Fucked Up, Vincent Black Shadow, Deep Sleep, Surroundings – Talking Head, Balitmore MD
Fucked Up is one of the few active bands that I will go and see anytime they play within a 120 mile radius of where I am living. I have no idea how many times that I have seen them, but I can say that these shows span now fewer than 4 cities and 2 countries. For me, much of their draw exists in the unpredictable, manic nature of their shows. When I saw them in DC, the band was all suffering from different degrees of the flu at the trail end of a tour, and Pink Eyes claimed it would be the last Fucked Up show ever. This was proceeded by him leaving the stage to vomit, and then return to play 2 more songs. This sort of disinformation, and maniacal energy pretty nicely sums up the band’s existence.
Fucked Up’s recent show in Baltimore caught them riding on the high-half of band bi-polarity, and was not only the best Fucked Up show I have ever seen, but probably one of the greatest live shows I have every been privy to. But before we get too far into that, let’s lay some ground work.
The show was at the Talking Head in Baltimore, which is about a 45 minute trek from my corner of the District, it’s not too bad, but I always worry that going to Charm City is going mean my life somehow ends up resembling an episode of “The Wire,” which I would like to avoid at all costs. The venue was down some alley, who’s entrance was second only to Pittsburgh’s Millvale Industrial Theatre (R.I.P.) in terms of hazards encountered to enter. The club was tiny, and loud and packed – these are all good things for a Fucked Up show.
The problem with opening for a band like Fucked Up is that they are not just a punk or hardcore band in sound, but more importantly in attitude. The importance of punk was that it saved rock from its excesses, stereotypes and triteness. A sort of plowing the fields under so they could once again be fertile. The problem is that we are now 30 years out from that initial punk rebellion, and bands are still more or less marching lockstep with the same attitude and sounds from three decades prior.
Deep Sleep was probably the most prototypical example of this at the show. The singer has a Gauze back patch, and low and behold, the band sounded like Gauze, who sounded like whatever band happened to be on their lead singer’s back patch. I am not saying this to put down the band, or dissuade1anyone from liking them. What I am trying to say, is that as a rule, I generally find the source material more interesting than something that has been dubbed and distilled 100 times over. It is the equivalent of when you try and watch your friend’s copy of Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues only to realized is a 1000th generation copy – you get the idea, but it does not seem as powerful or moving as it should be.
Surroundings moved through an 7 – 8 song set in about 15 minutes, including all the time for whatever tuning/banter was necessary. They played a delightful cross for thrash and spazz that was entertaining and certainly warmed everyone up, but again, if I want to listen to spazz and thrash, I will probably just listen to Spazz, Crucial Unit or Charles Bronson.
This brings us to Vincent Black Shadow, who have found the lovely swath of musical possibility that exists between Lemmy’s contributions to the musical cannon – Hawkwind and Motorhead. Agro, barked vocals over driving power-chords that occasionally slip off into some psychedelic bridges and solos (think early Dead Meadow). They were the first band in a long time that have truly surprised me – I had never heard of them, let alone having actually heard them play a song, and I left with their entire discography. The live show is definitely worth catching for the way they have managed to take 70s cock-rock/hard-rock posturing and apply a punk and metal ethos to it. It’s highly recommended.
So this brings us to Fucked Up, who were nothing short of 100% on point. What has always struck me as impressive about the band is the way they manage to balance the greatest problem of punk and hardcore – if make an album that sounds like a show, it never seems to truly capture the energy and it gets a little tired sounding halfway through. If you make and album that isn’t boring you are prone to play shows that are too self-indulgent, you end up being Neil Peart or Dennis DeYoung and generally coming off as a total wank. The band’s latest record Chemistry of Common Lifewas one of my favorite of last year, and I thought it was a nice recovery from the slightly disappointing Hidden World. The record is challenging and engaging, but can be easily scaled back and energetic when it comes time to perform it live. Strip out the string section add three awesome guitar parts – it all works well.
There is little doubt that the albums are about 10,000 Marbles (Mike Haliechuk), while the live shows are all about Father Damian aka Pink Eyes (Damian Abraham). Pink Eyes was nothing less than resplendent in Baltimore, interesting and funny tuning banter, moving on and off the stage, crawling like on all fours through the mosh pit, and my personal highlight, walking to the back of the club (stringing the mic chord all the way) and lying down, topless and sweaty on the bar while singing. The band, like on their best nights, seemed to be feeding off of all of the energy abound. They managed to crank through most of my favorite songs including:
- “Son of the Father”
- “Twice Born”
- “Black Albino Bones”
- “Crusades”
- “Baiting the Public”
- “Colour Removal”
- “Police”
The crowd took a break just after midnight to sing “Happy Birthday” to the rhythm guitarist Concentration Camp aka Gulag (Josh Zucker), and then he and Pink Eyes traded guitar and vocal duties, and Gulag closed out the night singing their last song crowd surfing.
In other important news, I was able to pick up a copy of the German pressing of the “Two Snakes” 7″ (“Zwei Schlangen” auf Deutsch – sounds pornographic no?).
Go see Fucked Up if they play around you – tour dates are here.
And here is their new (and first ever) video for “Crooked Head” off The Chemistry of Common Life
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPWFnti4pas[/youtube]
1. This originally read, “dis-sway,” as I am functionally illiterate. Special thanks to Liz C. for helping to correct my spelling-related short-comings.
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