Monday, May 23, 2005

Mind, flayed.

So Lightning Bolt played last night and SWEET ZOMBIE JESUS!! It was, if not one of the best, easily one of the most uniquely memorable shows I've ever been to. If you've ever been to the Talking Head, you can imagine that it would be an unbelievably BAD place to see them, since they play down on the floor with the crowd around them in an arrangement like this:

Now imagine 200 people crowded into the first floor of the Talking Head, which is pretty much the size of my combined living/dining rooms, all rocking out with their cocks out. Sounds like a terrible idea, doesn't it? Yeah, well, apparently the band agreed and they ended up playing outside in the alley behind the club (territory that I'd "marked" more than my fair share of times back when it used to be the Ottobar.) Luckily, I've got friends with their ears to the ground and when we heard the rumors that they were going to move the show outside, we shoved our way though the now overwhelming crowd and set up camp outside. The tip paid off and there we were, mere inches from having our teeth knocked out by a stray tuning peg from dude's bass. Then it began...and we prayed at the altar of the almighty rock, distilled down to its purest essence. Bodies compacted into one sweaty heaving mass all vibrating in time with the beautifully brutal aural onslaught. The feeling was indescribable. About four or five songs in, it started to rain. Luckily, it wasn't going hard enough to make them quit and actually helped to cool us all down a little bit, though really not nearly enough. So pushing on, they continued their assault for another handful of songs before the cops showed up and forced us to scatter.

In retrospect, it was probably for the best since I don't think my brain could have taken much more before either shutting down or just melting completely and running out my ears. Either way, words can't really do it justice. It was easily the best show I've seen all year and a definite contender for top 5 of all time. I can't stress this enough but if you've never seen them, then make it a point to do so.

There's still a couple more chances this tour for you east coasters:


  • May 23 - Philadelphia - Pygmy Street

  • May 24 - NY - North Six

  • May 26 - NY - The Hook

  • May 27 - Providence

Results may vary, however, I can guarantee you won't regret it. If you've never heard them, get the hell over here now and prepare to be mind-raped. These guys don't fuck around...

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