CHEMLAB AFTERMATH
Holy fucking shit!
That was a godamned industrial show!
Last night at the Howling Wolf, we had the rare pleasure of putting on Chemlab with 16 Volt, Left Spine Down and Suicide Assyst.
Good ole S.A., our local favorites, the hardest working kids in the scene rolled out some familiar and some not so familiar tracks. The addition of their new bassist, Graham, was welcome and added yet a further level of polish to their promising act, and I'm all about anyone who opens up their set with the wailing sirens from Silent Hill. Nice touch, guys!
They were quickly followed by the INSANE antics of Left Spine Down. These guys are WAY too young to be this good! Front man Kane, professional maniac, gave a balls out high energy performance that puts even MSI to shame. Outlandish costumes, wireless mikes, megaphones and whipping heavy shit at the audience had me throwing notes on stage begging him to turn it down a notch before we all got throw out. Did I mention they're Canadian? It shows. My people are freakin loco. But the energy level was no gimmick and the boys rolled out track after track of danceable drum-n-bass and punk influenced industrial that had this old girl moshing with the big boys in the audience. Their cover of Joy Division's 'She's Lost Control' was a jaw dropper. We'll be seeing more of them.
Next up was the unparalleled Eric Powel with 16 Volt. For support, he had Steve White of KMFDM and Mike Peoples formally of Skrew. Now THAT'S a pedigree. These poor guys were in the midst of a catastrophic stomach flu, and Eric apologized repeatedly to me for their low key performance. If that was low key, I don't want to see high! They stayed current, but didn't forget their fans with older classics. Dirty, angry and mean - that's some sweet Industrial.
And finally we had Jared Louche and his troupe with Chemlab. Fucking CHEMLAB YA HEARD! These are the guys who COINED THE TERM RIVETHEAD! Frankly, I was a little concerned, after the top notch performances we had just seen that Jared, in his fifties now would be a let down.
I had nothing to worry about. To open the set, their support (drummer from Unter Null, small scene, eh?) wheeled Jared out on a gigantic stolen ladder. And things just got more intense from there. Jared made the younger guys look like amateurs, rocking out like the Industrial Mick Jagger, decked in velvet and feathers, all snarling attitude that makes a real rock star. 'Summer of Hate', 'Chemical Halo' all my favorites were thrown out with pounding drums and fantastic guitar while the band broke as much shit as possible on stage. DAMN!
So my ass is a bit grass with the Wolf, but fuck it if I care! Those were the worst behaved, most off the chain, no fucking around rivetheads I'm sure I'll be seeing anytime soon. Truly, I wish I could retire this instant, because I'll be damned to know how ole Corrosion Productions is going to top that show. If you love industrial music, and you missed last night, suicide may be your only option.
That was a godamned industrial show!
Last night at the Howling Wolf, we had the rare pleasure of putting on Chemlab with 16 Volt, Left Spine Down and Suicide Assyst.
Good ole S.A., our local favorites, the hardest working kids in the scene rolled out some familiar and some not so familiar tracks. The addition of their new bassist, Graham, was welcome and added yet a further level of polish to their promising act, and I'm all about anyone who opens up their set with the wailing sirens from Silent Hill. Nice touch, guys!
They were quickly followed by the INSANE antics of Left Spine Down. These guys are WAY too young to be this good! Front man Kane, professional maniac, gave a balls out high energy performance that puts even MSI to shame. Outlandish costumes, wireless mikes, megaphones and whipping heavy shit at the audience had me throwing notes on stage begging him to turn it down a notch before we all got throw out. Did I mention they're Canadian? It shows. My people are freakin loco. But the energy level was no gimmick and the boys rolled out track after track of danceable drum-n-bass and punk influenced industrial that had this old girl moshing with the big boys in the audience. Their cover of Joy Division's 'She's Lost Control' was a jaw dropper. We'll be seeing more of them.
Next up was the unparalleled Eric Powel with 16 Volt. For support, he had Steve White of KMFDM and Mike Peoples formally of Skrew. Now THAT'S a pedigree. These poor guys were in the midst of a catastrophic stomach flu, and Eric apologized repeatedly to me for their low key performance. If that was low key, I don't want to see high! They stayed current, but didn't forget their fans with older classics. Dirty, angry and mean - that's some sweet Industrial.
And finally we had Jared Louche and his troupe with Chemlab. Fucking CHEMLAB YA HEARD! These are the guys who COINED THE TERM RIVETHEAD! Frankly, I was a little concerned, after the top notch performances we had just seen that Jared, in his fifties now would be a let down.
I had nothing to worry about. To open the set, their support (drummer from Unter Null, small scene, eh?) wheeled Jared out on a gigantic stolen ladder. And things just got more intense from there. Jared made the younger guys look like amateurs, rocking out like the Industrial Mick Jagger, decked in velvet and feathers, all snarling attitude that makes a real rock star. 'Summer of Hate', 'Chemical Halo' all my favorites were thrown out with pounding drums and fantastic guitar while the band broke as much shit as possible on stage. DAMN!
So my ass is a bit grass with the Wolf, but fuck it if I care! Those were the worst behaved, most off the chain, no fucking around rivetheads I'm sure I'll be seeing anytime soon. Truly, I wish I could retire this instant, because I'll be damned to know how ole Corrosion Productions is going to top that show. If you love industrial music, and you missed last night, suicide may be your only option.