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Somnus farewell show
The Squirts farewell show
Somnus farewell show featuring Embers to
Ashes, Soulless, and Manticore
Peabody’s
01-06-03
It was cold and crappy out, but what do you expect for
a January night in Cleveland? The weather didn’t stop a respectable crowd
from coming out to Peabody’s for an evening of metal, though. Embers to
Ashes started the night’s entertainment with a set of techno flavored euro
thrash that reminded me of later day Samael and Moonspell. There were a few
duds in their set, but the good outweighed the bad. ETA is definitely a
band with potential, though, and I look forward to seeing them again.
It may have been Somnus’ party, but that didn’t stop
Soulless from playing like they were the headliners. The band tore through
a set of blazing thrash pulled from their two albums, and threw in a cover
of Iron Maiden’s “Purgatory” for good measure. The band benefited (as did
all the evening’s acts) from an excellent mix that had the vocals and guitar
harmonies coming through crisp and clear. When Vocalist Jim Lippuci spit
out about half his can of Pabst Blue Ribbon, Soulless were done.
For a band playing its last show, Somnus seemed to be
in pretty good spirits. With drummer Chris Stolle moving to California and
keyboard player/vocalist Rhiannon wanting to move on to other projects, the
rest of Somnus decided that time had come for them. They went out on top
of their game, though, with an excellent final show at Peabody’s. Playing
for just about an hour, the band touched on both their albums, turning in
flawless renditions of songs like "Warlock's Feast", “The Gate of Wolves”, and “Beyond
the Shores” among
others.
Closing out the evening was Manticore. They have a
good stage presence, sound tight, and clearly know how to play well. Not
surprisingly Manticore has its fair share of hardcore fans. Unfortunately
I’m just not one of them. Any hard core black metal fans out there that
want to do a review on these guys next time they play, I’d love to post it.
They deserve a fair assessment form someone who appreciates the style. (Bob
Ignizio)
For pictures, click
here.
The Squirts farewell show featuring The
Antisocialists, The Jackknife Powerbombs, and The Chrome Kickers
The Phantasy
01-10-03
With a U.N. Flag covered by a big red ‘X’ serving as
backdrop, the Antisocialists were by far the most serious band of the
evening. They were tighter than when I last saw them in August. The songs
they’ve been playing for a while like “The Peacekeepers”, “Microchip
Society”, and “Operation Gardenplot” sounded great. A couple new songs,
including a cover of The Dead Kennedy’s “Moon Over Marin” and a new original
called “Trafficant Jam” were a little rough, but a few more practices ought
to fix that.
Then it was time for the guys in the matching
red-orange shirts to take the stage. The Jackknife Powerbombs are extremely
energetic and fun to watch. I’m not a big fan, but I can see why others
are. I did enjoy their version of Black Flag’s “Rise Above”, though.
Live fast, die young – who needs it? The Chrome
Kickers are punk survivors, featuring past members of Cleveland legends The
Plague and The Defnics among others. I wasn’t familiar with most of the
material, but it sounded good to my ears. Good drinking music with shout
along choruses. I did recognize their cover of the late Peter Laughner’s
“Ain’t it Fun”. It’s hard to screw up a classic, and the Kickers did the
song justice.
If at first you don’t succeed, try again. The Squirts
were supposed to bid their farewells last August. Due to some
unpleasantness involving one of the other bands, they didn’t get to play.
This time things worked out a little better. I never caught the band before
this show, and I’m definitely sorry I missed out. Their cover of The Dead
Milkmen’s “VFW” gives a good idea of their attitude, if not exactly their
sound. Musically they fit more in the vein of aggressive sarcastic punk
bands like The Circle Jerks. The crowd was very enthusiastic as the band
ripped through favorites like “I Hate Your Parents” and “Eating Disorders
are Sexy”. They also debuted a couple new numbers: a cover of “Brown
Sugar” and a new original birthday song. They even did a two song encore
that included “Fuck the U.N” with Mike from The Antisocialists on backing
vocals. If you missed it, you’ll just have to wait a few years until the
big cash-in reunion. (Bob Ignizio)
For pictures, click
here.
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