Pentagram, Hull, Bezoar, Judas Priestess @ Europa, Jan 6th, 2011

Pentagram are gods. This much is a given. They're just one of those unfukwittable things in life. Like loudly farting in a crowded library or beer for breakfast, they're always the right choice. More on them later though.

So I haven't been to many shows lately, one here or there, but hardly the number I was hitting 6 months ago. Anyways, many moons ago, my buddy Tyler of Bezoar/the Levee fame told me that he was opening up for Pentagram at Europa in January. I, of course, was fucking stoked for him because Bezoar is one of the best bands around Brooklyn right now and they totally fit that bill. On top of that, he mentioned that perennial favorites and excellent all around dudes Hull would also be on the bill. A fucking success before it even starts.

So I showed up nice and early to catch Bezoars set. Well. Fucking. Worth it. Everytime I see that band they get just a little weirder, just a little heavier, and just a little better. Straight stonerdoom morons, maybe sit this one out. This band involves though, and the ability to deal with a solo and some psyche. Now for the rest of us who can handle big boy/girl music, get this fucking album and see them live. Sarah's vox are eerie and evil as fuck, Tyler has some of the best tone in the city, and the new drummer Justin(?) totally gave the band new life. He's fucking heavy. 'Nuff Said.

Next on was Judas Priestess. They're good. They cover Judas Priest and they're all ladies. I'm sure plenny has been written about them elsewhere so I'm gonna move on.

After that, Hull. This band will be remembered in the future. Mark my fucking words people. They're one of the few bands out there tight enough to exist as a 5 piece with 5 singers and 3 guitars, claim having an awful night, and still have the entire audience raving like fucking lunatics at the end of their set. Fuck it, they're heavy enough to blow the power out of my old house, they're heavy enough to blow your fucking mind. Got it? Good. Go see Hull. Now. Asap. Stat.

Finally, Pentagram. Now, despite the fact that I truly believe in the unholy, unquestionable power of this band, I've seen them not at their best in the past. Every once in a while the sound just isn't up to par, the crowds fucking lame, Bobby's nodding off in a smack induced haze, etc. Whatever the excuse, they're not 100% reliable live.

This was not one of those shows. Easily the best I've ever seen them. Europa was a perfect fit for the crowd, the band, the vibe, just everything. Not too big or small, the sound was absolutely fucking killer, and they were tighter than a nun's cunt. Their tone was dialed, their set was on fucking point hitting a good mix of old and new, and Bobby was a fucking wildman. Now that shit, was a blast. If you missed em then, find them soon.

Buzzov*en @ Public Assembly. Sept. 30th, 2010

The crowd did the masters no justice. How people can stand still in the face of that kind of fury is fucking beyond me. We are unworthy of the gifts we were given.

Fuck that was a good show.

Harvey Milk, Coalesce, and The Atlas Moth @ Le Poisson Rouge in NYC - March 8th, 2010

Here's a bunch of shots from the Harvey Milk/Coalesce/Atlas Moth show put on by the folks at Blackened last night at Le Poisson Rouge. All the bands put on a killer show despite the Monday night crowd. It's tough as shit fighting a slack audience but somehow all the bands managed to rip shit up. I've got movies coming in the near future, stay tuned.

Check some more shots on Flickr

Murder City Devils Tonight, Unsane Last Night

Expect a fuckton of updates ya bastards. Unsane/Made Out Of Babies/Dark Vibe/United Nations last night was fucking epic.

There Is Nothing Better Than Eyehategod.

There, I said it. There is nothing better than Eyehategod. I said it again. Last night's show was one of the most amazing, unreal, unholy, violent, awesome, beautiful fucking shows I have ever seen. Shit was like watching a hurricane. Amazing. Sadly or happily my camera was all out of batteries so I was forced to actually have a good time and stop worrying about shit for the entirety of their 2 hour set. Internet's loss, my gain. Go see Eyehategod. There's a reason they're the best.

