cacophony of sludge metal. They weren’t as good as Tia Carrera – less dynamic, passionate, interesting – but they have potential. This was only their second gig. The young front man (in a robe) said his main band is a prog band. Good name too.

as you might imagine from their name and my locale, they’re a bluegrass band – it’s a good thing I didn’t review them after their intermission act at Move the Butte – for one, I would have complained that the upright bassist is touted as the best bassist in Colorado but never hinted at a slap, as tainted as I am by Austin – two, they weren’t plugged in and they played the same song they taught us at the Bluegrass Workshop (Sittin’ on Top of the World) – anyway, when we heard they had a proper gig lined up and, being frantic for any old sort of music, we decided to give them a shot – turns out the full band includes the guitarist and the bassist I am familiar with, as well as a mandolin, banjo, and fiddle– they’ve got amps and the whole deal so none of your mealy-mouthed bluegrass – each is a very talented musician – their fingers moved so fast, I’m classifying them as speed-metal-bluegrass – they basically reminded me of a CD I picked up in the Appalachian Mountains proper from a local bluegrass band, Blue Ridge Mountain Thunder, which is a big compliment from me, because it’s the danciest bluegrass I’ve done ever heard – as a piece of general advice, you know it’s going to be a good bluegrass song when it has “breakdown” in the title

[Tokyo, Japan] and right after their earthquake… it was three youngish guys and one older minuscule woman in bell-bottoms – they started off with what I’ve come to expect from hard Japanese bands: tight and explosive – it was mostly fast and furious but, with some 60s keyboard, they strayed into some psychy wailing (almost Doors-like) and even a little bit of dance rock – the lead singer was fantastically dynamic: flailing, fixing his broken guitar string mid-song, mouthing the microphone – I didn’t like the keyboard/psych stuff too much but enjoyed that they ended their one-long-song of a set with a guitar wail and a group bow

As the first few notes of ‘Nightmare’ started to play, the tension was building higher and higher. As soon as the guitars kicked in the pyrotechnics started and the crowd went wild. M. Shadows has such an amazing stage presence that you cannot help but to have your eyes glued to him. They then played ‘Critical Acclaim’, which the lighting and pyrotechnics were even more impressive than for the opening.

The set was also amazing; the album cover for ‘Nightmare’ (with the bigger ‘rev’ in ‘forever’ on the gravestone for the late James Sullivan) and cemetery gates around the stage where fire came out. Before ‘Welcome to the Family’ M. Shadows asked who hadn’t seen Avenged Sevenfold before, heard many screams then replied with “Where the fuck have you guys been our whole lives? Welcome to the fucking family!” As this is many people’s favourite song from the album, the mosh-pits were insane. Well, thousands of people who had been waiting for so long to see Avenged Sevenfold, what do you expect other than complete craziness?

They then played the classic ‘Beast and the Harlot’ then ‘Buried Alive’. The set then changed to a beautiful picture of M.Shadows and The Rev and M. Shadows went into a heart-felt speech about The Rev and thanked the crowd for keeping Avenged Sevenfold strong and welcoming The Rev’s favourite drummer (Mike Portnoy – ex-Dream Theater) and went on to play ‘So Far Away’ as a tribute to The Rev. It was a beautiful moment and the raw emotion in the lyrics and M.Shadow’s voice was enough to bring the strongest of people to tears. Near the end of the song M.Shadows asked everyone to raise their lighters and mobiles to the sky to show The Rev; it was incredible.

They then played ‘Afterlife’, and the set went back to the album cover, then M.Shadows asked who in the crowd was religious. He then said that the next song was the most religious song he’d ever written; it was ‘God Hates Us’. M.Shadow’s screaming was actually very good, however it was not as heavy as it sounded on the album version. ‘Unholy Confessions’ was then played and as the circle pit was crazy, M.Shadow’s said that the audience could pick between ‘Almost Easy’ and ‘Bat Country’; it was a resounding vote for ‘Bat Country’ and it was an amazing song to finish their set with.

Last night I went to go and watch Hellyeah, Avenged Sevenfold and Stone Sour at the Birmingham N.I.A. It was an incredible gig, although it was a rather strange line-up. As much as I love Avenged Sevenfold and Stone Sour, I would have never imagined them playing a gig together a musically they are not that similar. However, I am glad that they did as the atmosphere was incredible. As it was a co-headline tour, Avenged Sevenfold and Stone Sour took it in turns to play last at each gig; tonight was Stone Sour’s turn.

