Anytime Fu Manchu is in town, and not playing at the $400 Bar, I'll make every effort to be there. So when I saw a flyer for their March 9 show at the Triple Rock, I cancelled all other plans for the Friday night. I was coming off of a 5-day fast/cleanse, and I rode to the show with Bootsy Collins after meeting up at One On One. Not drinking would be hard enough, but smoking no flanagan when you roll with Bootsy is near impossible. I pulled it off though, probably due to the rock blowing my brains out. It was that good, (and that loud!)
Openers were Artemis Pyledriver from Atlanta, and Valient Thorr, from somewhere outside of Venus. Wakeman Turner Overdrive tipped off the locals that Artemis Pyledriver were worth seeing, after witnessing their Denver show. Holy Shit, he was not joking! Ferocious lead vocals, a maniacal drummer beating the shit out of the skins... 
and a twin guitar attack. What's not to love? Immediately following the set, I walked over to the merch table and bought the Artemis Pyledriver CD, on DRT records.
Valient Thorr took the stage while I was next door in the bar talking to some friends about how great AP was. I returned to the showside and saw five very hirsute rockers laying waste to the stage. Valient Thorr. Fuck all that Devandra Bernhart shit you may have read about in the City Pages, this is Beard Rock. For all the noise they were making, I was not impressed initially. The singer was a crazed-looking psychotic preacher, with a somewhat high voice, but his enthusiasm was contagious, and by the end of the set they had won me over with their crushing riffs and showmanship. They are on Volcom Entertainment, a division of the snow/skate/surf company of the same name, which explains all the Volcom branded gear they were wearing, as well as the skate deck thrown into the audience after said singer lurched thru the crowd and took a stand on the table/bar separating the pit from the upper bar level. I was standing right there and snapped the above photo. 
The Bear was there, lovin' every minute of it...Fu Manchu soon came out on stage and after some initial sound problems, roared thru a LOUD set of oldies, new songs from "We Must Obey" and finished with an encore by obscure hardcore band "Boyd." What a treat to not have to suffer thru the muddled sound of the Quest, where I last saw Fu, opening for Clutch. And best yet, not having to suffer thru the magnanimous attitudes, crap site-lines, and overpriced beer of the $400 Bar. Ears decidedly ringing, Bootsy, Pintz Guzzled, and myself rolled into downtown and onward to our homes. What a night. RESPECT THE ROCK!
1 comment:
Just the way the Piledrivers look you can tell they are rock.
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