Saturday night at Hang Fire was a who’s who of local punk/metal/heavy rock featuring the classic hardcore of Forced Entry, the jams of Blackrune, the instrumental rock of Hot Plate and the unhinged punk that is Crazy Bag Lady.
I missed Forced Entry, and was a little surprised they played first. I’m really looking forward to seeing how they mature, I love that early hardcore sound that they’ve got going on. Next time.
I arrived just in time to catch Hot Plate for the first time, and I’m glad I did. They play a great mathy, complex, heavy, riffing post rock/instrumental metal mix that I am a total sucker for. Fans of Pelican, Russian Circles, Don Caballero, Slint, Trans Am and the like (umm, that’s me) should definitely check them out. I’ll go see them again in a heartbeat. I was smiling through their whole set, totally my speed.
I missed most of Blackrune‘s set, but I did enjoy the last few songs. Photography bonus: With only two people on the stage, all the members of the band were well lit!
Crazy Bag Lady is building a little bit of a reputation as a frantic live act, particularly frontman Josh Sterno, and this set just adds to the buzz. The band is getting tighter, the crowd is more familiar with the songs, there was a pit for a large part of the set, and Sterno was on the floor, on the bar, on people’s shoulders, had people on his shoulders, in the back of the room, under the projector screen, on the bench seats, and outside in the alley singing in the window (not all at once). Pretty damn fun live. Also, the faux rivalry between Forced Entry and Crazy Bag Lady is hilarious.
Here’s the photos. Typical Hang Fire photo issues – a few members of the the band well lit on stage, with front men in front of the lights, making available light (no flash) photography ummmm… let’s call it “tough”. Whining over, here’s a couple, more after the jump.
