Metal comes to Raleigh

First off, sorry for posting that extra blurry photo of Colossus, but that particular guitar player really does make the funniest moves on stage, and that was the best of the ones I captured. The photos I got of Man Will Destroy Himself at Slim's are even blurrier. At least Caltrop and Black Skies turned out OK. Anyway, downtown was strangely quiet on Wednesday night. I was under the impression that Colossus, Caltrop and Black Skies at the Pour House was going to be THE show of the month. Everyone I knew was going, and everyone they knew was going (though, since "everyone" in Raleigh all mainly know each other we're really talking about a fairly contained group of people). Eventually the Pour House did fill up, but there was a significant number of people who missed Black Skies's bone crushing set. Luckily I captured their first song, "Chain of Command" for you: Caltrop was second on the bill, and probably the most highly anticipated since they rarely play Raleigh. They also put on a great show, and I captured a new, un-named song. But honestly, the best part of their set was the hilarity that ensued during the soundcheck. Soundman extraordinare Jac Cain kept trying to get the confused band members, who were really just interested in turning up and playing, to turn down a bit and tell him what they wanted in the monitors. It turned out just fine. Here's the video. Colossus ended the show and sounded perfect. I've said it before: These guys have a tendency to be either really sloppy or really amazing. Wednesday was a good night for them. Here's "A Year Later There's Still Meat in the Skull." After the show, we made our way over to Slim's for the last bit of Man Will Destroy Himself. Here's "Fuse."

Ex-Members have a new EP!

The Ex-Members, which includes David and Shirle from Gerty and Melissa from The Butchies, have released a fine three-song EP full of dance-pop goodness. The also have a show coming up this Saturday, July 21, at Cat's Cradle.




The other can't-miss show this weekend is the rescheduled Big Business show, with Black Skies and Caltrop (pictured above). I really don't know all that much about Big Business, but I love Black Skies, and haven't seen them since they added a new drummer (which has been a while ago). I've never seen Caltrop, but am totally digging the sludgy stuff they've got on their myspace page. They're at Cat's Cradle on Sunday, July 22.