CHILD ABUSE:

THE HOMOSEXUALS:

AIDS WOLF:

PONYTAIL:

THE SCENE:

I spent Hallowe’en in Brooklyn, NY, (as one of the crew members of the Methinks Presents NYC Roadtrip #9) at this non-descript warehouse in the middle of nowhere, seeing some amazing bands. It was probably one of the Top 10 shows I had ever seen in my life, not because the music was so amazing or because the sound was so killer, but because the setting was so cool and the crowd was so damn good. Good people, good music, good vibes, good show.

I originally saw Child Abuse open for The Locust, and they were pretty weird. On this night, they were fleshed out from a two-piece with a bassist added and a much heavier sound. Frenetic.

The Homosexuals were sexy as hell, and the leathery lead singer (I think it’s safe to say he was the only original member) strutted like Mick Jagger on a speedball bender.

I have seen AIDS Wolf at least a half-dozen times, probably way more. Every time, they kill it. This night was absolutely no exception. As far as I’m concerned, they owned the night. Sorry to all the other bands, but nobody can compete with Chloe’s manic caterwaul and the band’s absolute fucking abrasiveness. They’re like a book bound in sandpaper that destroys the other books on the shelf, just by existing.

The music press hype machine has made Ponytail seem a bit like the second coming. But they deserve very blog post and every drop of ink spilled for them. It was trascendent, it was ecstatic, it was sweaty, it was love. And singer Molly Siegel’s Kool-Aid Man costume busting through the paper brick wall provoked a crazy amount of applause. And then she opens her pipes. It’s not so much singing as it is glorious joyous sticky beauty.

Th photos turned out pretty interesting. I used a straight-up flash with my favourite open-shutter setting. But since there were a lot of other people snapping shots, there’s a lot of double and triple exposure that got picked up. Pretty cool effects, I reckon. And don’t ask me why, but most of these shots ended up as vertical / portrait.