Eyehategod, Haarp & Blower Motor
On Friday, February 20th, Neworleansmusicians.net went out to The Bar in Fat City to check out headliner Eyehategod, with Blowermotor and Haarp. After a drink and a shot, I began making my way through the crowd. As I was soaking in my surroundings, it was cool to see people wearing Eyehategod, Soilent Green, and other local bands’ shirts. Typically, what you will find at these shows is that the crowd is supportive; not just because they came out that night for a show. They are ‘supportive’ because these are the same fans that own the T-shirts and CDs, that follow the progression of each member, and flip them off while they’re on stage to let them know they care. Tats, keychains, mohawks, and shaved heads all stood at attention as the first band began their set. Hailing from the land of cows and nothing, a.k.a. Gonzales, La, Blowermotor’s slow methodical twangs seduced the heads in the crowd as drummer Ben Fridge’s blood red kick pulsed on stage. Singer Joel Cangiolosi’s brow creased tight like his dreads as he screamed into the microphone. I thought they played a good set, and told Joel when we met later. Their style introduces itself, then pauses while the lead guitar tells you what’s about to happen. What follows is the reason why you can’t stop banging your head. Speeding things up a bit, their last song, Speed Freak, was a definite crowd pleaser. Bassist Slimm threw out the same note in a fashion that could only be compared to the sound of a big block at idle. As Joel choked down the neck of his guitar, all paused, then BAM! The song took off quicker than Emeril Lagasse’s career! This song was aptly named and well received.
Next up was Haarp, from New Orleans. You may recall that they put out an EP with fellow metal heads Thou, out of Baton Rouge. As it turns out, they are also about to release a full length album through Housecore Records. From bald heads to shaggy beards, the five members graced the stage. Slow southern drawled licks rang out, and screams from the crowd could be heard in anticipation. At 11 pm, the head count through the door was 100 and growing, and vocalist Shaun aurally assaulted every last one of them! This guy has such a deep, intense scream that I was just waiting for his head to explode! Profound, subterranean power chords reigned down on us, bringing us all “from shit to roses”. Dispersed rhythmic tempo change ups speckled bouts of slow tempo ballads that would definitely have to look up just to see sludgecore. Grant and Jason, on guitar, lashed out with precision backed by Ryan (Bass) and Keith (Drums). These guys aren’t playing around. This is as serious as it gets!
Last but not least was Eyehategod, the center piece for this evening’s feast. Intense feed back rang out as the band surveyed the crowd, taunting us. Drummer Joey Lacaze hit the kick just once to see it for himself. And sure enough, fists were in the air with furious anticipation. A few long guitar twangs rang, then “Take As Needed For Pain” pressed the troops. Guitar power chords ripped like saws through the air placing each person in the crowd on the same planar vibration. The mob began to agitate like a swarm of bees, and a pit erupted in what was now a wall to wall packed house. Throughout their performance, we were thrown through a rage of tempo changes and one could see that the masses finally found what they were looking for. And who knew it, but crowd surfing was still alive and well in Fat City! The zombie on stage called himself Mike Williams, and cursed the crowd for having to perform after a day of drinking. He was even kind enough to say hi to the posers belting out, “what’s up you Hot Topic mother fuckers?!” One could call this kin to smacking the hive with a stick! They gave a great performance and really had the crowd’s energy in the palm of their hand.
Now if y’all have been paying attention, you saw our press release for this band’s 20th anniversary show at One Eyed Jacks last year. That’s right, this band is over 20 years strong and still harassing the ear drums of people across the lobe! People came from all over the U.S., Canada, and even the U.K. to see Eyehategod tear it up with Crowbar and Hellkontroll that night. As metal fans native to New Orleans, we should be proud of these guys. And that goes for the bands mentioned previously in this article. A T-shirt, a CD, or a hoodie might not seem like much to us. But to them it’s everything. You’re not only contributing funds to future efforts, you’re advertising our independent musicians. This is what Neworleansmusicians.net means every time we say, print, and distribute these words “SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL MUSIC SCENE!!!” So check out the links below, and practice what we preach!
