LIVE REVIEW: POISON THE WELL & CONVERGE AT THE BELASCO

When this tour was announced it was an absolute no brainer that this was a must go. I mean, Poison The Well, Converge, The Armed and The Barbarians Of California all on one tour! Yes please!

On a quite perfect Wednesday spring night, Poison The Well, Converge and more rolled into the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles, CA, and made sure to let everyone in the downtown area know they were in town.

As the clock hit 7:00 pm, the lights went down and The Barbarians Of California took the stage and immediately went into their blend of hardcore and punk. Their infectious energy radiated through the audience for the next thirty minutes. There is an absolute fun aspect to this band that really helps to ignite the crowd and spirit of the night.

Next up was The Armed. If you haven’t had the opportunity to check out this band live, you are truly missing out. The Armed, like the Barbarians, are a fun band that demands your attention. For the next thirty minutes, The Armed blazed through their set with reckless precision that left you wanting more. I’ve had the pleasure of seen them a few times now and this might have been the most exciting show I’ve seen of theirs.

Converge! What else can be said about this band that hasn’t been said before. This band is legendary for a reason. For the next hour, Converge, delivered a set that was as brutal and beautiful as it was pummeling and destructive. Riding high off their new album, Love Is Not Enough and their upcoming other new album, Hum Of Hurt, there was no stopping Jacob, Kurt, Nate and Ben on stage. Ripping through new songs like the title track, “Bad Faith,” “To Feel Something” as well as “Hum Of Heart” and “Death In Bloom,” these new songs have fast become live fan favorites as well as future set staples. The classic songs like “Dark Horse,” “Eagles Become Vultures,” “Concubine” and “Conduit” sounded even more ferocious with age. This set and tour shows why Converge are the blueprint for so many hardcore/metal bands today.

When it was time for Poison The Well, the energy in the Belasco shifted from a very intense energy into a very welcome burst of explosive fire as “Botchla” opened their set. From that point it was game on. The band is on tour now promoting their fantastic comeback album, Peace In Place. The new songs like “Thoroughbreds,” “Everything Hurts,” and “Wax Mask” sounded gargantuan and very urgent, especially “Everything Hurts.” The choice classics played like “Ghostchant,” “Slice Paper Wrists,” “For A Bandaged Iris,” “Crystal Lake” sounded violent and crisp. The band themselves had a sense of joy while playing. Watching Chris, Ryan, Jeffery, Vadim and Noah on stage was inspiring to see as they, like Converge, created a blueprint within hardcore.

This tour was one of those that if you didn’t go to, you missed out. This was one of those lineups that showcased the old school and new school in the best way possible. Each band delivered the goods the best way they can. Having this show in the middle of the week was also a welcome break to all of life’s craziness. We need more events like this to help us all!

What a night!

Review/Photos By: Brian Lacy

The Armed Setlist:

  1. All Futures
  2. Everything’s Glitter
  3. Grace Obscure
  4. I Steal What I Want
  5. Night City Aliens
  6. Fortune’s Daughter
  7. Liar
  8. Big Shell

Converge Setlist:

  1. Love Is Not Enough
  2. Bad Faith
  3. Eagles Become Vultures 
  4. Dark Horses
  5. Under Duress
  6. Conduit
  7. Hum Of Hurt
  8. Amon Amok
  9. Distract And Divide
  10. To Feel Something 
  11. Doom In Bloom
  12. The Broken Vow
  13. We Were Never The Same
  14. I Can Tell You About Pain
  15. Concubine 

Poison The Well Setlist:

  1. Botchla
  2. Zombies Are Good For Your Health
  3. Slice Paper Wrists
  4. Thoroughbreds
  5. A Wish For Things That Work
  6. For A Bandaged Iris
  7. Everything Hurts
  8. 12/23/93
  9. Letter Thing
  10. Ghostchant
  11. Parks And What You Meant To Me
  12. Crystal Lake
  13. Artist’s Rendering Of Me
  14. Loved Ones (Excerpts From Speeches Of How Great You Were, And Will Never Be Again)
  15. Nerdy

CONVERGE PHOTOS:

Poison The Well Photos:

MEMORABLE TV PERFORMANCES: METALLICA 1989 GRAMMY’S

In 1989, Metallica was just about to become a household name. And Justice For All, the bands fourth album, was truly was a monumental album for heavy music. There is no denying the impact this album has had over the years. The songs are beyond classics and the influence has only grown.

