show photos & review - april 28th house show on agricola

It seems like there have been house shows every weekend for the last while, and that really rules! I had only been to one show at the Lockerbie house previously and I noticed they have the gear set up differently (facing to the side instead of towards the back of the basement) which I liked a lot better. ABJECT PAX played first after waiting around a bit for an amp and then kindly being lent one. I had a lot of fun playing, not gonna write about it any more because it's my own band and that's awkward.

Then CONCRETE ASYLUM were up, who I always enjoy. They play rippin' fast hardcore with nods to CONCRETE SOX, RIPCORD, NEGATIVE FX for those who haven't caught them playing yet, that seems to be increasingly fast each time they play. One of their new songs is a little weirder and a little powerviolency, which I dug. They're been playing more frequently recently it seems and it shows in people nodding their heads a bit more while they're playing. I think this band is gonna grow on people alot, especially when they get to know the songs that are so blisteringly fast at points it can be hard to follow if you're not familiar with them. Then I noticed that Adam's amp that he had borrowed had started smoking...which I pointed out and the set abruptly ended...

Next up were WORD ON THE STREET, self described STRAIGHT AHEAD worship, although personally I think that they transcend this. I LOVE this band.  They're so tight, high energy, and Chris Murdoch's vocals sound exactly like the singer from HERESY. I hope these guys continue to play more often, especially in mixed bag shows like this...it adds a nice sense of variety but fits in perfectly. High energy set that culminated in a cover of I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU which to me is a surprising and hilarious choice for this band. Also I got an awesome photo of Cody clearly laughing at the dude in the front who was being a maniac.





NAPALM RAID played next, which I thought was kinda odd (I assumed they would play last as it was their tour kickoff) but I guess it was SEX WIZARD'S house so whatever. Anyway, Napalm Raid are always great to see (I'm sure everyone is already familiar with their straight up DOOM/DISCHARGE influenced crusty dbeat) and I feel like they have a pretty big following in Halifax, so it's high energy with people rockin' out in the front. I've always been into them, but I think their new stuff is super super good and I was glad to catch them before they headed off on their big huge tour (which includes them playing Chaos In Tejas, amazingggg majorly jealous). Then they played a RIPCORD cover, which Ben sang for them and it ruled my life.





I didn't really catch SEX WIZARD, it was packed by then and I had peed on myself in the alley a little and was rounding up my peeps to head home. It seemed like everyone was having a good time when I ducked briefly into the basement, though.

All in all, a fun show with a great lineup, hopefully this house continues to have 'em.

- Rosie Davis