The doors opened at 5.30pm, which is extremely early as doors usually open around 7.00pm. As they opened so early, anticipation seemed to build up very quickly amongst the crowd of thousands (I think I remember M. Shadows saying there were 13,000 people attending). After what seemed like years of waiting, Hellyeah arrived on stage at around 7.30pm, greeted by many screaming fans. They opened with ‘Hellyeah’ which was so catchy that even people in the crowd that didn’t know who they were found themselves singing along. They then interacted with the crowd, then played ‘Matter of Time’ and ‘Cowboy Way’. They informed the audience that they loved to drink before playing ‘Hell of a Time’, ‘You Wouldn’t Know’ and ‘Stampede’.

They then paid tribute to the late Dimebag Darrell and played ‘Alcohaulin’ Ass’, inviting the crowd to sing along with them if they knew the words. As a couple of the members of Hellyeah were in bands with Dimebag Darrell, you could hear the pure emotion in Chad Gray’s voice as he paid tribute to the legend. As Chad is also the lead singer Mudvayne, it was amazing to hear how versatile his voice is and to see a different side to him than what is portrayed of him in Mudvayne (don’t get me wrong, I love Mudvayne, but I love singers who are versatile and can have completely different personas). All in all, they were an exciting live band and who sound a thousand times better live than on CD. Since seeing them live, I have become a big fan.

After Hellyeah finished their set, the vibe in the crowd was extremely tense. You could tell what everyone was thinking; what would Avenged Sevenfold be like without The Rev? As the first few notes of ‘Nightmare’ started to play, the tension was building higher and higher. As soon as the guitars kicked in the pyrotechnics started and the crowd went wild. M. Shadows has such an amazing stage presence that you cannot help but to have your eyes glued to him. They then played ‘Critical Acclaim’, which the lighting and pyrotechnics were even more impressive than for the opening.

The set was also amazing; the album cover for ‘Nightmare’ (with the bigger ‘rev’ in ‘forever’ on the gravestone for the late James Sullivan) and cemetery gates around the stage where fire came out. Before ‘Welcome to the Family’ M. Shadows asked who hadn’t seen Avenged Sevenfold before, heard many screams then replied with “Where the fuck have you guys been our whole lives? Welcome to the fucking family!” As this is many people’s favourite song from the album, the mosh-pits were insane. Well, thousands of people who had been waiting for so long to see Avenged Sevenfold, what do you expect other than complete craziness?

They then played the classic ‘Beast and the Harlot’ then ‘Buried Alive’. The set then changed to a beautiful picture of M.Shadows and The Rev and M. Shadows went into a heart-felt speech about The Rev and thanked the crowd for keeping Avenged Sevenfold strong and welcoming The Rev’s favourite drummer (Mike Portnoy – ex-Dream Theater) and went on to play ‘So Far Away’ as a tribute to The Rev. It was a beautiful moment and the raw emotion in the lyrics and M.Shadow’s voice was enough to bring the strongest of people to tears. Near the end of the song M.Shadows asked everyone to raise their lighters and mobiles to the sky to show The Rev; it was incredible.

They then played ‘Afterlife’, and the set went back to the album cover, then M.Shadows asked who in the crowd was religious. He then said that the next song was the most religious song he’d ever written; it was ‘God Hates Us’. M.Shadow’s screaming was actually very good, however it was not as heavy as it sounded on the album version. ‘Unholy Confessions’ was then played and as the circle pit was crazy, M.Shadow’s said that the audience could pick between ‘Almost Easy’ and ‘Bat Country’; it was a resounding vote for ‘Bat Country’ and it was an amazing song to finish their set with.

After another half an hour wait, the lights dimmed and an unexpected song played before Stone Sour came on; I think it was a song from Star Wars, however I’m not completely sure about that. Stone Sour then came on an opened with ‘Mission Statement’. Corey then interacted with the crowd before playing ‘Reborn’. He then asked the crowd to go crazy for the next song; ‘Made of Scars’, which sounded very heavy and started many mosh-pits. Then, much to the joy of many screaming girls, Stone Sour played their beautiful recent single; ‘Say You’ll Haunt Me’. They then continued the mix of old and new songs with ‘Get Inside’, ‘Unfinished’ and ‘Your God’. The rest of the band then left the stage whilst Corey stayed on to play the incredibly emotional song ‘Bother’ (which was written for his father as he only met him for the first time a few years ago). He also stayed alone on stage to play the most popular Stone Sour track; ‘Through the Glass’. Although this song is overplayed on many music channels it was extremely passionate and beautiful live. The rest of the band then rejoined Corey back on stage to play ‘The Bitter End’. Corey then announced that he was going to play the next future single; ‘Digital (Did You Tell)’, which you could tell from the crowd’s reaction that it was going to be a very popular single and it should hopefully make Stone Sour make a high entry in the charts. They then played ‘Hell and Consequences’ and they finally finished with ’30/30-150′. At the end of their set, lots of confetti came out of huge cannons on either side of the stage and Corey promised that Stone Sour would be back to Birmingham soon.

