ear-splittin' madness

Me and a bunch of pals went to Bottom of the Hill on Saturday night to see some bands none of us had ever heard of, much less heard before. That can be a rewarding experience if you're up for something new. Kinda like going to the same restaurant where you always get the same thing and then just closing your eyes and pointing at the menu and going with it. Except you might have to eat again because your choice turned out to be filled with cilantro and eggplant. You wouldn't go to another show to clear your ears out. I digress.

The bands at Bottom of the Hill were: Smegma, Comets on Fire, and Wolf Eyes. And the articles that got us off our barstools to venture out to Potrero promised "ear-splitting madness" and "face-melting volume". One article even said "The latest release from Wolf Eyes will molest you. That is for certain." Well sheeit, where do I sign up? Without actually providing a review of these bands, I will say this: Volume promised, volume delivered. If you ever read an article that talks about a band being so loud that it melts your face, bring some damn earplugs. I even reminded my friends that if you're old like me, BRING EARPLUGS. Did they? No.

We were at the front corner of the stage as Comets on Fire setup, and I put in my earplugs so's not to get my ears split. The first crash of the cymbals and guitar crunch were so loud that as I looked around the crowd you could see two sets of people - the people who weren't looking at the band, but looking at their friends with fingers firmly planted in their ears and expressions like "my face is melting from the volume", and the other people with earplugs nodding heads in slight headbang-age. One person in my group remembered to bring one earplug, so only half his face melted.

Wolf Eyes was the kind of band that likes to use a lot of feedback, and by that time we had moved to the back of the room but even there people were holding their fingers in their ears and looking around like "What the hell? They're melting my face even way back here!" A lot of people were tired of being "molested" by Wolf Eyes so they left en masse. I hate wearing earplugs, but I hate my ears ringing for the next day or week even more.

After the show we went to Baghdad Cafe and I had a Sloppy Joe, fried mozzerella sticks, wings, and mac and cheese. God bless America.