We all know what happened at the Grammy Awards in that year with Jethro Tull beating out Metallica for the first Heavy Metal Grammy. While they didn’t win that, they did however perform that night and won the audience over that was in attendance as well as watching at home.

Metallica have been on top of the world since this point and with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Take a moment to enjoy this classic and memorable TV performance of “One” by Metallica.

Metallica- One (Live At The Grammy’s 1989):

DREAM TOUR/SETLIST: MASTODON, FAILURE & CAVE IN

We all have made lists of bands we’d love to see tour together. The endless possibilities that are out there make for some pretty amazing ideas. There’s one idea I’ve had for quite a while now that I’ve finally put together. I’ve long had this idea in my mind for years, that a Mastodon tour with Failure would be absolutely mind blowing. What a compelling one / two punch. To completely put this tour over the top would be to add Cave In as the opening act.

Each band is phenomenal on their own. Then you combine all three under one venue and you’ve got a recipe for a sonic experience your mind will never forget. Each bands set is full of songs you love and choice deep cuts that you’d not expect.

Here’s how it would all play out.

Venue: Long Beach Arena

Cave In Set List:

01) Blood Spiller

02) Jupiter

03) Halo Of Flies

04) Trepanning

05) Floating Skulls

06) Droned

07) Juggernaut

08) Big Riff

09) New Moon

Failure Set List:

01) Submarines

02) Let It Drip

03) Distorted Fields

04) Halo and Grain

05) A.M. Amnesia

06) Sergeant Politeness

07) Counterfeit Sky

08) The Air’s On Fire

09) Stuck On You

10) Another Space Song

11) Daylight

12) Hot Traveler

13) Heliotropic

Mastodon Set List:

01) March Of The Fire Ants

02) Pushing The Tides

03) Naked Burn

04) Sleeping Giant

05) Oblivion

06) Dagger

07) Thickening

08) Asleep In The Deep

09) The Czar

10) The Crux

11) Hunters Of The Sky

12) Ember City

13) Steambreather

Encore:

14) Blood And Thunder

15) Ghost Of Karelia

16) Jaguar God

And Here’s The Whole Thing In Playlist Form:

MEMORABLE TV PERFORMANCES: FAITH NO MORE ON TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO 1993

Back in 1993, while riding high off their album, Angel Dust, made a late night TV appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. “Midlife Crisis” was the single at the time and the audience in the studio had no idea what hit them. The band was also on tour with Metallica and Guns N Roses at this time making them a very hot commodity. It’s worth noting that Faith No More also performed their cover of The Commodores “Easy.” Enjoy “Midlife Crisis” below!

Faith No More- Midlife Crisis (Live On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, 1993):

ALBUM RANK UPDATED: LED ZEPPELIN

Led Zeppelin is one of the best bands of all time. I’d even go out on a limb and say they are better than The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Led Zeppelin had it all from the songs, live show, musicianship, mystique and then some. You’d be hard pressed to find a catalog of a band with the amount of greatness, that Led Zeppelin put out. Below is the definitive album rank of all nine Led Zeppelin studio albums.

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NEW RELEASE: GENGHIS TRON- BORN PREY

The wait for the new Genghis Tron album is making me impatient. A few weeks ago, the band released the news that their new album, Signal Fire would be coming out on June 12 and the first single “I Am All” from said album , right out of the gate was sonically pummeling!

Now, as the impatient wait continues, Genghis Tron has dropped another new song “Born Prey” and this one is even more unrelenting than the previous. The song is a welcome return to the bands older and more abrasive side while also pushing the boundaries of where heavy music can go.

I for one am very stoked on this upcoming new Genghis Tron album. Bands like this need to be celebrated more. There’s a real uncanny amount of artistry in this band and it’s really quite stunning. Prepare yourself accordingly!

Genghis Tron- Born Prey:

NEW RELEASE: CONVERGE- DOOM IN BLOOM

I’m declaring 2026 to be the year of Converge! The year started off with their new album, Love Is Not Enough, which came out of the gates like a bat out of hell. Then came news that there was a second album on its way, in the form of Hum Of Hurt, which arrives on June 5th!

The second single from Hum Of Hurt has arrived in “Doom In Bloom.” This song is heavy and full of a raw, unrelenting riffs and rhythms. Lyrically it’s introspective in a very optimistic way.

One of the things about Converge that I personally enjoy the most is the honesty in their music. Every album has a different meaning and feeling. The way the artwork plays into the lyrics which in turn plays out through the music. It’s an underrated aspect about Converge and what comes with each album. Bring on Hum Of Hurt, I’m ready!