All in all, it was an incredible concert and although the acts seemed unlikely to tour together, it actually worked really well and I did not see or speak to one disappointed person with any of the acts.

That was the first gig review that I’ve actually had the courage to put on the Internet, so I hope you enjoyed reading it and that it wasn’t too bad.

[Austin, TX] Blackholicus had everything Faceblaster had lacked: creative interesting loops and variations in timing WITH hard complex guitar work – incredibly un-boring – very Iron Maiden – the bald fellow with the tufts of hair was very familiar to me but I couldn’t place him – the lead singer was a short solid woman with hipster-hippie stylings, with a piece-y haircut and big feathery earrings – she came out in knee-length black shorts and a cherry colored tank top – I appreciated her seeming statement that you don’t have to look the part to feel it, but mostly I felt bad for all the metalheads in the audience who were forced to hear a very high quality version of their music coming out of a person like her – it would have been decent of her to put on a little black, look a little less clean – ironically, a short solid woman looking very much like her joined me in the elevator the next day at work – I tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she was in a band and she sneered, “Nobody ever recognizes me, at least not here.” – even if she’s snotty, I definitely recommend this band

[San Antonio, TX] their name pretty much says it all I’m not sure why Emo’s description of them specifies that they’re from San Antonio – the audience was definitely the Latino metal crowd – tough-guy vocals (though not screamo thank god) with technically proficient but not very creative guitars – I think the drumming irritated me the most: seemed too basic and too dominating or too high-pitched? – Rockboy pointed out that this band could be the Alamo Drafthouse’s hardcore band of animated food items who warn the audience before the movie starts: “Don’t talk!! Watch the movie!! I will bite you!!”

this was Waterloo’s first in-store in the parking lot EVER… or so I thought… a regular insisted it had happened before – oh, was it grand – people as far as the eye could see – and people of all sorts: high school kids smoking pot out of a little ceramic cigarette in front of us (I almost took the sweet little girl heading down the bad path in her NIN t-shirt aside to tell her not to let those boys convince her to do what she didn’t want to) – Raoul Hernandez of the Chronicle to our left, being schmoozed – the beautiful dregs of Austin came out for this free show – we’d seen the band and remembered them as a Black Sabbath cover band with original songs – and, Waterloo did pipe Black Sabbath through the speakers the entire time we waited for the band, but the band actually has a bit more speed metal in them than Black Sabbath – they’re a good show but not sure how much I’d listen to them recorded – on the other hand, the fans lined up, albums in hand, and Waterloo Records was once again saved, at least for now

an energetic Motorhead cover band from San Antonio – could be just what you’re looking for if you’re looking for that sort of thing

equal parts stoner metal, 80s goth, shoegaze, and jam band (at least during some of the drum solos) – you’re probably picturing a bunch of guys on stage right now you big sexist – but no, an all-girl band, and girls of about 23 at that – breaking through all the barriers, this generation of girls are – and hotties, every last one of them, with the sort of style that redeems it – the shy one with bangs covering her face and a flannel shirt a la the 1990s on lead electric guitar with the voice of a sweet demon – the main vocalist also on electric guitar with Robert Smith’s hair in white and a longish tailored black jacket – pretty-pretty girl on bass in dead-center who ought not to have chewed gum through the whole show – and then the drummer. oh the drummer! when they were setting up, I thought, “there’s one bitter glum girl” but by the time she got going she was helplessly ecstatic, hands and grins a-flying – some people were born to be drummers and this girl is one of them – she is the driving force behind the band, leading her friends and the audience from slow melancholy wailing to driving thrash to genuine dance rock beats – they used echo effect on all of the vocals which is kind of cheating but definitely created an effect, reminded me of Siouxsie in spirit to some extent but of a much harder Mazzy Star most definitely – general aura reminiscent of The Cure with one song in particular completely replicating the dark ringing undertones – especially skilled at mixing tempos without seeming false about it and then drawing you into a lovely mindless repetitive loop of drone – their most memorable song, although maybe not their best song, was “Billie Holiday”: it began with one of them harmonizing original lyrics to the others spelling out B-I-L-L-I-E-H-O-L-I-D-A-Y – it sounds cheesy but it wasn’t – the song then progressed into a dark cover of “My Guy” – can’t figure these girls out in general I would speculate they’re clean upper class girls with solid music training and burner leanings but that would just be speculation – it is not speculation to say that I like them quite a lot – 3 other best things about the show: 1) crowd was distinctively hipster-folk (consciously but casually dressed: shabby chic pants, camouflage hats, belly button length beards, etc.) but probably because Akron/Family followed, 2) their email list asked your gender, and 3) a guy in the crowd raised his hands up in the shape of a heart and kept flicking it at pretty-pretty but she didn’t (or refused to) notice

