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Crowbar & Support - Gothic Theatre, Englewood, CO - 24 Sep 2014


Event: Crowbar: Symmetry In Black North America 2014
Written by: D.T. Metal
Published: 03.10.2014

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Crowbar - Gothic Theatre, Englewood, USA - 24 Sep 2014 by D.T. Metal (34)


Sludge anybody? Yes please. Crowbar was in town.

Still fatigued from last night's Arsis gig and secretly cursing at the booking agent for Goatwhore, I endured the idiocy on Interstate 25; or as we locals call it: the never ending construction zone. Oh yes, Ben & Co were playing in almost walking distance to my house on the same night as Kirk and the boys were at the Gothic Theatre in Englewood, Co., but since I committed to Crowbar months ago, I didn't want to back out.

Some bands on the bill were already playing while I was still hanging out and eating some grub next door at Moe's BBQ and the first band I actually did see was our own thrash-meister Havok. Look at that, two days in a row and a Colorado native band (Allegaeon the previous night) played as part of a national touring line-up. Way to go dudes. Well, to be fair, Havok have been touring with some pretty big names in the biz for some time now.

Unfortunately, due to a medical emergency in his family, drummer Pete has to miss most of the tour, but Wretched's Marshall Wieczorek was a worthy replacement behind the kit. And speaking of replacements - apparently vocalist/guitarist Dave Sanchez sprained his wrist the day after the Colorado show while climbing in the mountain and Revocation's shredder Dan was going to filling in for him, sans the singing.

Anyhoo, Havok, somehow one of the few remaining "retro" thrash bands left after the big surge a couple years back; and rightly so. It's always fun to watch them, headbang to songs such as "Give Me Liberty... Or Give Me Death" or play air-guitar to "Point Of No Return". But since I will see them on Halloween Night, they open up for Gwar, I will do a more detailed report then.





I guess instead of "Symmetry In Black" the tour should have been called "We Are The Replacements" since Revocation was also one dude short; coincidently, also the drummer. But while I was disappointed not to see Phil behind the kit, I was rather stoked to watch ex-Job For A Cowboy's Jon Rice beat the skins. Haven't seen him play in a long, long time. Speaking of JFAC, bassist Nick Schendzielos, who lives in Denver, was also at the show, and there was a mini-reunion going on with him and Rice talking it up all night long.

Revocation are about to drop their 6th studio album, their first on Metal Blade Records after leaving Relapse earlier this year, and it was no surprise they included two songs of Deathless in their setlist; the title song and one more. Pretty good I have to say and the audience ate them up as well. There is a reason why David Davidson was named one of the top modern guitarists a couple years back; dude can shred. Call it technical death, modern thrash or what-not-ever, but the sounds he produces with his guitar are catchy as hell, riffs galore, and he is fun to watch any day.

Revocation played their hearts out, gave us in attendance a superb show and besides the aforementioned new songs, they played a good mix from their discography. A, albeit small, mosh pit erupted at some point during their set but due to the fact that this show was not patronized as it should have been, it somehow felt lost in the shuffle. Yah, I was actually surprised by the lack of attendance - 250, 300 at the most in a thousand-seater venue? What the hell people? But as always, folks had to pick their poison since for some reason Denver has almost a gig a day to choose from. #firstworldmetalproblems





On with it. You want to talk about accessible band members? No one was more available that night than Crowbar's Kirk Windstein. I can't even tell you how many pictures he took with the fans or how many CD covers, ticket stubs or blank pieces of paper he autographed that night. Shit, at one point someone brought a crowbar, yes the tool, to the merch stand for him to sign. Kirk is the man - period! But make no mistake, while he is a teddy bear, once he straps on that guitar, all bets are off. That's also a reason why I was rather surprised with the low attendance. Hello - it's fucking Crowbar; one of NOLA's finest in the genre. Anyway, I had a great time.

Starting the set with "The Cemetery Angels" off their 2011 opus Sever The Wicked Hand, Crowbar undeniably set the stage for an hour of pure madness. Yes, that song is rather upbeat, but when Kirk screamed "Bring It Doooown" toward the end, the heaviness of the music came to light and continued with "Walk With Knowledge Wisely", a song off their latest album Symmetry In Black.






Kirk, although bound to his microphone stand, took every opportunity to engage with the fans on the barrier during the solo parts of every song while Mat Brunson did have more flexibility to do so. To be honest, I do miss Bruders on bass, but this has been the second time I saw Jeff Golden play with Crowbar and he is surely growing on me. Chugging away on songs such as "Planets Collide" or "All I Had (I Gave)" sure as hell helps. Tommy Buckley behind the kit was a sight for sore eyes (sound for sore ears?) as well. Not only had he, clearly, way too much fun playing the more catchy tunes, but showed he can slow it down on the pedals as well with "Symmetry In White".

Crowbar played loud that night; no - really fucking loud! But somehow it worked and actually sounded great and not distorted as some shows are when the dials are turned up to 12. Dear God, "The Lasting Dose" or "New Dawn" played at ear-bleeding volume emphasized the point that Crowbar are THE sludge masters. Kudos to the fans up front for not moving an inch during this deafening endeavor, I for one was enjoying this 'sonic excess in its purest form' toward the back of the room, earplugs firmly inserted. But, the gig was over way too soon and before I knew it, "I Have Failed" off their 1993 self-titled album came on.

Let me tell you Kirk: you and your cohorts have NOT failed that night, you all were awesome and I can't wait for another 'sludge night' with the mighty Crowbar.





Setlist: The Cemetary Angels, Walk With Knowledge Wisely, Symmetry In White, Self-Inflicted, Planets Collide, The Lasting Dose, Sever The Wicked Hand, Liquid Sky And Cold Black Earth, Conquering, High Rate Extinction, New Dawn, All I Had (I Gave), I Have Failed






Written on 03.10.2014 by Former boss lady. Now just a professional concertgoer... dangerously armed with a camera!


Comments

Comments: 4   Visited by: 32 users
03.10.2014 - 17:43
Auntie Sahar
Drone Empress
Sounds pretty bitchin. I missed these guys at Roadburn because their set unfortunately clashed with The Great Old Ones, but I'd still love to see em someday
----
I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go.

~ II. VII
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04.10.2014 - 01:02
Machiavelli
Account deleted
Too bad you didn't catch Armed For Apocalypse... they were pretty good and I'd never even heard their shit before.
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11.10.2014 - 21:44
Mattybu

When I saw the Ottawa date of this tour a couple weeks back Crowbar played the bad kind of loud, the uncomfortable, riffs drowned out in distortion kind. It was nice to see Kirk and a lot of the other guys in various bands chilling around though, it's good for the fans when you can interact (which I did too ). Havok was easily the best band, the guy from Wretched was drumming too and he went hard. A4A was good and Revocation was kind of meh. Their new stuff sounded quite similar to their s/t which I didn't like much, but there's no denying they are talented musicians. Fun to watch the shredding but songwriting wise I think they have a lot of room for improvement.
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15.10.2014 - 12:25
Cynic Metalhead
Paisa Vich Nasha
I haven't watch Revocation live(neither I'm interested in watching) but they suck in studio too. Revocation is one of the bland, uninspired and crappy bands I've come across. I do not know what people still like about them.

Anyway, report is very good.
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