GWAR - The Casualties - Infernaeon - Mobile Deathcamp -- 9:30 Club - Dec 29 2010

Mobile Deathcamp - From Toledo, Ohio? I have worked there. Nothing is from Toledo, Ohio. Even the Necros were from suburban Maumee and hung around in Detroit most of the time. Well, this three piece did have a good thrash metal sound, I will give them that. The guitarist grunted out the vocals and all three of them were locked in and it was a very tight unit. The music was typical, not overly inspiring, but it was good for what it was and I actually warmed to them by the end of the half hour set. A fair beginning by a band that seemed fairly literate and decent and a really good crowd for a seven pm starting time.

Infernaeon - A six-piece band that had a couple guitars and keyboards. There certainly was a progressive metal sound in the first song due to the keyboards, but it kind of got buried as the set went on. I was amused as the singer looked at his knees while singing the demonic voice, looked skyward when he was screaming the high parts and straight ahead when doing the normal voice--reminded me of my high school contest speech days when you adjusted your body to the character. He relaxed on these cliches as the set went on which was good. The best song was a Metallica cover "Creeping Death" as it was the most tuneful--hardly a surprise there. Less charm with this band, a bit more power with the numbers and an adequate and predictable set.

The Casualities - Here's the punk component of tonight's show. The foot high spiked mohawk on the guitarist kind of gives it away, but I also saw Misfits, Meatmen and GBH shirts in the crowd. And because of GWAR and metal bands, that means that there may be a bit more clownish or rah-rah punk with this band. Clownish may be too harsh, but it was the GBH/Exploited sort of rah-rah punk. I've had multiple chats with both those bands and they are nice quiet guys mostly (Wattie excepted), so I find this a music a bit on the theatrical side. That can be ok, but it's hard to sustain. And that was the issue here. There was some good energy and fun songs, but my mind was wandering a bit toward the end. "Tomorrow Belongs to Us" is a title that was good and is a perfect fit to 80s UK punk. It was nice that they mentioned the influential DC scene of Minor Threat, Bad Brains, SOA and Scream.

GWAR - I have never seen this band and was itching to see some live music after some holiday travel interruptions. So, like a dope addict willing to put any slop in his veins, I decide to check out GWAR. Nothing against them, but I have already been through Kiss, Alice Cooper and the Plasmatics (although I only saw Kiss). The stage is pretty basic aside from the huge sheets of plastic all over the place to protect some of the electronics from the blood spray. And the blood sprayed. Plenty of beheaded roadies and a disemboweled Sarah Palin who played with her sausage link intestines made for a festive visual treat. On the audio side, the music was basic metal with drab vocals and was musically impressive considering the huge costumers the players were wearing. It was rather hard to decipher Oderus Urungus's stage patter as he delivered his spiel in his worst Nikita Koloff promo voice. No why would pro wrestling be on my mind during this? The special effects ala Herschell Gordon Lewis movie levels were campily entertaining. Music was fair and safe, but people had a good time, so the band delivered. Now I have seen GWAR.

Quotes of the Night: The first person to email me with the correct matching of quote to band wins a free Velvet Lounge show with me at a night I choose. Here they are.

1. "I want to see some fucking blood."
2. "You won't have Sarah Palin as President any time soon."
3. "I see some beer drinkers and hell fucking raisers out there."
4.  In describing a song about Vlad the Impaler... "It's called Human Popsicles."