Video of Caltrop and MAKE!

Thank God my social hiatus has finally come to an end. I'm out again, going to shows and working on buying a new camera that will take better photos in low lighting. And what a way to get back in the saddle -- by having my ass kicked and ears shredded by Caltrop. I've seen these guys many times, and I can say that last night was the best, tightest and most powerful show I've seen by them. They're getting a lot of attention lately from national blogs, and they totally deserve it. Now I am REALLY looking forward to that May 27 show with Caltrop, Black Skies, USX (performing acoustic) and Royal Thunder. 

Another of my local favorites, MAKE, opened the show -- their first as a trio since guitarist Daniel McDonald left. The new sound was much heavier, which I liked, but a little lighter on their trademark spacey elements. The video below is one of their new songs, "Valhalla." Guitarist Scott Endres had to do some extra work to carry both sounds. The real star of the evening was bass player Spencer Lee, whose guitar cord failed on the last song, and who managed to keep playing by holding the cord in place and just playing extra hard with his left hand.



This show was a benefit at the Dive Bar for the family of local metal fan Carrie Martin, who died suddenly this year. Though the circumstances were tragic, it was great to once again see how our local music scene will often come together to help each other out. I'm truly lucky to live in an area where we have awesome bands, great clubs, and devoted fans who won't hesitate to help each other out.

Announcing: The Mann's World Hopscotch Day Party!

On Saturday, Sept. 11, yours truly will present a Hopscotch day party at Kings with four of my favorite heavy local bands! This is going to be a free show, and will take place during the afternoon (start time isn't set, but it will definitely be done by 5:30 p.m. so you can go catch Public Enemy and the Love Language).

I'm proud to announce that the line up will consist of two of my long-time favorites: Black Skies (above) and Caltrop;  plus two bands that have recently blown me away: MAKE and Hog. In fact I'm so impressed with MAKE that I put them on this bill without ever having seen them live. They're that good.

This is a FREE show, and will be a good appetizer for the amazing Hopscotch show to happen at the Berkeley (U.S. Christmas, Kylessa, Weedeater, In the Year of the Pig) and the Pour House (Dungen) that evening. I should also note that this is not an official Hopscotch event, but that Grayson and Greg have been very cool about helping those of us (including Trekky Records, Churchkey and 307 Knox) who are putting on day shows.

I am really excited about this show and hope you all can make it -- and since it's a free show, I hope you drink lots of beer and buy lots of merchandise to make it worthwhile for Kings and the bands.

See you there!

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:

Black Skies - "Chain of Command" from Mann's World on Vimeo.

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.

Caltrop -- New song as yet unnamed. from Mann's World on Vimeo.

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."

Colossus -- "A Year Later There's Still Meat in the Skull" from Mann's World on Vimeo.

After the show, we made our way over to Slim's for the last bit of Man Will Destroy Himself. Here's "Fuse."

Man Will Destroy Himself - "Fuse" from Mann's World on Vimeo.

Review of "World Class" by Caltrop

Believe it or not, reviewing a CD that's amazing is actually more difficult than reviewing one that sucks. There are only so many ways to say that it's awesome, that it rocks, that you should go out and buy it and/or see the band when they next play live. That's kind of the dilemma with Caltrop's second CD, "World Class" (Holidays for Quince). It's so damn good that I'm having a difficult time coming up with anything insightful to say about it. I even had a difficult time deciding which song to include here. Finally I went with "Junn Horde," even though I don't think it's actually the most cohesive song on the CD ("The Phlogston Command" gets that honor), and even though it's not necessarily guitarist Adam Nolton's best playing (the freakout solos in the middle of "Bloodroot" are more mind-blowing). But "Junn Horde," with its plodding, angry bass and marching drumbeat is most distinctive in its menacing stomp. A bonus for fans of the first CD: They've re-recorded and tightened up "Slice-o-Lator." 

Catching up from Thursday and Friday

Thursday a gang of folks from The N&O went out to the Pour House to see N&O photographer Jason Arthurs' band, Whoa ... an Ellipsis, and to say goodbye to another co-worker who is off to USA Today. The band was kind of screamo, which really isn't my thing, but I think they did a good job of it. They just need to get a simpler name. I missed the teenage hardcore band, but I understand they totally kicked ass. Here's the video for "1060 W. Addison."

Whoa ... an ellipsis from Mann's World on Vimeo.

