Saturday 29 January 2011

Valhalla Pacifists, Murder of Crows, Post Fata Resurgo & The Afternoon Gentlemen @ The Packhorse: Jan 27th

I'd been hyping up the Post Fata Resurgo/Murder of Crows/Valhalla Pacifist show at the Packhorse for more than a week, so when the 27th finally arrived I was brimming. I'd invited some friends to come with me so I was pretty hyped, normally I go to shows alone because most people aren't really down for it. I've never heard any metal live, so I was pretty intrigued as to how it would turn out. I'd been listening to Valhalla Pacifists stuff a shitload too so I was pretty excited to see them, some messy hardcore was exactly what I needed. I was just yearning to be able to think 'FUCK IT' and run headfirst into a sweaty, thrashing pit. Ever since my first hardcore show I've found myself craving it at times, the stress and boredom of living just gets to me and shows are one of the best outlets of frustration... along with skating and wanking (to an extent).

So unsurprisingly, most of the dudes I'd planned on going with couldnt make it because they were too baked and lazy, so it was just me and my homie Chris, which is always spell for a good time. We got there a bit late due to having to wait for the dudes who couldn't make it, and to my dismay we fuckin missed Valhalla pacifists!! Such a bummer. Anyway, we got there in time for Bristol trio Murder of Crows. Straight away I started feeling a bit intimidated, I guess partly because I was wearing a bright blue Maps and Atlases band shirt beneath my hoodie, and majority of the crowd was in a black, metal band shirt. But after a while I stopped caring and focussed on the music. MoC were pretty heavy, super fast drum beats and some messy raw vocals, the bass hit hard too.. I liked that. To be honest I'm not that into metal, I guess I find it harder to dance to because there isn't as significant a breakdown as there is in hardcore, so its a bit hard to keep with the beat.. It could just be in the way I move, as i try to follow the drums as closely as possible, and trust me.. it was fuckin hard with murder of crows (and post fata), that drummer was insanely fast. The crowd was alright, I was hoping for a pit but I guess the exhilaration wasn't high enough at that point. 
(** It turns out MoC are not really metal, more grindcore/punk, but I don't really know how to classify bands anymore, so I'll just stick with what I know)

 After MoC, Post Fata Resurgo (from Italy) came on. The band had a similar pace/sound to MoC, except with more complex riffs and vocals. It was awesome to see a foreign band playing, although they may not have had as welcoming a reception as back home, the crowd was definitely appreciative of their music. I came to England with a preconception that everyone was ignorant of other cultures and extremely discriminant (from bad past experiences), but the more I experience the more I've come to understand that that is a really unwise and short-sighted way to think, as the people (and the music scene) in Leeds are some of the most welcoming I have seen.
Post Fata
 
The last band, who weren't mentioned until the last minute, were a group of local dudes called The Afternoon Gentlemen, who, as accurately pointed out again by Chris, appeared very "civilian". But fuck that, the moment they hit the speakers I knew they were the real deal. The fastest beats of the night. Screaming, wrenching vocals, and disorientating guitars.... gaaaahh FUCK I needed that so bad, the pit was nuts right from the first song. I got in for the first bit, but I pussied out a little after I was shouldered in the forehead with a metal stud, so I hung around the peripherals of the circle whilst Chris got in the pit. It got me pretty hyped to see him in there, he's a folk-boy, so to see him enjoying himself at a grindcore show was awesome. There was something preventing me from getting in the pit, some invisible barrier which was filling my head with fear of getting hurt, fear of falling down. Towards the end though, I couldn't contain myself and my naiive pussyfooting.. I had to get in there. They announced their last song, and that was by far the best song of the night. I completely lost it, and I'm pretty sure a lot of other people did too. Every smashing cymbal and slicing screaaaam coming from the singer’s voice hit me so deep, I was spinning in circles, falling to the ground, being hurled back up by unknown arms, falling back down again. I felt so fuckin alive. Fuck pussying out, I pussy out of a lot of things like that and I just end up feeling stupid. To be completely unaware of your actions but know that everyone is there to help you out.. thats awesome.

The whole time I was there I never got a stink eye or any judgmental comments. It further proved to me that I can't judge people solely on their appearance, and more often than not, the people you least expect to be friendly are relaxed as fuck. I know its a pretty rudimentary life lesson, but as much as people like to think they know it, they really don't. I've seen so many "open" people throw down the most judgmental comments on people who look remotely different. Its pathetic.

Hardcore/metal/loud fuckin shows aren't as bad as people might think they are. Its just the idea of experiencing something completely foreign and out of the comfort zone which prevents people from trying it. And that feeling of satisfaction, pure unadulterated satisfaction (not to mention a killlller falafel sandwich) which follows, is incomparable. It always leaves me in a pretty philosophical and mellow mood..

I was recommended a website by a dude from Valhalla Pacifists, its about the hardcore/metal/emo etc. scene in Northern UK.
http://www.collective-zine.co.uk/cboard/ - Check it out if your interested in seeing some shows!

Here are the band's myspaces that played

I’ll upload some photos too – at a couple of points some dudes tried building a human pyramid. Pretty funny, especially when it all fell down into a mini pile-up. Gooood times!

Afternoon Gents

The pyramid - killer butt cracks!

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