Saturday, December 11, 2010

the fountain o' muthafuckin' youth

hells to the yeah. i totally made my 16 year old self fucking proud this weekend. i woke up saturday morning a little groggy. it had been a long, tiring week at work and i was feeling sluggish and just generally lazy. my options for the day were: 1) heading to the mid- afternoon all ages Forbidden/Evile/Gamma Bomb/Bonded by Blood/Fog of War show at dna lounge, 2)heading to the later night Voodoo Glow Skulls show at bottom of the hill, or 3) both. i rolled outta bed thinking, "i'm tired, i'll pick one show to go to" and made myself some brunch, assembling a play list of Evile and Voodoo Glow Skulls tunes hoping to aid in my decision making process. a pot of coffee and some food set me in the proper mood to take on the day, so i busted ass through my chores, got myself ready and hopped on my bike headed towards dna lounge telling myself i'd see how i felt after i got home, but i was pretty sure i would crash before the Voodoo Glow Skulls show, but what the fuck ever. i rolled out to soma and was locking up in front of dna by 3:20. by the time i got inside i heard the delightful sound of shred and realized this show started earlier than i thought, Bonded by Blood was midway through their set. fuck! i had missed Fog of War, it was past time to get my thrash on!

this was my third time seeing Bonded by Blood since moving to the bay area, but the first time seeing them with new frontman Mauro Gonzales. they had always been a shit load of fun live and all of their studio work is pretty fucking phenomenal...but that was also all Jose Barrales' work on vocals. i walked into dna lounge to see Gonzales rockin' it like no other. the difference is noticeable, but there's nothing to dislike. Bonded by Blood put on a show on par with every other time i've seen them play. they're always a fun band to watch, but unfortunately due to being on tour with the likes of Gamma Bomb, Evile, and Forbidden, it's hard to set oneself apart from bands that have become the titans of the modern revival of the thrash movement. while Bonded by Blood's incredible talent and aggressive tone makes it obvious that they are one of the bands responsible for assisting in the rise of the present thrash metal revival that Earache and Nuclear Blast Records seem to be promoting, the show was my first time seeing Evile and i was more than ready to see the folks i had come for.

taking the stage next was Gamma Bomb from newry, ireland. having bands like Gamma Bomb and Evile holding such prolific places in the modern thrash scene does seem a little...well, off maybe? both bands hail from the uk which has of course brought us a slew of incredible metal bands, but thrash is a less common metal sub genre for uk bands to be a part of. going into the show i knew Evile was badass, but i had only heard a few tracks from Gamma Bomb before the show. what i had heard reminded me of a cross breed between classic bay area thrash and delightful old school NWOBHM styled riffage. what i got from Gamma Bomb live was the equivalent of a running my soul through a spiritual meat grinder (read 'brutally awesome beyond belief' from that analogy). quick to note the influence of the bay area scene on their music, Gamma Bomb attacked their set with a clear and infectious enthusiasm. whenever i watch interviews with any of the members of Iron Maiden, it's always so striking how positive and friendly they always seem to be. Gamma Bomb projects the same positive energy, coupled with a quick musical steel toed boot to the teeth. to say they had the audience going was an understatement. unfortunately, dna's security was feeling authoritative and had been breaking up many of the mosh pits frontman Philly Byrne had attempted to get started (undoubtedly an issue involving the club's insurance), but Gamma Bomb was undeterred and kept the audiences energy high until the need to mosh reached it's breaching point. Byrne divided the audience down the middle to prepare for Gamma Bomb's anti-fascist anthem,"Mussolini Mosh". "it's not that we're telling you to mosh", Byrne explained in the introduction to the song, "it's just that we need half of you on the left, half of you on the right, and when the music starts, ignore it. ignore the guitar, ignore the drums but when i drop my arm, you all do whatever it is you feel like you need to do..." dna lounge staff cautiously approached the gathering masses as the audience waited for the tomahawk chop of Bryne's arm. the music kicked up and air started to buzz with electric anticipation and as Bryne cut into an over the top rallying cry, his arm came down and the audience erupted, rushing at the headbangers standing opposite and colliding in the center of the pit with the dull thud of bone tenderizing flesh. unable to contain the awesomeness, befuddled dna lounge staff retreated away from the pit and resorted simply pushing careening mosh pitters back to the center of the pit if they happened to drift towards the bar. PURE. METAL. MAYHEM. it was perhaps the most epic mosh pit moment i've had all fucking year. that crunch as we tore into our brothers and sisters on the left side of the pit may very well be my favorite moment of 2010. i was still stoked as shit for Evile, but Gamma Bomb had just stolen the whole fucking show.

still reeling from Gamma Bomb's merciless musical assault on the audience i made my way to the bar so as to seek comfort from the happy burn provided by a jameson on the rocks as Evile's techs started re-arranging the speaker cabs on stage. my excitement could hardly be contained as guitar checks started and the overall weight and breadth of the distortion on the guitars seemed exponentially higher than that of the last two bands, despite being a fantastic example of the modern thrash movement, Evile definitely thrashes with much more girth and attack than most in their genre. needless to say, i downed that jameson and waded my way into the center of the pit well before the end of the sound checks. i was a little nervous as they got started. i had totally built this band up in my mind, and was starting to worry that i let my expectations get too lofty, and besides, Gamma Bomb had just put forth a pretty fucking epic set, topping that would be tough for any band. from the moment Evile took the stage i realized all of my doubt was completely misplaced. the heaviness of the guitar strings, the extreme thickness of the guitar picks, and the undeniable broad diameter of the drum sticks used were apparent as Evile pounded listeners with shred that seemed to be broadcasted by sledgehammers. Evile's sound on their studio worked carried over to their stage show with such accuracy it almost seemed like listening to their albums, but at double the tempo with flashier guitar solos...in other words, bliss in the form of ear drum brutality. dna lounge staff seemed unwilling to fight the crowd and maintained a ring around the pit, keeping moshers from taking over the whole crowd, though during Evile's set they had a particularly hard time doing so. when Evile finally cut into "The Thrasher" (easily a modern classic) the audience went fucking nuts, screaming out "BOW DOWN TO THE THRASHER!!" in delightful vocal chord shredding unison.