Strong Intention, Tombs, Howl, and Unearthly Trance all killed it last night too. Fucking amazing all around.

BIG FUCKING CHANGES MAN!

Hi all, so as you might be able to tell, mad shit's goin on behind the scenes around here. I'm proud to announce the addition of the N.G.N.V. show's calendar (check the side bar ya dolts) to keep you up to date on stuff I think is worth seeing around the greater NYC area. If you hear of a show, please please please send me the details and I'll put it up. Yes, that includes your own bands kids. Get that shit to me please. The more the merrier.

Also, you may or may not notice that the site feels a little different for some reason you can't put your finger on. I finally figured out how to make it a little bit wider. Yes, I admit it. I'm a rookie and clueless but I'm learning so FOAD. Anyways, if for some reason you find it's fucking your shit up or not working lemme know so I can change it back or fix it some how.

Last but not least, I'm about half way through swapping all my files from Rapidshare to dropbox (which is why I haven't been posting a lot of albums lately. It just makes the process slower. Many apologies for that guys. They'll be back soon enough.) Anyways, it seems like everyone likes this whole dropbox thing so I'ma stick with it.

As always, if something is broken or not working on your comp lemme know. I'll make it all better. Allllllll bettterrrrrr

EYEHATEGOD, EUROPA, MONDAY OCT 26TH $15

With Unearthly Trance, Tombs, Howl, and Strong Intentions.

Fucking be there.

WEEDEATER/NAAM @ Charleston 9/10/2009

Rest of the Weedeater shots







Rest of the Naam shots

Weedeater attemping "Monkey Junction" acapella @ Europa Sept 10th, 2009. from Jack Crank on Vimeo.

"Monkey Junction" by Weedeater @ The Charleston. Sept 10th, 2009 from Jack Crank on Vimeo.

Good motherfucking goddamn. Last night gave me that "I wonder what would happen if I started doing massive amounts of drugs and then ritually sacrificed my neighbors puppy to Zuul..." feelings all over the body. Weedeater is a massive, disgusting, unstoppable, menacing, snarling, unhinged runaway riff steam engine piloted by a fucking murderous lunatic. Fuck yeah.

Hull & Giant Squid @ Union Pool, Brooklyn. Aug 11th, 2009

MORE STUFF TO COME OVER THE NEXT FEW MINUTES.

Hull @ Union Pool, Brooklyn. Aug 11th, 2009 from Jack Crank on Vimeo.

HULL






GIANT SQUID






MORE PICS OF LIVE STUFF HERE @ FLICKR

Perdition at Rockstar Bar, Aug 3rd 2009

Here's some vids and shots from the Perdition show last night. These guys are possibly the best punk in NYC right now. Hands fucking down.

Perdition @ Rockstar Bar, Aug 3rd 2009 from Jack Crank on Vimeo.

Perdition at Rockstar Bar, Aug 3rd 2009 from Jack Crank on Vimeo.

Children/Sourvein/Saviours Tonight at Union Pool

So apparently Children, Sourvein, and Saviours are playing tonight at union pool at 9:00 for like $8 or $10. Fuck dude, guess band practice is ending early. By the way, if you've never met the dudes from Saviours I highly recommend them. Straight fucking awesome dudes. See you there.

OM AND NAAM IN BROOKLYN

SUNDAY OCTOBER 11TH, OM AND NAAM AT EUROPA IN GREENPOINT!

This is turning out to be the best fucking day for finding out about shows ever. Fuck yeah!

SAINT VITUS IN BROOKLYN

FRIDAY OCTOBER 16TH, EUROPA IN GREENPOINT

SAINT MOTHERFUCKING VITUS

FUCK YEAH!

OM interview and show from Amoeba

Late pass I know but fuck, if I just found it maybe other people live in deep dark holes too.

http://www.amoeba.com/live-shows/videos/om.html

Apparently the embed doesn't work, sorry.

