4-28 Raw Power, Wartorn, Submachine, Oh Shit They're Going to Kill Us, Lady Beast, Pittsburgh @Belvederes

I had hopeful expectations of this show, and was not disappointed. On Facebook the event had around 150 people that said they were going to the show. Well that turned out to be a bit high. I think probably around 75 people paid to get in. But the crowd was good size for punk in the Burgh at a dive bar on a Sunday. Despite the normal crappyness of Belvederes, it's a great place for punk shows. I really like the PA, the vocals always come over pretty clear. And I love the drink prices, $2 PBR's all night long. So those things make for a sweet punk show. At some point before Wartorn played there was a little fight back by the pool tables. I don't know what it was all about but it looked like the singer from Killer of Sheep tackles some white guy and yelled at him. The white guy got tossed, his girlfriend was pissed off, the end.

Lady Beast - I had heard this band was a metal band, but I hadn't seen them before. They have a very rock and roll metal sound, and the singer had rock and roll body language. They were entertaining. I think the guitarists of this band were of higher quality than the other guitarists to play this night. I liked the set, though I normally prefer bands with vocals a bit more raw. I'd see them again.

Oh Shit They're Going to Kill Us - Local thrash metal group. The singer is good, though the band isn't particularly entertaining. They were a bit better to bang your head to, and a bit less attractive in general than Lady Beast. All in all I enjoyed the set.

Submachine - Local hardcore punk band that is a more popular group in the local area. They've been playing for a long time now, I think they got together in 1990 or something. The set was good. Punks were into it. It was a good time. There isn't really anything defining about their musical style. Not extremely fast or loud or heavy, but still very good. The singer was particularly entertaining.

Wartorn - Most of the crowd seemed to not like this band, but I thought they were pretty sweet. More of a hardcore band than anyone else on the bill. I'd say they classify as a d-beat/thrash metal/hardcore band. The vocals were pretty growly and the music was great for banging your head. I think a lot of the punks were turned off by them because the singer looked real clean and his voice was more of a shitty metalcore type than the punks like to get into. But they went down as my favorite band of the evening.

Raw Power - They are on tour in the States from Italy. I was expecting something a little more raw. They were a similar band to Submachine but a little less aggressive. I enjoyed the set. The singer said some things that were funny. I'd go see them again, but I wasn't blown away. The crowd stuck around until the end of the set, it was a good night.

HI's - turnout, cheap drinks, all the bands
Lows - nothing

4-23 Crazy Spirit, Glam, Una Bestia Incontrolable, Eel, Pittsburgh @Mr. Roboto Project

So I had a choice to go to this show, or to go to the Power Trip show. Turns out a ton of people showed up for the Power Trip show, and only an average crowd showed up for this show, so I'm glad this is the show I went to. I'm sure the hardcore show was fun, but the punx show was good too. I've never seen a band play in the front room at the new Roboto location before. It was tight confines, but made for good punk.

Eel - A bunch of local punks. Noisy, fast, punk with some funky reverb on the mike. The band was good, but not so much different from Drug Lust or a ton of other bands.

Crazy Spirit - More of a street punk band than any other band on the show. The punks were all down with them. Sounded something like GISM. They're from NYC. The set was fun. People were pogoing and running around in a circle. I'd go see this band again.

Una Bestia Incontrolable - The Uncontrollable Beast from Barcelona Spain. This band was ok, but probably my least favorite of the evening. They weren't especially fast or heavy or good in any way. I enjoyed it, but it was just ok. I was hoping they would seriously slay because I like their name, but that didn't happen.

Glam - My favorite band of the night and they were the heaviest band of the night. A little more metal than the other bands, not very street punk esque. No one moshed or anything because a fair amount of the crusties left after Crazy Spirit. They are on tour with UBI, and traveling together because both bands share members and are from Barcelona Spain. I'd go see this group again.

Hi's - touring bands, average turnout
Low's - Missing Alpha and Omega at the shop

4-22 Culo, Bad Noids, Drug Lust, Illegals, Pittsburgh @Gooskis

Gooskis is a sweet place for late drunk and smoky shows. I wish the bar was a little bit more accessible for getting drinks, but you deal with that. Most of the shows I've ever been to at Gooskis have been pretty well attended and this show is no exception. I'm thinking there were around 75 people in the room at the point of most attendance. Though, who knows how many people paid to get in, I know we didn't. It's not because we wouldn't have paid, but no one at the door asked us to pay and never did throughout the night. Whatever. A band called Birth Deformities was rumored to maybe play, but they didn't. For that matter neither did Culo.

Illegals - They opened up the show. They still strike me as Slumlords with the pace turned up a notch. I like the demeanor of the people in this band. Fun band. Right before they opened up the show there was a fight of some sorts and some dude in flannel got thrown out. Not sure what that was about but I'm pretty sure it was stupid. Sweet band, will see again.

Drug Lust - By far the best I've seen them. The set was sweet. The punks moshing was in full effect. It was a really good set. Hardcore punk.

Bad Noids - They played a bunch of songs and the people in attendance were lovin it. A very fun set. They have a bunch of songs that are total bangers. I'll have to listen to this band now. Their singer was funny, you couldn't understand what he was saying at all, but he sounded funny anyway. Kinda reminded me of Charlie from Always Sunny, except more stoned and less hyper. Fast hardcore punk. I'm glad they got added to the bill last minute, I'll go see them again.

Culo - Didn't show up. Some dude got on stage at the end of Bad Noids and was saying some shit about the Helter Shelter. I think he was trying to say Culo was playing a set at the Helter Shelter after the Gooskis show. But I don't think they have shows at the Shelter anymore. Either way, we didn't go to see if that's what was happening.

Hi's - Turnout, pretty much everything about the night.
Low's - Culo not showing up, Birth Deformities not playing.

4-15 Ramming Speed, Nomad Queen, Cerebral Apophysis, Pittsburgh @Belvederes

I've been to some well supported shows on a Monday night. This was not one of them. A grand total of maybe 15 people were there at the height of the night, which was during Nomad Queen. I think promotion was pretty poor. That said, Belvederes is still a great place for shows. The back room is so spacious it makes for awesome and safe show-going. The beer is the cheapest in town, $2 for tall cans of PBR. And the weather was pretty warm that night. At least 60 degrees. But Pittsburgh didn't turn out for these bands on this night.

Cerebral Apophysis - They bill themselves as blackened crust punk. That's probably what they are. But they're not very good. Maybe one song or so was ok. But all in all the band had no energy and no groove to the music. The lead singer had a horrible curly mohawk and had something weird going on with his eyes when he was yellin. The secondary singer, aka the drumer, was probably my favorite of the group, and it's just because he looked pretty creepy in a molester kind of way. The one redeeming quality of this band is that they have a little traveling distro they take with them that sells patches that they print theirselves. That's pretty cool.

Nomad Queen - There are some varying opinions about this band. The singer has a super loud laugh, which in some books is annoying. But I was super feeling the music. Thrash punk with good vocals. The vocals remind me of Icon Gallery, and the music is similar but heavier. I'll for sure go see this band again.

Ramming Speed - Didn't stay to see them.

Hi's - Nomad Queen, the venue
Low's - leaving early, turnout