I never considered myself a punk fan until I started spending time at the Wherehouse. There has been one great punk show after another, and I’ve come to love the noises that blare from the massive speakers that usually accompany hardcore bands. Last Friday I reluctantly dragged myself out into the cold and down to the Wherehouse. I am always reluctant when it’s below 50 degrees, but I always manage to do it because these shows are always so damn good.
Local bands Slut River, Non Prayer (who you can read more about on pages 32-33 of our 100th issue) and Solid Attitude hosted Detroit’s Tyvek. From start to finish it was a high-energy ear piercer worth every minute of next-day ear-ringing. Slut River has only performed a few times and I think I’ve seen them every time…and you’d never know from their performance that this was a new endeavor. They are loud, intense and bluesy and I actually have had one of their songs stuck in my head since the show. I will go see them every time they play…unless there’s a blizzard or something.
Non Prayer is described by Little Village’s Brendan Spengler as having a “huge sound” with a “cool, hypnotic smoothness”. Despite some early-on difficulties with equipment, they brought just that. It was loud, it was wild and it left me wanting to hit up Night-People Records for some of their tracks.
Solid Attitude blew my mind and were a lot of fun to watch. Their frontman wiggled and busted his way through the audience with a precision unmatched in a giant, slamdancing crowd. I keep calling these bands loud, but I mean more than just ‘the volume was way up’. I mean they make a big sound, musically and vocally. It’s not just noise you can’t follow, it’s some seriously infectious noise, as melodic as it is intense. I want to see these locals on the same bill again very soon. If any of you musicians are listening, make it happen. For me.
Tyvek was pretty wild and made my ears happy. I wanted to get up closer and take more photos of them, but the floor-clearing slam dancing that was going on made me imagine my camera on the concrete floor beneath dozens of sets of boots. So I apologize to Tyvek for not getting more shots of their set…which was awesome. Now I know why everyone was abuzz about their performing at the show. Clearly, I am not the best at describing the antics of bands, so if you want a better idea of how damn good this was, get on the interwebs and find them.
Those of you who have yet to check out the Wherehouse….there’s always plenty going on and it’s worth your time. Grab a beverage and walk your ass down there for a show, or a movie night or some other rad shit they have going on.
Now on to the visuals….