i'll admit, after Evile finished up, i was a little exhausted. being an all ages show (and the show taking place in the middle of the day) meant the pit was crazy chaotic and full of energy. my knuckles and elbows were red from repeated impacts with meat and bone, my jaw was a little sore from that elbow i took to the teeth, and someone had definitely gotten a clean kidney shot on me, so i was feeling the consequences of a prolific and extremely well executed mosh pit. i hung back and nursed a second drink as Forbidden took the stage, figuring i should let myself recuperate a bit and consider whether or not two shows in one day was going to be a possibility for me. did i mention the awesomeness of the pit at dna lounge that day? although in my mind the uk thrash bands had totally shown up the bay area bands that opened the show, the bay area pit was no fucking joke. Forbidden put on a great show and played an awesome mix of older and newer stuff, but the sheer force Gamma Bomb and Evile put forth definitely dwarfed that of Forbidden. despite that fact, Forbidden were the hometown heroes headlining the show, and the audience was not about to forget that. severe appreciation occurred in the pit, and despite my bumps and potential bruises, it was impossible to hang back past the first couple of songs. the last time i moshed that hard in one day was Ozzfest 2005...i totally forgot how good that feels!

after Forbidden was denied the opportunity for an encore (due to dna staff already setting up for whatever lame music-ed burlesque show they had coming up next) and i made my way towards my bike i passed a winnebago with an attached trailer and found Oi and Matt Drake of Evile standing outside sipping tea and smoking cigarettes. i stopped and chatted for a bit, thanking them for the fucking brilliant show and inquiring when they might be through the area next. Oi mentioned they're writing a new album now and that they'd be back on their next tour (hopefully headlining!). as i wished Evile a good night and safe travels, i realized something: professional rockers are too fucking cool for words. why would i not want to put myself in close proximity to dudes like this as often as possible? FUCK YES i was going to be at that Voodoo Glow Skulls show!!!

without a second to waste, i hopped on my bike, pounded my way from soma to the mission for a quick dinner break, then home to pull on that Voodoo Glow Skulls t shirt i had from my high school days, then back on the bike headed for bottom of the hill. i prepped myself out on the way. being an Epitaph band meant the Skulls would probably play with other punkier bands as opposed to metal bands. i think the last punk show i had been to was actually seeing the Skulls back in 2006 at el corazon in seattle, so it had been a while. that show had been pretty painful (not in a good way), and i remember downing drinks as one generic nasally vocaled ska band sporting stupid hair-dos followed another, wondering how it was that the Skulls were one of the few bands that brought heavier metal stylings into simple ska structures (i believe the Skulls call it 'metalli-ska'). regular ska is either unique and interesting, or comprised of totally generic, lame ass folks who add a horn section to their Blink 182 sound alike bullshit. i'm not even going to dignify the band that played before the Skulls at bottom of the hill by mentioning their name, but yeah, whiny Blink type un-creativity was pretty much all they had to offer. after an afternoon of amazing thrash, i had a hard time booing loud enough to truly let that band know how awful they really are. thankfully they announced their last song (i cheered at that) and cleared out after only about 35 mins on stage (35 mins too long that is).

undeterred by the mediocrity i had just witnessed, i was relatively stoked to see the Voodoo Glow Skulls. the last "new" album of theirs that i had really gotten into was 2000's Symbolic and it's easily one of my favorites from their catalog. despite having purchased a couple of their later albums, none of them struck me the same way, so i expected to hear some songs i was unfamiliar with, but looked forward to going fucking crazy when i heard some of my favorites. the Voodoo Glow Skulls did not disappoint. as the Skulls opened up their set with the title track off of Band Geek Mafia, waves of previously dormant 9th grade inspired angst coursed through the very core of my spirit and i tore through the pit, effortlessly making it to the rail before Frank Casillas started into the first verse. true to form, the Skulls rocked it, playing newer stuff as well as a ton of old school stuff off of Band Geek Mafia, Baile de Los Locos, Firme, and Who is, This is. of course they cut into a set of songs in spanish, tearing into 'Yo Soy el mas Chingon', 'Los Hombres no Lloran', 'La Migra', 'El Coocooi', and 'Baile de los Locos' leading to some intensive pit action from a core of latin kids in the audience. feeling like i was super fucking old was easy at that show, as kids bounced around to new Skulls songs i was unfamiliar with, but reclaiming my youth was equally easy as i mosh-danced my ass off to old school tunes i used to bump in my high school days as the kiddies in the audience looked on trying to find the beat so they could get their mosh on as well. the only disappointing part of the Voodoo Glow Skulls set that night was not hearing 'The Delinquent Song', but they did play 'Broadie Johnson Weekend' (perhaps because Broadie has returned to his position behind the trombone after a couple years on hiatus), which i've never heard them play live before, so that was pretty fucking cool. all in all, saturday reminded me that 1)the Voodoo Glow Skulls are fucking sweet. 2)thrash is always and will always be almost indescribably badass and 3)i've still still got that old school, headbangin', shit kickin' spirit, and as long as i keep puttin' in some solid pit time, i 'aint about to lose it. keep it gloomy y'all.

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