BORN TOO LATE II @ THE BUG JAR, ROCHESTER, NY, AUGUST 1ST
Twelve straight hours of doom? Sign me up! Unfortunately, leaving Toronto on the Saturday of a Canadian long weekend wasn't such a good idea, and due to a two-hour border delay at Niagara Falls (among other things) I arrived in Rochester three hours later than scheduled. As a result, I missed the opening band, CYRUS, as well as ARGUS, who I was really looking forward to. Can I get a "Fuck You, Greyhound!"?
FUCK YOU, GREYHOUND!!!!
At least The Bug Jar was pretty close to the Rochester bus terminal. Once I got off, it only took me ten minutes to get to the venue and grab some DOOM-B-QUE before APOSTLE OF SOLITUDE took the stage. What an entrance it was, starting things off with a long, slow, doomy intro that lasted for a few minutes before the vocals arrived. Technical difficulties aside (twas hard to hear the vocals sometimes), the band played a solid set of Sabbath meets Revelation-style doom, ending things off with an epic tune called Warbird before tossing in a cover of Where Eagles Dare by the Misfits for good measure.
Apostle of Solitude pics
Festival organizer John Gallo made his second appearance of the nite with BLIZARO, a band that also featured Orodruin bassist Mike Puleo on drums. On this evening, the side project played a set consisting entirely of Paul Chain covers. You couldn't understand a word Gallo was saying, but that's pretty consistent with the artist they were paying homage to. The Moog keyboard didn't make an appearance until the last song of the set, but it was well worth the weight, erm, wait...
Blizaro pics
AGAINST NATURE was one of just two bands on the bill I had seen before (Orodruin being the other), and I was diggin 'em a lot more this time than when I caught 'em at the Metal Bar in '07. These guys have that southern rock/stoner jam band feel, with some trace elements of doom, combining a few of my favourite things. Not sure how they went over with the C.O.T.D. crowd, but they really impressed me.
Against Nature pics
It's not hard to see why OGRE was chosen to headline the afternoon session, as you really needed a break to recover from their heavy rock assault. Although it took 'em a couple songs to really hit the groove, they got things rolling with a song called Colossus about a giant killer robot. It could've just as easily been named for the band's massive riffage. They really blew me away with their Sleep-esque space rock/stoner doom. Killer, killer band!
Ogre pics
As the only six-piece band of the evening and the closest thing to a traditional/power metal outfit on the bill, WHILE HEAVEN WEPT sounded like a cross between Candlemass and early Fate's Warning, with powerful, operatic-style vocals. (I actually scribbled this in my notebook before reading the bit about them in the BTL zine. I shit you not!) Twas a nice change of pace to usher in the nightfall.
While Heaven Wept pics
By far the youngest, shortest-haired band on stage, PALE DIVINE showed that there's hope for the next generation of doomsters, bringing down the house with their Maryland-flavoured heaviness. Man, have these guys ever got some chops, throwing in all kindsa killer riffs and face-melting solos throughout! All the bands were great, but if you put a gun to my head and forced me to choose my favourite artist of the evening, I'd hafta give the nod to Pale Divine...
Pale Divine pics
John Brenner and company were up again, this time as REVELATION, with a set of true doom, circa 1989. Another solid set from the three-piece, although I kinda liked Against Nature better. I'm probably in the minority in saying that, I suppose...
Revelation pics
Now, what more could you ask for than Al Morris III in the flesh with an energetic, flamboyant singer and a solid rhythm section, to boot? The band's called IRON MAN for a reason. No one can coax Iommi-like riffs from his Gibson SG better than Mr. Morris, and frontman Joe Donnelly's got a lotta Ozzy in him, too. Iron Man is the Black Sabbath of underground, underappreciated Maryland doom, no doubt about it..
Iron Man pics
Ever the gracious hosts, ORODRUIN agreed to play last so that none of the travelling bands would get shut down by the noise police. As it turns out, nobody interfered, the show ran well past 2am, and they even got called back to do an encore. After all the amazing acts that preceeding them, the local doomsters had to kick it up a notch, and they did so with aplomb. Twas an energetic, lively set of new tunes and old favourites that brought an outstanding evening to an end. Dude, where's my hearing?