The inside show we were not there for. Literally overflowing with metalheads of the shaved head, scary sort – militaristic. Young guys would explode out of the crowd, back from being in the mosh pit, sweaty and barely containing their raging mindless testosteronic energy. Meanwhile, their girlfriends were texting. Despite all that, and the lead singer’s screamo antics, the band was really good. They were from California and played a tight set of driving metal-hardcore, incorporating both staccato riffs and heavy grooves. The audience was young and knew the words to their songs; we were obviously the only people in the room not in the know. They were also explicitly political.

I might enjoy a little speed metal every now and then, but never ever never drama-metal – theatre geeks gone thrash – ech – soaring vocals and undertones – what did fascinate me about this band was their synchronized head-banging – the long hair of all 4 guys incessantly swirling in simultaneous circles – it’s got to affect their musicianship – and I kept wondering what an uninitiated person would think of the whole scene – it’s pretty strange what sorts of behaviors we come to accept as normal

made me realize how infrequently I see metal and my lack of understanding of the metal scene that was the crowd at the outside stage in their black cotton wear and tall boots and chains and jewelry – the band was good even if it all starts to sound the same to me in the end – fingers-flying speed metal

totally chanced upon this show and were surprised it wasn’t more hyped and more crowded – I had a clear vision of the lead singer of the Dead Kennedys since I was a girl and Jello was not that man – he is a middle-aged tubby slightly flamboyant (although straight per google) loud opinionated man – this is his new band and I don’t know how extensively they tour or if they even put out CDs – they were great – I heard punk-metal but Rockboy insists just hardcore punk – although he leapt around the stage like an angry fairy, he was backed by two scary-and-mean-looking metalhead-type guitarists, 1 stoner boy guitarist, and a drummer – the songs were prefaced and followed by political ranting from Jello – most of the songs were also explicit references to political issues close to Jello’s heart or residence, such as working in the dot.com industry in northern California – I don’t like songs that deal with such specific political issues, not timeless and kind of cheesy for some reason – Jello came out in a weird pinkish sack of a jacket but removed it to reveal a shirt made from an upside-down American flag and removed that to reveal a black t-shirt and removed that to reveal his 50-year-old belly – he’s an astonishing performer – in addition to bounding around the stage and singing ferociously in his unmistakable theatrical voice, his face was constantly contorting to further get his message across and he was a remarkably good mime – I wasn’t always sure what he was acting out but it was precise – a unique performance – when they finally played “California Uber Alles” and “Holiday in Cambodia,” it was very very exciting

this is a band that I have never liked – his dramatic voice grates on me – I particularly hate their hit and the song I am most familiar with: “She Sells Sanctuary” – the ticket to this show was bought for me and I underwent two evening sessions of training in the catalogue of The Cult by a long-time devotee of the band, Rockboy – I enjoyed my training – I am now qualified to tell you that while I respect the band-integrity (pre-Rick-Rubin producing) of the earliest albums of The Cult, such as Dreamtime and Love, it is exactly the music that I don’t like from them: wishy-washy romantic dramatic unrock rock – the albums that followed were a surprise to me (such as Electric and Sonic Temple) as I had no idea that The Cult had such music – while I see the transformation intro crunchy AC/DC metal as Rubin-homogenizing-evil and as The Cult becoming very un-Cult, I cannot deny that I quite enjoy those albums more than the early frilly-shirt soaring-sob albums – and so the concert went – they did the Love album in entirety and it was perfect – it was as if we were in the studio but for the dirt under our feet, the sweat and heat, and the most annoying drunk mish-mash packed-in crowd I have ever been in (I was nearly knocked down twice by 2 near-fights between the same 2 ignorant middle-aged obliterated-drunk men) – and then the second set was a selection of hits from their proper metal albums and the crowd went even more wild although it didn’t seem it was possible – Ian Astbury’s voice is undeniably distinctive and high-quality – in the end, the show was tremendous, this band is still not for me, and I felt inexplicably drawn to Ian Astbury – he was round and shaggy-haired and wearing a hoodie with little white insignias on it – he looked all cuddly and accessible – he banged his tambourine and shimmied forward and backward like’s he done this as long as he’s done this – I liked his aura of knowingness and the sort of self-confidence that underlies not having to dress to impress

