This intrepid writer busted his foot while at this show. Jeff the Taper nearly killed himself by a bludgeoning to the head.

But you know what? Totally worth it. Monday night, Bmore again proved its mettle.

This show was a veritable who’s who of Baltimore (and even some DC) regional booty-movers-and-floor-shakers: Emily Rabbit, Dave Nada, Cullen Stalin, Scottie B, Blaqstarr, Rye Rye, it just goes on and on. Check after the jump for full review, more pics, and an Old Haunts track.

All photos: Josh Sisk

I walked in right before Old Haunts took the stage, missing Future Islands. Their guitar and bass work is extremely kinetic, at times on tracks like “Volatile” (from their latest LP Poisonous Times) reminiscent of an Allman Brothers-like, bluesy take on punk, choosing to use varied chord progressions and scale-walking lines as opposed to hi-speed chord thrashing. The bass is this stalking, driving presence underneath it all.

Extine’s vocals, previously compared to Zep front-man Robert Plant, sounded more and more like a a fusion of Plant with a psych-rock-binging Jack White. And really, it bordered on perfect alchemy. Ex-Bikini Kill drummer Tobi Vail kept it all up-to-speed with her workhorse drumming. They seemed to emphasize the more danceable aspects of their music, keeping the tempo up, the bass driving and the guitars riffing, to make the bill less incongruous.

But when the Death Set started setting up their equipment in front of the club stage rather than on it, the difference between the two acts widened. Stacking amps up high on the front edge of the stage and setting up 2 drum kits and 2 mic stands anchored in cinderblocks filled with beer bottles on the dance floor immediately in front of the stage. The anticipation quickly built to a fever pitch.

The set kicked off as always with a Jackson Five sample, then exploding into their set. Monday nights be damned, the crowd went fucking beserk. Johnny Siera went pretty crazy as well, taking someone’s digital camera during the first song and chucking it about halfway into the crowd , doing his patented monkey-like exploration of floor, stage and equipment, crowd-diving/surfing and then, of course, the soon-to-be infamous guitar chucking at the end of the set, as captured at right by Josh Sisk.

Throughout the set, their spaz-loving party punk was going full-bore, Siera’s vocals as strangled, squealing and chant-worthy as ever, and the two drummers just nailing it. The frenetic and pulsating mass of humanity known as the audience was making things pretty diffcult to control, a number of TaxLo and scene notables being forced to play the role of protector to make sure drum kits and mic stands weren’t completely fucked by kids freaking the fuck out.

Set list included “Negative Thinking,” their always fantastic Op Ivy cover “Bombshell,” “Around the World” and “Paranoia.”
Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned injury, I had to bail before Bonde came on. Regardless, still a fantastic night with just these two sets.

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The Old Haunts – Poison Control

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