DEAD WINTER DAYS
Okay so due to a large clusterfuck my family decided to have Christmas early (like uh, on Monday evening I think) and I got a new lens, a 35mm 1.8f prime (and a flash unit and a really lovely skeleton watch) and so I decided to try to get a reaaaaallly last minute photo pass for the Agalloch show. Luckily the guys at Agalloch's label are really cool dudes and very friendly and didn't mind my super last minute request and hooked me up with one (that it turns out I didn't need since nobody at the venue gave a fuck about cameras)
So here is my Agalloch concert post plus a shitton of photos.
Wow ok so. I got there and waited in line freezing my tits off (IT'S NEVER COLD IN SAN FRANCISCO EXCEPT FOR WHEN I HAVE TO WAIT IN LINE FOR SHOWS) for like an hour and then went in and got a pretty sweet place within the first 3 rows (it changed. a lot.)
Dispirit opened. THEY MELTED MY FACE OFF. Their drummer is like the coolest guy to ever live and totally carried the rest of the band (even though they were awesome too. HOLY SHIT THE DRUMMER. I guess a more proper way of putting it was that the music seemed to be built around the drumbeat?)
They're really kvlt and don't have a website or anything so I can't easily link to samples. Anyway, they were like black/doom metal. Hot damn their vocalist can howl, too.
Then was Allekhrwgbkrhsg okay christ I have no idea what their name is nor do I really care? They were um. Interesting. Like, I enjoyed their music... Sort of? It was like electronica/ambient/... okay you know what, we're going to wiki for this one because their band description is kind of precious. "Allerseelen are the experimental, post-industrial and military pop music works of Austrian musician Gerhard Petak, aka Kadmon." wait no IT GETS BETTER: "Their music is inspired by nature and has a strong philosophical/alchemical context inspired by the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche, Ernst Jünger, Carl Jung and Julius Evola."
AHAHAHAHAAH OH WOW. So anyway their music was really groovy but they are not a band that I really liked seeing live? Their beats/overall melodies were really nice, but they were too repetitive and/or went on for way too fucking long and I have no idea how their lyrics could have been based on anything because it was the vocalist shouting random words auf Deutch over and over and over. Overall, not sure if like? Their vocalist also spat all over the place and I could tell which side he tucked to. :| He was kind of fruity, in that really uptight German way.
Rating: If I'm gonna listen to pretentious Austrian music, I'm gonna listen to Samsas Traum, dammit.
AND THEN.
AGALLOCH. Oh my gooddd. So these people behind me had been freaking the fuck out over: 1. "Will there be moshing I mean, I don't want to get caught in the pit or anything. Except I'm standing right here, where the pit will form." (uh no, it's Agalloch.) 2. "OH NO I HEAR AGALLOCH HAS A SEVERED DEER (or goat? I don't even remember) LEG. I MEAN, I KILL ANIMALS FOR SPORT, BUT LIKE, I DON'T WANT TO SEE A SEVERED ANIMAL LEG AT A SHOW." 3. "OH NO I HEAR AGALLOCH SPITS GOAT'S BLOOD ALL OVER THE CROWD" (they don't)
So of course I had to text mysticyourheart (despite the fact that he was like one person away from me) about this hilarity. Because seriously, who goes to a black metal show and freaks out over something like that?
Anyway, Agalloch had a long setup, which is good because that's where my best photos of them came from. THEY BROUGHT THEIR OWN DEAD TREES! And they brought little cauldrons and they burned agarwood (also known as... agalloch.) And yes, they had severed deer legs. Not one, but two. They were nicely preserved and not offensive in the least bit. In fact, they looked kinda fake.
Unfortunately because the show was in San Francisco, that means that everything previously assumed about the crowd is completely fucking backwards so for the first time in ever, there was indeed Moshing at an Agalloch show. I wasn't really expecting it and got forced backwards out of my spot and had to make the decision to protect my camera or to fight back up to the front, and since the front was getting kind of groce and sweaty I decided to err towards the camera. So I escaped from the crowd and went and got a beer. The shitty part is that the moshing really only lasted for the first song or two, so had I held my ground I could have made it back up there. But I also wouldn't have been able to have my beer, so I'm not entirely sure which choice was better in the long run.
