Yes, I'm still here

(Backwoods Payback)

I've been a bit MIA lately. Not really going out at all since the Cough show. There are lots of reasons for that, one of which is that I'm now heavily involved in The Beehive Collective, a giving circle composed of young (ish) Raleigh women (mostly) who support progressive causes. If you're Facebook friends with me, or if you follow me on Twitter, you've seen my appeals to new members during our Membership Drive. If you're interested in knowing more about us, let me know. 

I did actually go out on Friday, which was a night in which -- music wise -- you really couldn't win and you really couldn't lose. There were two great shows in Raleigh, a great show in Chapel Hill and a great show in Durham. No matter what you chose to do, you saw a great metal band. And no matter what you chose to do, you missed at least three other great metal bands. 

I started off the evening at a house party where I saw Richmond garage punk band Human Smoke  and local sleaze rock genius the Infamous Sugar. This was my first time seeing Suge in a while, so I hadn't heard his new Hot Dog song, but it definitely got all the metal heads singing, and has been stuck in my head for two days. 

During Human Smoke's set I was asked not to take photos, which is weird because now that I look at their Myspace page they have all kinds of videos on there. Not sure what was up with that, but it worked out because I honestly wasn't in the mood to take pictures anyway, and what I got was pretty crappy. 

We missed Might Could (who, I heard, rocked) and went to Slim's for Backwoods Payback, an awesome Southern-style sludgy band from Pennsylvania. Again, I just wasn't in the mood to take pictures. The only thing I got that I liked was the total accident at the top of this page. 

I'll be out again soon. Will definitely be at Agalloch on March 20 at Kings, and I will be at Neil Young on April 15. Don't expect photos from that one! Still debating whether or not to make the Tuesday night trek to Greensboro for Saint Vitus. I also really want to see Batillus, Hull and Caltrop on March 23 at Reservoir, but may actually skip out on that to see Prince at RBC Center. We shall see what happens.