WHAT’S NOT WEAK THIS WEEK – a local show roundup
By Jake Weller
Wednesday, May 23rd
It will be quite the experience to experience this much experience in the same room on the same night! International mathy-hardcore supergroup, Narrows, features both Dave Verellen from Botch and Ryan Frederiksen from These Arms Are Snakes sounding like, well, Dave Verellen from Botch and Ryan Frederiksen from These Arms Are Snakes. In fact, all of the bands performing this Wednesday at El Corazon have stong sonic ties to their members’ former projects: Justin Pearson’s spazzy Retox are similarly as frenzied and driving as The Locust; Great Falls, featuring Shane and Demian from Playing Enemy, have somehow accelerated their velocitas into the depths of darkness with the addition of Jesu drummer, Phil Petrocelli; and ex-Hungry Crocodiles make up the vast majority of the funky, thump-blasting Brokaw roar collective. But don’t mistake this for a reunion show of nostalgic geezers for one second. Each one of these new incarnations have picked up from where they left off, learned from mistakes, refined and brought in different elements and enhancements, and are offering something fresh and (still) far ahead of their time. An easy pick for show of the week. Hell, show of the month. [NOTE: All-ages show, Brokaw starts promptly at 8pm!]
Friday, May 25th
As of this year, Lori LeFavor has been putting on shows for two-and-a-half decades with her company, Infinite Productions. To celebrate this amazing feat and her long-standing position as queen of the Seattle heavy scene, she will be putting on a string of incredible shows – some of which rival anything seen in recent years. This is definitely saying something, considering the strength of the heavy scene lately. It is hard to say when this season of shows technically begins—as Infinite Productions puts on approximately a shit ton of fine shows every week—but, since it hasn’t been mentioned in this column up until now, The Highline on Friday is as good of a place as any to join in the party. Memphis-via-Portland’s Tragedy will be throwing down their quasi-melodic hardcore with local trio, Streetwalker, whose cake walk through blasty grind and murky sludge will help to work out the tension of the ol’ neck muscles. With the support of Cross and Frustration, this bill will leave the gravitophile weak in the knees and begging for more (see Saturday). Thank you, Lori!
Look at that poster! It’s a goddamn wizard, ostensibly perched upon a precipice, smoking a pipe, holding a staff, and gravely pointing down below to some ordained goal, or maybe a gathering evil… It’s beautiful. Is there any need to give any further description to a show with this poster and a band called Ancient Warlocks headlining? Yes, there will be immeasurable beards, denim, fuzzy guitars, and perma-grins. Yes, it will be heavy, it will be stony, and it will be awesome. Come Friday night, the U-district’s Rat & Raven will begin to fill with the thick fumes of Uzala, Fellwoods, and Crawlin’. Hopefully, all that bitchin’ riffage will be enough frat poison to convert the open-minded and send any willful douchebags scurrying back east of 17th in time for the Warlocks to summon their superwizard from outer space.
A notable local show promoter once remarked that he liked the music of Portland’s Ninja, but that he especially liked the (perhaps unintended) idea of the band: they are pretty much the worst ninjas in the World. They show up—announced—and proceed to make a hell of a racket for a good chunk of time. However, mastery of the silent and deadly art of ninjutsu is not a skill that is required to rock the fuck out of the Blue Moon on a Friday night and, luckily for them, they are otherwise fully equipped for that particular task. Guns of Barisal will be starting things off proper and loud, while recent Portland transplants, Key of Solomon, will be ending the night with a bang. A full night of bands that folks will be talking a great deal about before too long.
Saturday, May 26th
After 20 years and many struggles—finally deciding that they’re getting too old for this shit—classic Swedish grinders, Nasum, are headlining the Highline on Saturday on their final tour of the US and one of the first all-but-guaranteed sellouts of the Infinite Productions summer. Local buzzmakers, Black Breath, and the Vancouver crustpuppies in Mass Grave are their strong support, along with the epic blackened death grind of openers, Theories. This is one of those shows where earplugs are used less to keep the sound out than they are to keep the brains in.
Sunday, May 27th
In what must be an effort to ward off the over-30 senior (scene-ior?) citizens who would dare to think about attending a Sunday hardcore show, The Black Lodge has scheduled an arduous six-band marathon of unrelentingly punishing shit that somehow still escalates to a climax with the ultra-tight and briskly-paced brutality of Weekend Nachos (you know, you can always tell that a band lets the music speak for ifself when they pick a ridiculous name like Weekend Nachos). With a lineup including two Southern Lord signees, Dead In The Dirt and Heartless, as well as Cynarae and Raw Nerves, there will be no time to lie down for a nap, or room in the venue to do so anyway. Even openers, Teeph (hailing from Chico, CA), have been getting crazy good buzz lately. Come early, stay late, prepare to be packed in like a tin of sweaty, jostling sardines—if your old bones can handle the assault, you will feel fifteen again.
Tragedy, Nasum & Weekend Nachos - Grind weekend is complete!
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