Year in Review 2023

In 2023 I made it to a total of 8 live shows.  

One show per month for February, June, July, August and October and three! in September.  I thought summer time would be have seen more shows and I'm really surprised that I saw 3 in Sept given how busy things get around here (school and holidays). 

Favorite Show: SBC, runner up: The Beths

I also bought tickets to these shows but couldn't make it for one reason or another:

• Tree at Ralphs Diner on Mar 24 (Fordy couldn't make it)
• Covet at Royale on Apr 27 (week night, exhausted)
• Voice of Baceprot at the Middle East on Aug 12 (traveling for work)
• Danzig at MGM on Sep 11 (tried and failed to do a double header with the Battles show)
• MSSV (Mike Watt) at the Middle East on Oct 13 (family trip)
• Christian McNeil at The Fallout Shelter on Nov 3 (sick)
• Amyl and the Sniffers at Roadrunner on Nov 4 (sick)

Overall, it was a great year for shows and I'm looking forward to getting to a few more in 2024.  The big one will be Metallica/Pantera in August.

Sam Black Church @ The Palladium, Oct 28 2023

The Kings are back! Shout out to my boy Dennis for battling a curse and an illness to still make it just in time for SBC's first song.  Dedication. 

TBH didn't get many photos or videos cause I was too busy having fun up front.  Here are pics from returntothepit.com and Tinnitus Photography.

There was a huge merch line, and some killer merch. Love the bright orange color, which reminds me of an old metal/hardcore album cover... Toxic Narcotic, Trip Hammer?

Lots of amazing t-shirts being worn as well:

- Loads of Tree shirts

- Raw Radar War in the style of Bolt Thrower

- OLW Teeming Billions (from the Julie Duffy fund raiser)

Plus 

 

I missed Scissorfight but caught Leeway and Killing Time.  Eddie Leeway is still hanging in there, 2 years with cancer. Did not look good but he was still doing his thing.  KFG.  This is my second time seeing Killing Time in 6 months.  Great band, crowd was really into them and I get a kick out of the lead singer (aka The Teletubby).  Don't forget:  "duct tape works on everything", he says as the guitar player is repairing his strap mid show.

Yours truly is in the above shot

SBC played for about an hour and 15 minutes.  Great set list covering the whole purple album and a wide range from Let in Life and the 'red album', plus locked unit 98.  Jett crowd surfed on me a bunch of times and I got the mic for one instance on Disco Inferno - Burn Baby Burn!! 

Also ran into Big Mike and when he picked me up (as he does), I think the crowd was getting ready for a fight LOL.  Jett finished the show from the floor in the pit and then hung out afterwards to shake hands, take photos etc.  What a guy. 

Set List (from SBC)

Thee Oh Sees @ Royale, Sep 20 2023

I missed the opener "Population II".  Seems like a cool band from Montreal.  Old sound, good playing from what I've heard on Spotify. 

The crowd had a lot of energy and a big age range. Some mild crowd surfing and lots of bouncing and pogo up front. There was also a young guy with a Bim Skala Bim shirt!

A tight rhythm section was the main draw to get me out of the house on a work night.

The Oh Sees has dual drummers and they were amazing. Sometimes they played totally in sync and sometimes one played the back beat and while the other played fills over it. Both had Vistalite sets and Paiste cymbals, which really matched the aesthetic and sound of the band.

The bass player was giving me major "Joe Lalli" vibes. He laid a solid foundation and groove while being pretty mellow on the side of the drummers.

Dwyer had a great overdrive fuzzed out guitar sound and I'm always a fan of the high playing position. “Ooo wooo!” 

As for Royale itself - it's tattered, old and very unwelcoming for bands and guests.  They take a cut of the merch.  They had the most old school open urinal setup that I thought I was in Fenway pissing in a trough.  No ADA/accessibility accommodations, the balcony was closed and the bouncers outside gave off a late 90s goon vibe.  Compare Royale to Roadrunner, which has really set the bar high for a medium/large size club in all respects.