Videos by Nik Christofferson
January 22nd, 2010 - Narrows / Constant Lovers / Countdown to Armageddon / Heiress @ El Corazon
A rare appearance by Narrows, who are generally agreed to be the best among an already jam-packed Seattle hardcore scene, deserves fanfare well beyond my one handed typing abilities. (Side note: if you didn’t catch last week’s From the Crates, I have been laid up in a cast with a couple broken fingers for a month now, and shame on you for skipping my column!) Yet even though I was stoked beyond belief for the show, as I hustled into El Corazon just in time to catch Heiress tearing into “Kodiak” I had no clue just how amazing the night was going to be.
First was Heiress, easily the most underappreciated band in Seattle these days. I have had their CD-R blaring on repeat in my truck for several weeks now, and I know it’s only a matter of time before they start to get their due. John Pettibone remains as virulent and charismatic as ever, and the band compliments his throat-killing vocals with true dynamic mastery.
Next were crust-metal mongers Countdown to Armageddon. I had not seen or heard this band before, but I was thoroughly impressed with their energy. I’m reluctant to pigeonhole the band as crust-whatever (this whole genre thing has gotten out of hand) because they worked in a driving feedback laden instrumental with ease among their other tunes. Great band.
Constant Lovers followed. Regrettably, I was in the bar for the first minute of the set but quickly ran near the stage after looking up at one of the televisions and seeing every member of the band playing a drum. This I had to see! What followed was a truly innovative performance. The band members elegantly split the spotlight and are all talented multi-instrumentalists. My only complaint is they do not have an album out. Let’s get with it, guys! You need a producer? Call me!
El Corazon was finally smoking with heat and sweat. The crowd was a veritable who’s who of notable Seattle musicians of past and present, and the level of camaraderie was off the charts. Everyone I had a chance to talk to was super fucking cool, and I can’t say enough about how the Seattle scene is as classy as they are heavy.
Finally, the domineering presence that is Dave Verellen took the reins of Narrows as they came out with all cylinders firing and proceeded to pummel the shit out of the packed El Corazon crowd with tracks off of last year’s ‘New Distances’. It’s hard to talk about Narrows and Dave V. without bringing up “the B word” (Botch!), yet I have to insist that Narrows is a brand new thang and hauling ass into the next decade. As the volume continued to assault my brain, a kid flew out of the pit and almost knocked me over. I stopped for a moment to take it all in, looking at the crowd, looking at our homeboys in Narrows, head swimming with Jaeger shots and PBR as I thought to myself –
“This is it, motherfuckers. Seattle never went away, but now we’re back and we mean business. Grab yer ankles.”
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