Compared to my previous reviews, this will be quite show, considering I fucked up by not heading down right on time. Still though, my buddy and I managed to capture the chaos ensued at the Strangelight. Those there will probably agree that was one hell of a show, so I guess it wouldn't be wrong to say it was.
As I said, I messed up with the start time, considering the last two shows I've been too at the Strangelight usually begin an hour later and I didn't really feel like waiting around for an hour so I headed down and arrived at 8. In doing so, I missed out on seeing
Noose and
Get Rad. I guess I'll have to wait it out for another Noose show, sadly but I managed to snag me a copy of their 7 inch so it sort of makes up for it. Get Rad also falls into that category, minus any merch snagging. Walking into the Strangelight felt almost similar to entering the first gates of hell; a massive wave of heat was felt throughout the venue, mixed in with an aroma of man sweat. Considering that Noose and Get Rad played, it didn't bring much surprise but damn, they sure left a mark that night.
With Noose and Get Rad out of the picture, the first band we witnessed was
10,000 leagues, a quartet of Los Angeles natives. The band was pretty chaotic, no joke. Playing in the realm of Power Violence, 10,000 Leagues shredded through their set with no problems or hassle. They culled through their recent release and discography, before playing what I considered to be a highlight (a
Spitboy cover). 10,000 Leagues are definitely a band to keep an eye on if you're interested in Power violence. Even more so, I was impressed how the band even trekked on during their set, considering how ridiculously fast they were the entire time. We saw each member afterwards literally drenched in sweat, as they paced around outside. Jesus Christ.
Loma Prieta was up afterwards, which by this time my buddy and I were near the back of the venue. I hadn't heard much of this band, so my curiosity was at a high level once they came on. The San Francisco band features members of
Punch,
Sailboats,
Beau Navire, among others that give a better picture of what they might sound like. The band still played a pretty tight set with a good portion of the audience digging their tunes.
Last but certainly not least, Punch came on right after Loma Prieta and got the crowd started early. This was first time playing in Chicago, although they tried to make a show here happen (the ceremony tour from last year in particular, but dropped due to injury sustained by the vocalist), None the less, from the few ten seconds just starting into their set list, we were pushed immediately toward the front, catching a good sight of their vocalist just screaming her guts out into the mic. There was hardly a moment of the audience stopping the madness, even engaging in crowd surfing despite the limited amount of space and wide array of pipes coming off the basement ceiling. Still, Punch blazed through incorporating their own brand of hardcore, mixed in with power violence influences that would bring shivers down your spine. I was struck by how crazy the place got, even drenching myself with sweat in the process. Punch even pulled a new song in the mix, released on their recent EP, that got a great reception of the crowd, myself included. They certainly made an impression and I instantly felt glad I finally caught their live act. Fantastic!
Though I managed to miss the opening bands, the show didn't bring any disappointment what so ever. Much thanks to Joe of Lifeline Records for making this all possible. Posted below is the link to Deathwish Records, in case you wanted to purchase the new EP from Punch. I'll probably post up a review from
The Men show at Waterworks last week so keep an eye out for that, along with future LP reviews from
Razorxfade,
Night Birds, and much more. Looks like one fantastic year in the world of punk, Cheers!
Deathwish Records