Special Note: The second edition of lead singer Mike
Williams’ book, " Cancer as a Social Activity", was re-released on
Phil Anselmo’s Housecore Records website. It’s a collage of poems and entries
that deal with Mikes life, the darkness of the streets, the abuse of drugs,
politics and more. Its really a good read for anyone who enjoys Mikes lyrics.
www.thehousecorerecords.com
www.myspace.com/eyehategod
www.myspace.com/blowermotor
www.myspace.com/haarpnola
www.myspace.com/thebarrocks
www.myspace.com/thouband
Article by David Trahan for Neworleansmusicians.net
Next up was Haarp, from New Orleans. You may recall that they put out an EP with fellow metal heads Thou, out of Baton Rouge. As it turns out, they are also about to release a full length album through Housecore Records. From bald heads to shaggy beards, the five members graced the stage. Slow southern drawled licks rang out, and screams from the crowd could be heard in anticipation. At 11 pm, the head count through the door was 100 and growing, and vocalist Shaun aurally assaulted every last one of them! This guy has such a deep, intense scream that I was just waiting for his head to explode! Profound, subterranean power chords reigned down on us, bringing us all “from shit to roses”. Dispersed rhythmic tempo change ups speckled bouts of slow tempo ballads that would definitely have to look up just to see sludgecore. Grant and Jason, on guitar, lashed out with precision backed by Ryan (Bass) and Keith (Drums). These guys aren’t playing around. This is as serious as it gets!
Last but not least was Eyehategod, the center piece for this evening’s feast. Intense feed back rang out as the band surveyed the crowd, taunting us. Drummer Joey Lacaze hit the kick just once to see it for himself. And sure enough, fists were in the air with furious anticipation. A few long guitar twangs rang, then “Take As Needed For Pain” pressed the troops. Guitar power chords ripped like saws through the air placing each person in the crowd on the same planar vibration. The mob began to agitate like a swarm of bees, and a pit erupted in what was now a wall to wall packed house. Throughout their performance, we were thrown through a rage of tempo changes and one could see that the masses finally found what they were looking for. And who knew it, but crowd surfing was still alive and well in Fat City! The zombie on stage called himself Mike Williams, and cursed the crowd for having to perform after a day of drinking. He was even kind enough to say hi to the posers belting out, “what’s up you Hot Topic mother fuckers?!” One could call this kin to smacking the hive with a stick! They gave a great performance and really had the crowd’s energy in the palm of their hand.
Now if y’all have been paying attention, you saw our press release for this band’s 20th anniversary show at One Eyed Jacks last year. That’s right, this band is over 20 years strong and still harassing the ear drums of people across the lobe! People came from all over the U.S., Canada, and even the U.K. to see Eyehategod tear it up with Crowbar and Hellkontroll that night. As metal fans native to New Orleans, we should be proud of these guys. And that goes for the bands mentioned previously in this article. A T-shirt, a CD, or a hoodie might not seem like much to us. But to them it’s everything. You’re not only contributing funds to future efforts, you’re advertising our independent musicians. This is what Neworleansmusicians.net means every time we say, print, and distribute these words “SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL MUSIC SCENE!!!” So check out the links below, and practice what we preach!
Special Note: The second edition of lead singer Mike
Williams’ book, " Cancer as a Social Activity", was re-released on
Phil Anselmo’s Housecore Records website. It’s a collage of poems and entries
that deal with Mikes life, the darkness of the streets, the abuse of drugs,
politics and more. Its really a good read for anyone who enjoys Mikes lyrics.
www.thehousecorerecords.com
www.myspace.com/eyehategod
www.myspace.com/blowermotor
www.myspace.com/haarpnola
www.myspace.com/thebarrocks
www.myspace.com/thouband
Article by David Trahan for Neworleansmusicians.net
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