That probably should have been the end of my tale (other than that Agalloch raped what was left of my face from Dispirit's previous facemelting and then melted off that part too AWWWWYEAAAAAH) except for the fact that I had brought my telephoto zoom lens and I decided to use it despite its really shitty low-light performance. I got some okay-ish photos? I wouldn't call any of what I took particularly good at all as far as concert photos go, but at least the vast majority of it is relatively clear. There was also this really drunk guy standing near me playing air guitar.
Oh yeah, and they played DEAD WINTER DAYS YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
The riff starting at 5:02 sounds even more amazing in person.
So a ton of these pictures are just random parts of the venue, because the venue is really pretty.
DISPIRIT
Dispirit's vocalist/guitarist. They abused the smoke machine so there aren't many clear photos of anybody's faces. I think I may have popped their kvlt cherry by taking these?!
You can also sort of see their bassist. I didn't get any other photos of him because he was really well hidden.
I really loved his guitar.
Other guitarist.
PANTS-SHITTINGLY AWESOME DRUMMER.
Allesdfkhgsghgsg
CAN YOU TELL WHICH SIDE HE TUCKS TO?
This pic is really bad and overexposed, but I like the dust floating in the background.
He's totally making a :> face.
Aesop has been vandalizing drum kits.
XOX AESOP
AGALLOCH
John's mass of pedals.
THE MENACING DEER LIMBS. I'M SO SACARED, YOU GUYS. I MEAN, THEY ARE SO TOTALLY ~*GROCE*~.
I didn't get a good look at Agalloch's merch but I will be really pissed if they don't have something with this dude on it.
John is kind of moe. He is also possibly shorter than Danzig.
A slight variation. S-shut up he is adorable.
Fuck yeah Aesop.
I spent all of Allehswehjwg's set noticing how damned pretty Agalloch's logo is. As a result, I took a ton of pictures of it.
Deer limbs + mini cauldron + burning agarwood. Burning agarwood smells really nice, and so I had to look on Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab's website to see if they have any scents with it, and they do. I'm sort of tempted to buy a bottle now. Unfortunately both scents are part of some special set and so I don't think that they sell imps of either. /PERFUME RAMBLING IN MAH METAL POST
HIS EYELASHES ARE SO LONG.
Don.
Aesop's face, you guys.
Jason.
From this point on the photos were taken with a telephoto zoom from the balcony, after beer.
He and the deer are making a similar shape and I find this amusing.
THE END.
So here is my Agalloch concert post plus a shitton of photos.
Wow ok so. I got there and waited in line freezing my tits off (IT'S NEVER COLD IN SAN FRANCISCO EXCEPT FOR WHEN I HAVE TO WAIT IN LINE FOR SHOWS) for like an hour and then went in and got a pretty sweet place within the first 3 rows (it changed. a lot.)
Dispirit opened. THEY MELTED MY FACE OFF. Their drummer is like the coolest guy to ever live and totally carried the rest of the band (even though they were awesome too. HOLY SHIT THE DRUMMER. I guess a more proper way of putting it was that the music seemed to be built around the drumbeat?)
They're really kvlt and don't have a website or anything so I can't easily link to samples. Anyway, they were like black/doom metal. Hot damn their vocalist can howl, too.
Then was Allekhrwgbkrhsg okay christ I have no idea what their name is nor do I really care? They were um. Interesting. Like, I enjoyed their music... Sort of? It was like electronica/ambient/... okay you know what, we're going to wiki for this one because their band description is kind of precious. "Allerseelen are the experimental, post-industrial and military pop music works of Austrian musician Gerhard Petak, aka Kadmon." wait no IT GETS BETTER: "Their music is inspired by nature and has a strong philosophical/alchemical context inspired by the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche, Ernst Jünger, Carl Jung and Julius Evola."
AHAHAHAHAAH OH WOW. So anyway their music was really groovy but they are not a band that I really liked seeing live? Their beats/overall melodies were really nice, but they were too repetitive and/or went on for way too fucking long and I have no idea how their lyrics could have been based on anything because it was the vocalist shouting random words auf Deutch over and over and over. Overall, not sure if like? Their vocalist also spat all over the place and I could tell which side he tucked to. :| He was kind of fruity, in that really uptight German way.
Rating: If I'm gonna listen to pretentious Austrian music, I'm gonna listen to Samsas Traum, dammit.