Orodruin pics
What did you think of the show? Discuss it on the THTGIR forum
Twelve straight hours of doom? Sign me up! Unfortunately, leaving Toronto on the Saturday of a Canadian long weekend wasn't such a good idea, and due to a two-hour border delay at Niagara Falls (among other things) I arrived in Rochester three hours later than scheduled. As a result, I missed the opening band, CYRUS, as well as ARGUS, who I was really looking forward to. Can I get a "Fuck You, Greyhound!"?
FUCK YOU, GREYHOUND!!!!
At least The Bug Jar was pretty close to the Rochester bus terminal. Once I got off, it only took me ten minutes to get to the venue and grab some DOOM-B-QUE before APOSTLE OF SOLITUDE took the stage. What an entrance it was, starting things off with a long, slow, doomy intro that lasted for a few minutes before the vocals arrived. Technical difficulties aside (twas hard to hear the vocals sometimes), the band played a solid set of Sabbath meets Revelation-style doom, ending things off with an epic tune called Warbird before tossing in a cover of Where Eagles Dare by the Misfits for good measure.
Apostle of Solitude pics
Festival organizer John Gallo made his second appearance of the nite with BLIZARO, a band that also featured Orodruin bassist Mike Puleo on drums. On this evening, the side project played a set consisting entirely of Paul Chain covers. You couldn't understand a word Gallo was saying, but that's pretty consistent with the artist they were paying homage to. The Moog keyboard didn't make an appearance until the last song of the set, but it was well worth the weight, erm, wait...
Blizaro pics
AGAINST NATURE was one of just two bands on the bill I had seen before (Orodruin being the other), and I was diggin 'em a lot more this time than when I caught 'em at the Metal Bar in '07. These guys have that southern rock/stoner jam band feel, with some trace elements of doom, combining a few of my favourite things. Not sure how they went over with the C.O.T.D. crowd, but they really impressed me.
Against Nature pics
It's not hard to see why OGRE was chosen to headline the afternoon session, as you really needed a break to recover from their heavy rock assault. Although it took 'em a couple songs to really hit the groove, they got things rolling with a song called Colossus about a giant killer robot. It could've just as easily been named for the band's massive riffage. They really blew me away with their Sleep-esque space rock/stoner doom. Killer, killer band!
Ogre pics
As the only six-piece band of the evening and the closest thing to a traditional/power metal outfit on the bill, WHILE HEAVEN WEPT sounded like a cross between Candlemass and early Fate's Warning, with powerful, operatic-style vocals. (I actually scribbled this in my notebook before reading the bit about them in the BTL zine. I shit you not!) Twas a nice change of pace to usher in the nightfall.
While Heaven Wept pics
By far the youngest, shortest-haired band on stage, PALE DIVINE showed that there's hope for the next generation of doomsters, bringing down the house with their Maryland-flavoured heaviness. Man, have these guys ever got some chops, throwing in all kindsa killer riffs and face-melting solos throughout! All the bands were great, but if you put a gun to my head and forced me to choose my favourite artist of the evening, I'd hafta give the nod to Pale Divine...
Pale Divine pics
John Brenner and company were up again, this time as REVELATION, with a set of true doom, circa 1989. Another solid set from the three-piece, although I kinda liked Against Nature better. I'm probably in the minority in saying that, I suppose...
Revelation pics
Now, what more could you ask for than Al Morris III in the flesh with an energetic, flamboyant singer and a solid rhythm section, to boot? The band's called IRON MAN for a reason. No one can coax Iommi-like riffs from his Gibson SG better than Mr. Morris, and frontman Joe Donnelly's got a lotta Ozzy in him, too. Iron Man is the Black Sabbath of underground, underappreciated Maryland doom, no doubt about it..
Iron Man pics
Ever the gracious hosts, ORODRUIN agreed to play last so that none of the travelling bands would get shut down by the noise police. As it turns out, nobody interfered, the show ran well past 2am, and they even got called back to do an encore. After all the amazing acts that preceeding them, the local doomsters had to kick it up a notch, and they did so with aplomb. Twas an energetic, lively set of new tunes and old favourites that brought an outstanding evening to an end. Dude, where's my hearing?
Orodruin pics
What did you think of the show? Discuss it on the THTGIR forum