Two doors down at Tir na Nog, all-star alt-country group The Whistlestop was playing, so walking back and forth between the two clubs was certainly a strange juxtaposition. This is the latest band with Rob Watson, Scotty Miller and Pee Wee Watson. Here are two songs from The Whistlestop. The first is a fairly quiet song, so you hear a lot of chatter among the Tir na Nog patrons. I suppose most of them were hangers-on from dinner. Otherwise, I can't think of any reason why someone would go to a show and just talk through the whole thing.

The Whistlestop from Mann's World on Vimeo.

(first song) See more photos.Friday was a different scene altogether, when Angela and I went to Chapel Hill to see Blag'ard's CD-release party at guitarist Joe Taylor's house. Black Skies and Caltrop -- who is now officially my favorite band in the Triangle -- opened up. Black Skies and Caltrop are both heavy and sludgy, while Blag'ard had a slightly poppier feel. Angela compared them to Pavement, and I don't think that's far off the mark. Regardless, it was great to go to a house party again. There's nothing like seeing a band play under a bunch of Christmas lights in a back yard. Plus I saw a couple of folks from way back in the day, including one woman I knew during my years at ECU in the late '80s. The video of Caltrop unfortunately was corrupted, but here's video of Blag'ard's "Kick Out Queen."

Blag'ard from Mann's World on Vimeo.

See more photos.

More from Caltrop, plus Colossus

A few years ago, some folks covered the early chiffon-era Judas Priest (pre-British Steel, maybe even pre-Hell Bent for Leather) at the Kings Great Cover-up. That was seriously one of the most awesome things I ever saw at the Cover-up. This morning I realized that Colossus, whose updated NWOBHM-style metal references Priest, Maiden and forgotten gems like Diamondhead, was the band that did Priest at that show. I thought they were fabulous enough after seeing them last night at Reservoir, but realizing that made me decide that they are now my new favorite band in the Triangle. Check out the video. You won't see much, but you will hear what they sound like. Go see them, and buy their CD.

Colossus from Mann's World on Vimeo.

Caltrop was even better than when I saw them last week, mainly because original drummer Jason Aylward, who now drums for Valient Thorr, sat in with them for a double -drum assault.

Caltrop from Mann's World on Vimeo.

Another one by Caltrop from Mann's World on Vimeo.

Videos of In the Year of the Pig and Caltrop!

Last night Jess and I drove out to Chapel Hill to check out Caltrop (pictured above) and In the Year of the Pig at Nightlight. Thrones was there too, but my main concern was with the local bands, so that's what I captured. I seriously cannot remember the last time I went to Nightlight (which used to be called Skylight Exchange regardless of what time of day it was) but the place had changed not one bit. I'd be willing to bet that at least 95 percent of the books in that place were there when I first went in 1991. Anyhoo, it looks like I do need to live up to my constant promises to go to Chapel Hill more because some of the heaviest music in the Triangle is coming from there. I think there's also a new rule that you can't be a dude in Chapel Hill unless you have a big bushy beard. I don't think I've seen that much facial hair in one room in my whole life. At one point Jess sent me a text saying "BEARD ALRET!" which in Jess-speak meant "Alert," though I'm not sure who among the multitude the "Alret" was supposed to indicate. Caltrop, who played second, lived up to my expectations and more with their super heavy sludge. If it wasn't raining -- and the ticket price wasn't $15 -- I would go see them again tonight at Volume 11 with ASG and Helmet. But they'll be at Reservoir next Friday, so until I can get someone to book them another show in Raleigh, I can make do with that. Here's the video, which given the fact that Nightlight's stage lighting consisted of one red bulb, came out a little better than expected.

Caltrop from Mann's World on Vimeo.

In The Year of the Pig, who played first, was the biggest surprise for me. I'd heard they were HEAVY, but I was not prepared for how heavy they actually were. Dave Cantwell, who is a powerhouse on drums, is one of two guys playing drum kits. They also have two bass players -- one of whom only has two strings on his bass -- and a guitarist. This video did not turn out well at all (they were set up in front of Caltrop's equipment and so missed the weak benefits of having the red bulb shine directly on them). But if you look closely toward the end you might be able to see drummer No. 1 get his stick caught in the headstock of bass player No. 2's bass.

In the Year of the Pig from Mann's World on Vimeo.

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.