Tragedy/Morne/Brain Killer/Brainhandle live in Brooklyn 7/12/09

Last Sunday was apparently the last show ever at Studio B in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Now, as an opening line, this may sound all kinds of dramatic and sad and shit but really, who gives a fuck. Studio B was(/is still? Who knows, this place has been "closing" for over a year now.) usually some shit üntzüntzdiscodancepartyfunkytime club that usually attracts the santorum of Brooklyn (read: coked out Royal Oak rejects and thickneck fake tan Jaegerbombs dudes) that featured the occasional rock/punk show. That being said, due to it's status as like Dubstep discodanceland, they have a fucking annihilator of a sound system featuring like a fucking wall of massive subs. Shit is epic. Anyways, to close they doors I guess they figured they'd go out on the crustiest note they could muster and managed to snag Tragedy for one US date before they head off to Europe for their summer tour.

When I first heard that Tragedy was coming to town I was totally fucking stoked. They are the Amebix of this decade and easily one of the best bands around. Then I remembered the kinda meh last Tragedy show I saw (my first time seeing them...) at the Knit last year some time and was a little hesitant. I mean this show was the first of the tour, that one was one of the last. Either way I was gonna fucking be there, especially with Morne and Brain Killer playing.

I was not let down. At fucking all. Not even a little. Brain Killer, Brainhandle, and especially Morne and Tragedy turned it in to a slaughterhouse. Brain Killer and Brain Handle are both definitely acts to catch. In fact, I'd say that BK at 538 Johnson was easily one of the best house shows I've seen in ages. Morne was way more monstrous/epic/heavy/etcetcetc than I was imagining. Actually kind of reminded me of Amebix in a few ways (you know, more than just the obvious influence on their songs). They had a great balance between slow, doomy parts, and crusty hardcore parts. The sound was excellent and they sounded like the end of the world live. Dual vox/dual guitars approach really laid down the weight.

If you're paying attention, you'll notice that I haven't really mentioned blacklisted. There's a reason for that. That reason is because brocore is fucking lame. Especially when it brings out the thickneck throwdown crew to an otherwise friendly affair. If I had to write a letter it'd prolly look something like this:

"Dear Blacklisted, while your music isn't the worst thing I've ever heard, in fact it occasionally borders on the enjoyable, your fanbase of collarwearing khaki short roundhousing kids, thickneck pound-the-shit-out-of-little-kids-for-no-reason linebackers, and awkward Boston post mall-punks isn't exactly the most enjoyable. Keep up the good work... back in Boston.

Love and Cheek Kisses,
Crank"

Anyways, it all came down to Tragedy at the end of the night. They did not disappoint. Lemme just put it this way. I usually follow the "No crowd-surfing/stage-diving for kids over 175lbs" rule pretty fucking strictly. It definitely makes the show more enjoyable for the majority. For Tragedy, I smashed that rule to fucking pieces for the first time in years. I definitely heard "Not Fucking Fodder", "Call to Arms", "The Day After", and "The Ending Fight". They also played one, possibly 2 new songs as well. Could this mean a new album? Who knows?! Shit dude, for a bunch of semi-drunk dudes they were tighter than Nancy Reagan's asshole and heavier than a 10 ton weight. EURO-FRIENDS: GO SEE TRAGEDY.

Here's some shots from the show. Sorry I don't have more of the FSU dudes trying to bludgeon my friend Matt's Gold lame clad ass. Oh yeah, and sorry I don't have better pics of Tragedy, I was busy losing my shit and going buckwild.

BRAINHANDLE








Best gameface ever




MORNE










TRAGEDY

Tragedy - The Day After Live at Studio B. July 12th, 2009 from Jack Crank on Vimeo.

Part 1: Morne - Eyes live at Studio B, Brooklyn NY July 12th, 2009 from Jack Crank on Vimeo.

Part 2 Morne - Eyes at Studio B, Brooklyn NY July 12, 2009 from Jack Crank on Vimeo.