AND THEN.
AGALLOCH. Oh my gooddd. So these people behind me had been freaking the fuck out over: 1. "Will there be moshing I mean, I don't want to get caught in the pit or anything. Except I'm standing right here, where the pit will form." (uh no, it's Agalloch.) 2. "OH NO I HEAR AGALLOCH HAS A SEVERED DEER (or goat? I don't even remember) LEG. I MEAN, I KILL ANIMALS FOR SPORT, BUT LIKE, I DON'T WANT TO SEE A SEVERED ANIMAL LEG AT A SHOW." 3. "OH NO I HEAR AGALLOCH SPITS GOAT'S BLOOD ALL OVER THE CROWD" (they don't)
So of course I had to text mysticyourheart (despite the fact that he was like one person away from me) about this hilarity. Because seriously, who goes to a black metal show and freaks out over something like that?
Anyway, Agalloch had a long setup, which is good because that's where my best photos of them came from. THEY BROUGHT THEIR OWN DEAD TREES! And they brought little cauldrons and they burned agarwood (also known as... agalloch.) And yes, they had severed deer legs. Not one, but two. They were nicely preserved and not offensive in the least bit. In fact, they looked kinda fake.
Unfortunately because the show was in San Francisco, that means that everything previously assumed about the crowd is completely fucking backwards so for the first time in ever, there was indeed Moshing at an Agalloch show. I wasn't really expecting it and got forced backwards out of my spot and had to make the decision to protect my camera or to fight back up to the front, and since the front was getting kind of groce and sweaty I decided to err towards the camera. So I escaped from the crowd and went and got a beer. The shitty part is that the moshing really only lasted for the first song or two, so had I held my ground I could have made it back up there. But I also wouldn't have been able to have my beer, so I'm not entirely sure which choice was better in the long run.
That probably should have been the end of my tale (other than that Agalloch raped what was left of my face from Dispirit's previous facemelting and then melted off that part too AWWWWYEAAAAAH) except for the fact that I had brought my telephoto zoom lens and I decided to use it despite its really shitty low-light performance. I got some okay-ish photos? I wouldn't call any of what I took particularly good at all as far as concert photos go, but at least the vast majority of it is relatively clear. There was also this really drunk guy standing near me playing air guitar.
Oh yeah, and they played DEAD WINTER DAYS YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
Click to viewThe riff starting at 5:02 sounds even more amazing in person.
So a ton of these pictures are just random parts of the venue, because the venue is really pretty.
DISPIRIT
Dispirit's vocalist/guitarist. They abused the smoke machine so there aren't many clear photos of anybody's faces. I think I may have popped their kvlt cherry by taking these?!
You can also sort of see their bassist. I didn't get any other photos of him because he was really well hidden.
I really loved his guitar.
Other guitarist.
PANTS-SHITTINGLY AWESOME DRUMMER.
Allesdfkhgsghgsg
CAN YOU TELL WHICH SIDE HE TUCKS TO?
This pic is really bad and overexposed, but I like the dust floating in the background.
He's totally making a :> face.
Aesop has been vandalizing drum kits.
XOX AESOP
AGALLOCH
John's mass of pedals.
THE MENACING DEER LIMBS. I'M SO SACARED, YOU GUYS. I MEAN, THEY ARE SO TOTALLY ~*GROCE*~.
I didn't get a good look at Agalloch's merch but I will be really pissed if they don't have something with this dude on it.
John is kind of moe. He is also possibly shorter than Danzig.
A slight variation. S-shut up he is adorable.
Fuck yeah Aesop.
I spent all of Allehswehjwg's set noticing how damned pretty Agalloch's logo is. As a result, I took a ton of pictures of it.
Deer limbs + mini cauldron + burning agarwood. Burning agarwood smells really nice, and so I had to look on Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab's website to see if they have any scents with it, and they do. I'm sort of tempted to buy a bottle now. Unfortunately both scents are part of some special set and so I don't think that they sell imps of either. /PERFUME RAMBLING IN MAH METAL POST
HIS EYELASHES ARE SO LONG.
Don.
Aesop's face, you guys.
Jason.
From this point on the photos were taken with a telephoto zoom from the balcony, after beer.
He and the deer are making a similar shape and I find this amusing.
THE END.