After what proved to be one hell of a Monday then one hell of a Tuesday morning, I was pretty glad to go see a show. Especially one headlined by the almighty Goatwhore.
I’ll start out and say that the picture options I had were rather limited. Although being granted a “photo” pass, the venue itself doesn’t actually have a place for photographers unless you are right up front. That and I had one camera without a charger, dead as a nail. And another with limited photo capacity in a dark room full of people with their hands in the air and generally “losing their shit”.
Enabler was originally set to open, but did not show. Now as to whether it was the Enabler from Milwaukee or Minneapolis was up for debate between a few people outside. (Eventually we settled that is was the Minneapolis one.) Either way, Eau Claire locals and ball-bust-grind-thrash-fuck-you-the-hell-up power trio Accusation did a more than formidable job of setting the tone for the night. I’ve seen a fair amount of local bands, not necessarily in my town, but others and Accusation brought a fury whip that left me in awe with my jaw wide open. That 3 men can be that loud, savage, vicious and yet still sound clear is amazing. They played a rather ‘no frills’ set, although vocalist/guitarist Palmer made a trip out into the crowd and did have his guitar get unplugged. The band did not miss a single beat though. Vocalist/bassit Joe was even reminiscent of a slightly slower John Chan (Gridlink, Discordinant Axis) with a higher pitched vocal delivery. Palmer himself, a solid guitar player and vocalist, sounded equally as good. Drummer Brad looked and played like a machine. Not to say he was boring and mundane, quite the opposite. The guy plays rock solid and never missed a beat. After their set I managed to catch up with them and even get their new EP on tape. (These guys sound entirely different live than they do on record. I only hope bigger and better things come for these guys. As long as they stop drinking Blats. For real Joe??)
3 Inches of Blood were next. Now between my piss/smoke/bullshit/reply to emails, I missed getting over to see their whole set. I was able to watch it from the other side of the venue on a flat screen TV, all while hearing them from the other side. They sounded clean and strong as ever. Vocalist Cam Pipes, with his unwavering metal howl, led the band (Ash Pearson/drums, Shane Clark/guitar, Justin Hagberg/bass) through a set of classic heavy metal. What songs I did catch sounded great. “Metal Woman”, “Crazy Nights” and “Deadly Sinners” all rang out perfect. And the crowd loved it as well. If there were really any doubts in the fans before 3 Inches of Blood played, they were laid to rest by the size of the merch line after their set.
Myself and Goatwhore guitarist Sammy Duet. Although it looks like we’re holding hands in a shared bond of metal, he’s actually flipping me off for making a short joke. He’s totally not standing on a step next to me though. Totally not. 😉 (Sorry Sammy, at least your hair isn’t red.)
Another round of bathroom breaks/cigarettes/bullshit sessions and the almighty Goatwhore were setting up to play. Most the crowd seemed enthusiastic. The last time they had played in Eau Claire was three years ago, and everyone had been waiting for their return.
It was three years well worth the wait. (So worth it in fact, that I wasn’t able to get a damn clear picture!)
While setting up and sound checking, most people were ordering drinks and chatting. And then out of fucking nowhere lead singer Ben Falgoust appeared with a vicious scream while the band summoned demons right with him. Pulling tracks from all five albums, they know exactly how to move a crowd and keep it going. Drummer Zack Simmons made it look easy the entire time, rarely showing much emotion aside from playing fucking drums! James “Not The Shit Doctor” Harvey (bass) was loud and clear in the mix. He and guitarist Sammy Duet swapped places back and forth on stage throughout the set, occasionally breaking smiles out of their manes of hair. Sammy’s backing vocal delivery is just as strong as any vocalist in other bands. And as far as his guitar playing goes, to me, not many can touch it. Solid riff after riff and never letting up, aside from between songs occasionally and to respond to a semi-inebriated concert goer who was quickly quieted by comments about his mother. (hahaha) Don’t get me started on his solos either. While some may say they’re simple or not very innovative; the fucking wheel was made years ago, there are just many different types available! Ben was also in fine form; the man’s voice never gets weak at all. In-between spewing his unholy vocals to the crowd, he thanked everyone for their enthusiasm, slapped hands with people up front and poked at a fan or two (all in good fun). The crowd loved every minute of it as well. Fists in the air on command, chants when told, horns being throw and even a crowd surfer whom at one point I thought was down, only to fly right back up. The mosh pit, while energetic, isn’t allowed a whole lot of room. And whatever was lacked from that area, was entirely made up for. Myself, I’m not a big guy at all, and after being smacked in the nose a few years ago (I used to have a bullring in my nose), I’m ok with just standing to the side, throwing my hands in the air and just taking in the tunes. There were plenty of people doing the same, but no one’s eyes really left the stage.
After they closed out the show with the now classic ‘Apocalyptic Havoc’ many ‘Thank you’s were said, hand slapped and shook and drinks shared with some members of the crowd. A very good show, to say the least. Goatwhore and 3 Inches of Blood will be on tour in the US through May 15th. Dates can be found at www.goatwhore.net. Be sure to check out the show when it comes by your town. And buy some fucking merch!
I would like to thank Liz from Earsplit PR for her quick work on such short notice. (It’s ok Liz, I just don’t look like an “Evan”)
