3-5 Rivers of Nihl, Dark Sermon, Post Mortal Posession, Conflict Cycle, Pittsburgh @Smiling Moose

My friend got free tickets to this show through his radio show. Free.99 means I'm going. Most of the time. Usually it wouldn't be a random shit metal show that would draw me out, but there was some reason for optimism with this one. I had read that the Smiling Moose had renovated. I pictured in my head an upstairs that didn't have the awkward stairs and wasn't so narrow. I was wrong. I think they just put up a little fence to barricade drinking from non drinking areas.

Conflict Cycle - I didn't like this band very much. Metal that sucked. I don't think I'll be seeing them again.

Post Mortal Posesson - I liked this band a little more than the previous band because their style of music is a lot less popular. But all in all I didn't like the band much either. I guess they're going without a singer or something right now. Death metal.

Dark Sermon - The band of the night. Even though the singer may have been a little bit over the top trying to create a certain mood, I still really enjoyed him. They reminded me of the Alestorm of Satan. I'm actually going to look up this band a lot more. The bass player was fun to watch too.

Rivers of Nihl - Unfortunately the other bands played for too long and this band only got to play 4 songs. That's the big bummer of the Smiling Moose having early shows, sometimes you just run out of time. But that's ok. Rivers of Nihl mixes death metal with hardcore and punk influences. That description might make them sound cool, but they're not super awesome. I didn't like the singer all that much. He didn't have a lot of personality on stage. But I liked the songs and they didn't suck. Yay metal. Metal won.

High's - Dark Sermon, good company, good drinks, good food.
Low's - Show cut short. Swollen ankle still hurt.

3-4 The Sicks, Wetbrain, Chiller, Pittsburgh @Gooskis

I like going to shows at Gooskis. The one thing I do hate is there is normally a decent wait at the bar. Surely it would be to their benefit to throw on a few more bartenders for a weekend night. Either way, this show had all of the markings of a good show, and that pretty much held up.

Chiller - This band was ok. Fasterish hardcore punk. I liked the lead singer. He looked very familiar. Locals that I'd see again.

The Sicks - This band rules. Old punks fucking shit up. Fast and loud, they remind me a little bit of Fuck You Pay Me.

Wetbrain - From Cleveland. They were hardcore punk in the vein of The Sicks. They had some songs that were super bangers. I thought the singer was pretty funny too.

High's - Good show, good venue, good company.
Low's - Nothing but the cold outside and my swollen fucking ankle.