SALOME/LANDMINE MARATHON/WETNURSE AT UNION POOL: A QUICK REVIEW
Video from the show in question by unartig
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a mosh pit at Union Pool before — there might have been one at the Unsane show earlier this year, but I was so far back in the tiny room that I couldn’t see shit. Generally speaking, though, the small space combined with the bar’s proximity to hipster territory (zero feet, zero inches) means that the polite head bob is usually the preferred expression of appreciation. Which is fine with me, really. I’m an old man. My back hurts. It’s late and I’m tired. I need a mosh pit like I need a new Kill Your Ex album, y’know?
But there were pits a-plenty last night. In fact, all three of these excellent bands got the place moving to some extent or another (with a little help from a trio of zealous female fans). And even the cranky gramps in me couldn’t get too irritated about that; all three bands killed, and deserved every ounce of love the crowd showed them. (“I’m not used to seeing you happy,” Vince told me. “Aren’t you supposed to be angry about something?”)
It’s been a long time since I last saw New York’s own Wetnurse live (this was their first show of 2010 and their only show of the summer), but I’m happy to report that they’re better than ever. It’s the contrast between the Adderall-sniff’d spasticity of front man Gene Fowler and the totally solid, tasty, timeless feel of the music that really gets me. I’m sitting here trying to think of other bands to which I can compare Wetnurse, and I can’t really think of any — which is a good sign. They’re apparently in the midst of writing their follow-up to 2008’s Invisible City, and I can’t wait to hear it.
Also courtesy unartig
The meat of the evening’s awesome sandwich was Landmine Marathon. If you read MetalSucks regularly, you know we love this band. But this was the first time I’ve gotten to see them live. I’ve heard a LOT of good things, and, luckily, they lived up to the hype. (Well, mostly. I’m told they’re even crazier when playing a venue with an eye-level stage. This was my first time seeing Salome on a raised platform, too, and I gotta say, it was sorta weird.) Grace Perry just jumped onto my “favorite screamers of modern metal” list. Her vocals were never anything less than monstrous, and she’s got charisma to burn — at various points throughout the band’s too-brief set, she smiled at the crowd in a manner which suggested she needs to be heavily medicated for the safety of society, stuck her fingers in her mouth and pulled back her cheeks as though to test their elasticity, and lept into the crowd (while still screaming her fucking guts out) to jump-start the pit herself (mission accomplished). Grace Perry goes GG Allin crazy, Greg Puciato crazy, Julie Christmas crazy. Which is what every vocalist who doesn’t also have to play an instrument should do.
And you think Landmine Marathon sound heavy on their albums? Fuck that. Live they are just a vicious, vicious, vicious band. I can’t wait to see them play again. (They’re playing at Cakeshop with Batillus on Thursday; alas, I don’t think I can make it, but if you’re in the area, you should definitely go.)
Salome rounded out the night. This is like the fifth or sixth time I’ve seen Salome in the past eighteen months, and I’m running out of nice things to say about them. I fucking love this band, and they were definitely meant to be experienced in a live setting. They’re currently working on a new album for Profound Lore, and they closed their set with a new song that mixed their usual throbbing, doomy goodness with schizophrenic thrash/grind sections, and, uh, can I hear this new record now please? Pretty please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?
unartig hasn’t uploaded any video of Salome as of yet, so here’s a poster for the show instead.
What a perfect bill, and perfect evening. Feel bad if you weren’t there.
-AR