Converge- Doom In Bloom:

DEEP CUTS: KILLSWITCH ENGAGE- WE CARRY ON

During my album deep dive into Killswitch Engage, I was quickly reminded of a song of theirs that is truly one of the best in their entire repertoire. For this one we go back to the band’s 2016 album, Incarnate, and find it at track eleven, “We Carry On.”

“We Carry On” what a song! There’s a deeply impassioned vocal performance by singer/lyricist, Jesse Leach throughout the album but, when you get to this song in the course of listening, there’s just something truly remarkable. The weight of the lyrics bellow out of Jesse’s heart into direct hit of optimism and hope. Guiding this vocal is music that hits the right melancholic notes with just the right amount of heaviness to push through the wall and make it past it all.

Songs like this are magnetic and beautiful. I distinctly recall when I bought this CD back in 2016 (Happy Ten Year Anniversary!! By the way), I put it on my stereo at home, grabbed my headphones, went to my favorite spot, pressed play and read the lyrics as I listened. When I got to “We Carry On” there was an instant connection to the song. One of those gems that deep in the track listing.

As great as this song is, it’s only been played live four times. And all in 2023. You lucky 4 shows! Just going to put this out in the universe to put “We Carry On” in the setlist going forward!! It’s too damn good not to play it!

Killswitch Engage- We Carry On:

NEW MUSIC SPOTLIGHT: THE OWLING- INTRAVENOUS FLOW

Late last year, I introduced you all to the band The Owling. Their debut album, You Don’t Bow, You Will Learn” hit me out of nowhere and was a perfect end note to the year. Now, Kal Michael (guitar/vocals) and Art Quanstrom (drums), have kept their creative flow going and have released a new EP titled, Intravenous Flow.

Intravenous Flow is quite the perfect title for this release. Clocking in at just about twenty five minutes, the way this EP plays out really feels more like an album. The title track, “Intravenous Flow” starts things off and truly does have quite the flow. The delicate nature of the guitar creates a warm texture against the ambient cymbals and drums, while the vocals float on top. In a way there’s a post punk tinge to go along with the doom riffs and thunder drums. “Hollowed” is quite possibly my favorite song by The Owling. There’s a really cool almost Neurosis vibe to this song and it’s one of those really great slow burn songs. And then comes the cover song you didn’t know you needed, Ozzy Osbourne’s “Mama I’m Coming Home.” I quite enjoy this version. The way it pays homage to the original but, sways more into Sabbath territory is treat. Closing out this record is an acoustic version of “Intravenous Flow,” And what I said prior still stands, this one truly is THE delicate one.

I haven’t had the chance to see The Owling live yet but, I sure will soon. These songs live are going to be huge! The Owling aren’t just the a typical doom/insert other genre here band. When you listen you hear substance and depth. Something that is truly missing from so much rock music these days. Take your time with this record and really listen.

The Owling Online HERE

BY: Brian Lacy

The Owling- Intravenous Flow:

The Owling- You Don’t Bow You Will Learn:

B SIDES: THE SMASHING PUMPKINS- STELLAR

The Smashing Pumpkins have always been a prolific band in terms of albums, live shows and songs. The songwriting and arrangements are some of the best ever. Billy Corgan has written so many great songs, sometimes it’s hard to keep up with them all.

Recently, I was revisiting the Pumpkins album, Zeitgeist. I distinctly remember when this album came out. It was one of those moments where one of your favorite bands return. Zeitgeist is a polarizing album with songs that now, almost twenty years later, ring more true than ever. There is a particular song though on this record that has always been a favorite of mine. And that song is “Stellar.”

“Stellar” is an absolute gem. There are shades of early Pumpkins on this song but, it doesn’t rely on that to shine. Clocking in at six and a half minutes, “Stellar” shoots you to the stars. The “big rock” sound that the albums production has too, showcases this song. The shoegaze vibe mixed with a bit of new wave and a dose of seventies era pop a la Cheap Trick is brilliant.

If you were lucky enough to see The Smashing Pumpkins 2008 on their European tour, there’s a good chance you might have heard this wonderful song. The live band during this run was fun to watch and hear. At the time of the release as well, if you bought the gray edition of Zeitgeist, which was a Best Buy exclusive, “Stellar” was found on this version along with “Ma Belle” and “Death From Above.” Zeitgeist is a hard album to find but if you find it in the wild, buy it, it’s so worth it.

Now enjoy these live versions of “Stellar.”

The Smashing Pumpkins- Stellar:

Billy Corgan (Solo)- Stellar: