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The Auburn Records 20th
Anniversary Show (Part of the Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles 6-Pack Weekend)
featuring Destructor, Purgatory, Breaker, Aftershok, Nightcrawler, Wretch,
and Real Steel
The Odeon
06-03-04
In the eighties, Destructor, Purgatory, Breaker, and
Shok Paris were to Cleveland what Metallica and Exodus were to San
Francisco, or Anthrax and Overkill were to New York. Bill Peters’ Auburn
Records was the North Coast equivalent of Metal Blade or Megaforce records.
Unfortunately, the bands and the label had a number of bad breaks.
Ultimately, only Shok Paris came close to achieving the level of success all
four bands deserved and Auburn records faded away by the end of the
eighties. But recently, there’s been renewed interest in the Auburn roster,
especially in Europe where they take their heavy metal seriously. Auburn
records was resurrected, and so far they’ve re-released some old Breaker
material and a new EP from Destructor, with more on the way. This show
featured all the best known Auburn bands (except Shok Paris, who were
scheduled to play as part of the “official” two day BW&BK 6-Pack show.
Although this was definitely a show for the old time, die-hard Cleveland
metal fans, there were a fair number of younger headbangers in attendance as
well.
First up was Real Steel. They’re pretty much a
straight forward, early eighties melodic metal band. Think old Y&T, Judas
Priest, Dokken, etc. It had been some time since these guys last played
together, and they only practiced once before the gig, but you wouldn’t know
it from listening to them play. They even managed to write and learn a new
song. Dated? Sure. But if that’s what you like, who cares? Trends come
and go, but good songs stand the test of time.
I won’t say that Wretch made me want to, but I liked
them considerably less than Real Steel or Nightcrawler. They aren’t a bad
band, but their material just didn’t do anything for me. As with all the
bands who would play this evening, though, they sounded tight and certainly
pleased their fans. I’m just not one of them.
Nightcrawler come from the Ronnie James Dio school of
metal. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing depends on one’s taste,
but I enjoyed their set. I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to see them,
but if they were on a show I was going to anyway, I wouldn’t mind seeing
them again.
Aftershok features Shok Paris vocalist Vic Hix, and
more or less picks up where that band left off. The band is great, and Hix
is a fine vocalist. However, they lean a bit too heavily on well worn
clichés for my tastes. Does the world really need another song called
“Ready to Rock”? Still, they turned in a solid performance, and I’m sure
most Shok Paris fans would feel right at home at an Aftershok gig.
The first time I saw Breaker with their new vocalist, I
was less than thrilled. Hey, Jim Hamar is a tough act to follow. That was
over a year ago, though, and tonight the new vocalist seemed a much better
fit for the band. Breaker opened up with their classic “Blood Money”, going
on to play a set that mixed new and old songs together well. The band was
also joined by The Manimals’ Larry the Wolf for a version of The Manimals'
“Symbol”. Breaker’s material has aged better than that of a lot of bands
from the eighties. They were never really part of any trend, and their
lyrics were always well written and down to earth. You may or may not like
‘em, but there’s nothing cheesy about this band. As for the crowd, I’d say
most of them, including me, were on the band’s side.
Purgatory were always my favorite of the Auburn bands.
If it hadn’t been for internal strife, I think they could have made it. The
band’s vocalist, Jeff Hatrix, did eventually make it with Mushroomhead.
This night, however, he got back together with most of his old bandmates
(only one guitar player, Greg Perry, for this show) to run through a set of
their classic material. It was great to hear songs like “Tied to the
Tracks”, “Nightcrawler”, “Deep into the Red”, “Valley of the Shadow of
Death”, and “Crush the Black Cross” again. A few lesser tunes like “Brains
on the Stage” didn’t hold up quite as well, but overall a very good
performance.
Unlike most of the bands on this bill, Destructor have
been gigging regularly for the past few years, and it showed. They
definitely had the tightest, most energetic set of the evening. They hit
the stage raging with “Sonic Bullet” and didn’t slow down. Unlike a lot of
bands that try to make a comeback, I think Destructor’s new stuff is
actually better than their past material. That doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to
sing along to old classics like “Overdose”. It just means that Destructor
actually have a reason for getting back together other than nostalgia or
money. (Bob Ignizio)
For pictures click
here.
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