LIVE AT 924 GILMAN vol 1
January 30th, 2009
Here’s something new I will be trying this year, a show report type thing from Gilman, the all ages / volunteer run non-profit punk club in Berkeley. I am currently shooting there on most weekends for a 25th Anniversary DVD (still a couple years away). I’m shooting more than I probably need, so I’ll be throwing these videos together every week to make sure some of the footage is at least seen, and also to highlight that killer shows that happen in this place.
So here’s the first one!
LIVE AT 924 GILMAN volume 1
Bands:
- California Love
- CARvsLOS
- Godstomper
- In Disgust
- Lack Of Interest
- Extortion
- Iron Lung
First up, CALIFORNIA LOVE kicked it off with a pretty killer set full of new songs, but Aaron seemed a bit hungover. I love it, the vocalist, Aaron, always has a lethargic cynicism to his performance, which quite a contrast to the fast and aggressive songs. By the end they had the crowd pretty warmed up, just in time for CARvsLOS, a one man band fronted by Carlos, vocalist of Antagony (he’s also a booker at Gilman). Fresh from a recent break up, Carlos lets his soul sing.
GODSTOMPER turned down the lights and turned up the energy. This was one of the better sets I’d seen from them recently, too, there were very few bass amp problems (a staple of their show it seems.) The drummer also sang a few songs to thr crowd, another staple of their sets, I’ve put them in the video so we can all suffer/sing along.
IN DISGUST. They bring destruction. It follows them where they go. I like some bar shows, bars are ok, but this is something you will never see happen in a bar, and one of the reasons why I like Gilman so much. In Disgust is a ten minute whirlwind of blast beats, deep vocals, and total chaos and fun.
LACK OF INTEREST have always been hit or miss in my opinion. The first time I saw them it wasn’t very good. Yet the next time, it totally crushed. After that, they sucked. But seeing them a 4th time, they totally ruled again. The last time I saw them at Gilman I thought they were kinda terrible, the guitars sounded terrible and it seemed to bum the band out, kinda brought their energy down a few notches and made it hard to watch. So they are due for this one to be a good one, right? Right??? RIGHT! The guitar sounded better this time around, and the band and crowd both seemed to have an energy level that help give the songs what they need. Even when Chris Dodge’s bass or bass amp died, it didn’t stop them. Chris grabbed the 2nd microphone and they plowed on with dual vocals. Fuck yeah!
EXTORTION, from some state in Spain called Australia (never heard of it), brought the heavy riffs out and were mighty impressive. People heaped praise on them, and I’m totally out of the loop and hadn’t heard them until I looked on myspace (d’oh!) when the show was announced. Well, they brought it. They brought it, pulled it out, showed it, and everyone took a bite. It, uh…. ok.
IRON LUNG! This is one of those bands that I’ve seen them so many times over the years that I’ve seen the good nights and I’ve seen the not so good nights. This one was one of the better ones. Solid playing, solid songs, and a great end to a wicked night of music.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE GILMAN WEBSITE! SEE WHAT’S COMING UP, OR PERHAPS FIND OUT HOW TO VOLUNTEER!
AND AS ALWAYS, I’M LOOKING FOR ANY VIDEO / FLYERS / PHOTOS/ AUDIO TAPES FROM 924 GILMAN, FOR THE UPCOMING DVD!!!
Contact me HERE
Thanks for reading and watching, be a pal and leave a comment, too!
Dan HASHTHRASH