was prepared to hate this band because of previous experience with their ignorant insensitive lyrics – the ZZ Top biker look is consistent across the band members with their ratty long goatees -some mix of speed metal, sludge metal, and Southern rock – had some slow dirges and ended with a blues number – their hyped up stuff was my favorite – vocals were annoying and they lacked creativity but I can\”t say I hated them -they\”re excellent musicians – believe one of the band members is the sound guy at The Continental Club

A Waterloo in-store was just what I needed – such happy early evening events with all of Austin’s finest gathered: semi-homeless guys there for the free beer, old hippies still glazed from too much acid, random music fans, and nonchalant Waterloo employees. This was not your typical in-store though: instead of the usual 3-song set, they played 5 or more; if they really weren’t plugged in, they sounded plugged in; and in contrast to the generally mellow vibe, this was a real rock show with dancing girls and stage-diving guitarists into the rack of CDs. They’re from San Francisco, they’re glam rock revivalists, and although they border on cheesy with alarming frequency, I think they might make it. They’re just so much fun. The musicians were proper rock stars with teased mullet-esque dos, tight black clothes and sunglasses indoors. The girls looked like burners in be-glittered and be-feathered finery, but their sexy-surly burlesque reminded me of The Flametrick Subs’ Satan’s Cheerleaders – I overheard them tell a fan after the show that they’re “really inspired by Vegas.” The lead singer has a genuinely great powerful voice, often singing in falsetto – he was also seemingly genetically blessed with the saran wrap lips that long-time-drug-using rockers get although he otherwise looked young. When he climbed on top of the railings surrounding the tiny stage and jumped off, an old guy next to me told his buddy, “Yeah, you can do that when you weigh 110 pounds.” Their sound was heavy-riffed glam rock – I kept hearing death disco but I probably imagined that because they’re from San Francisco, home to all my favorite death disco bands. While they had some catchy one-liners: “live fast and die beautiful” and “it’s not too late, we can still die young, it’s all the same” the songs themselves, and especially the lyrics, were trite and repetitive. They could do better. They had bubbles too.

this was a band that was on our radar during SXSW – we never ended up seeing them though which wasn’t a big deal since they’re local – this too was more of a chance sighting than anything else but I was still disappointed – I expected more psych metal and less screamo – the music was heavy and complicated (good) but the vocals were grating and annoying: too discordant to even be screamo -the lead singer was fascinating though with his spawn-from-the-river-like writhing – noise-rock meets no wave – possibly, possibly it was my own bad attitude and the fact that I should have been in bed.

like most bands I see at Headhunters, this group was carrying the torch for some decades-old sound without even a touch of irony – I guess this is acceptable for certain sounds – this band was for all intents and purposes a Judas Priest cover band, i.e., not acceptable – the lead singer wore gray jeans with knee-high boots and a flame shirt and was moved by himself

head-banging long-curly-haired thrash metal and very serious about it – classic lead singer posturing: he regularly held his microphone out to an imaginary crowd for them to finish his lyrics or at least scream – as always, I quickly tired of the screaming vocalizing – don’t these boys worry about their vocal chords? Not to mention their necks!

suddenly I missed When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth – a lone tower of a man playing sludge metal – all by his lonesome – Why? Why would you be a one-man-metal-band?

so tight and hard, they almost approached math metal – in addition to this, they were distinguished by their “fun” take on the whole serious rock/metal thing: they started with a “dance party” that really made you want to dance and had audience participation which is atypical for this sort of music – eventually played songs that approximated rockabilly/metal if there’s such a thing – would call them dancepunk if hard-pressed – I keep wondering why there was so many Japanese bands at SXSW? Or was this just a Dara experience? – this was one of my favorite shows at SXSW and I was moved DESPITE extreme weariness

hell, screamo metal