The Casualties, Toxic Holocaust, Iron Reagan, Dry Spell, Occultist
Tuesday, March 13 at Strange Matter
The award for show of the year so far goes to The Casualties at Strange Matter. How often does Every. Single. Band. At one show kick so much ass? Everyone was absolutely on point tonight and I've got nothing shitty to say about anything! Hurray. Last time, I wrote about how poorly the Possessed show at Kingdom was organized. And besides seeing a handful of good bands, I generally look back on that experience in disdain. A poor turnout for a pretty important metal band just bums me out. But what are ya gonna do.
Strange Matter continues to do things right. College dropout affordability. Ten bucks to see this lineup? Kingdom might as well close its doors, unless you want to pay twice as much to see bands like Orgy (yes, that Orgy). There's also a bottomless cooler of Black Label, crusty beer of choice at this venue. Still can't afford it? Walk over to 7-11, spend $1.29 for a 24oz of Mickey's, and slam it in the alley. Be a part of history. No bathroom lines back here.
A show like this starts ON TIME, and Occultist wasted none of that getting the crowd warmed up. These floor dwellers don't need no fuckin' stage just like Yngwie don't need no donuts. I remember the first few times I saw Battlemaster, I just stood on the side with my jaw on the floor watching their drummer, Alex Tomlin, play. You should get the same feeling watching Leland Hoth effortlessly toil around on his throne. I've said it before, this guy is one of the best drummers in the area. No mics, no triggers--dude hits hard as fuck. One song has him playing 16th notes on the double bass for like 4-5 minutes straight? No consistency lost here as he shoots onlookers a glance, like, “What's up? Oh, this? Just some sikk fills.”
Well, maybe they could use some sound mixing, because the guitars and bass kind of muddle around in muddy purgatory, but the intensity isn't lost. The dudes kill, and their singer is fucking raw as shit. Her vocals cut through the crap just as much as they do on their album. She's scary.
I didn't even have time to finish my second lap in Neo Driftout before Dry Spell started warming up. I haven't seen these guys since Best Friends Day or some shit at the Bike Lot like two years ago, but they've definitely gotten better. I'm not gonna pretend to know shit about hardcore punk, cuz I don't, but they're as solid as anyone and they've got some really nice hair.
Iron Reagan stepped up next. If you had been middling around with their recent EP, wondering if you really liked them or not, then go see 'em live. The recording doesn't do them much justice, as these guys are all about live intensity. Phil Hall is a ripper of rippers on guitar and Tony Foresta delivers his trademark yellin' all over the place. Ryan Parrish and Paul Burnette (current/ex-Darkest Hour) fill out the rhythm section with sick groove (9x10 bass cab anyone?). If you live in Richmond, then you know what they sound like, but if they're playing a show, go see 'em. They're one of those bands.
Toxic Holocaust caught me by surprise with the amount of thrashiness they exude, and I think this night was the night I finally put it together: Thrash bands with one guitarist are the thrashiest of them all. It's nearly impossible to sync up two guitarists playing ripping fast ripper riffs. There's one less thing to mud up the stage when there's one guitarist going at his own pace. Wikipedia defines thrash as “usually characterized by shredding” and tonight, two bands showed us how it's done (the first being Iron Reagan). Alls they gotta do is make sure it's loud as fuck. Toxic Holocaust had the nastiest response from the crowd, and more than a few people went home with bruises and bumps (and herpes, if you used the bathrooms).
Im pretty sure the East Coast punx in The Casualties have played at every incarnation of 929 W. Grace, which existed before I could stop shitting my diapers. They topped off a perfect night. Jorge H. took a backseat for most of the gig, partying with himself in the back end of the stage while guitarist Jake K. took the duty of “frontman” for most of the set. It's all good though. Kids in the front got beers in their mouths, dudes got on stage and sang with the band, and there was enough stage-diving for me to make an entire photo collage. I'm no punk rocker, but everyone seemed really happy that night.
Kudos to the sound guys at Strange Matter for always getting a great sound out of every band, and to the air conditioning maintenance guy for keeping it hot as fuck. I wasn't even moving around, and I felt like I was gonna hit the floor from exhaustion. The kids in the pit must be on drugs. Feel no pain! As always, check out more pics on hardrockrva.blogspot.com, and find the stage diving photo collage on facebook so you can tag your friends and show how bad you really are.