The older I get, the more I want to stay at home and not deal with outside influences (driving, parking, people, etc.) To see a good club show, that means I have to drive a solid hour plus, each way. There are select bands that I plan to see weeks, or even months in advance. But what about the bands I know only by name and genre, but aren’t familiar with any of their music? Are these shows even worth the time, money and hassle? The answer is “most of the time.”

Ever since I started the brand 4theloveofmetal, (webpage, Instagram and Facebook public group), I’ve forced myself to go to more shows than previous. The only way to come up with content is to get out of the house and experience different shows that I probably wouldn’t have gone to otherwise. These are a few of the gems that I’ve seen over the last year or so, even though I don’t know much, or any of their music:

Devastation on the Nation Tour, featuring Dark Funeral & Belphegor:

I like black metal and extreme metal in limited amounts. This was the perfect dose for me that evening. Whether I like a band or not has a lot to do with their vocal style. Belphegor has a slow growl with the right amount of scream. Their music is death and chunky, really easy to get into during a live set. Dark Funeral was faster with more extreme vocals. They’ve been around since the 90’s, and they’ve got their shit together. They’re legends of their craft and it shows. From their first song, you can tell they’re worthy of headlining. The entire show was a brutal assault on the senses. Devastation on the Nation 2020 is coming up shortly. I may have to check that one out.

Goatwhore, Ringworm and Locistellar

Goatwhore was a pleasant surprise, especially for a Tuesday night (For some reason, a lot of good shows happen in Seattle on a Tuesday. The main reason I went to this show is because they played the iconic Crocodile Cafe. It’s a pretty small place, but they packed it pretty well. Goatwhore is a band I haven’t seen before because they usually play earlier on the bill. It was nice to see them headline this one. It was well worth the wait. I would call their style death metal with death/black metal vocals. If you ever get the chance to see these guys, you won’t be disappointed. In direct support was Ringworm and opening the show was Locistellar. They are a supergroup of sorts and it was cool that this was their first live show they played together.

Narcotic Wasteland:

I didn’t know anything about Narcotic Wasteland at the time. It was my birthday and it was the only thing going on that night. I watched a couple of their videos ahead of time, so I pretty much knew what to expect. Narcotic Wasteland was founded by Dallas Toler-Wade, who until recently, was a longtime guitarist/vocalist of the band Nile. I thought they played a solid set. The show was located at the Funhouse, which is the bar attached to El Corazón. There wasn’t more than a dozen people in the crowd that night, but I had a blast. I brought my Nikon camera inside with me and got some good practice taking pictures with a mostly unobstructed stage. I don’t usually drink at shows, but my wife was nice enough to go there with me and drive my drunk ass home afterwards.

Kataklysm, Exhorder & Krisiun

I heard a song or 2 on the radio from Kataklysm. I know they have their own brands of hot sauce, but I couldn’t tell you much about their music. I mostly went there to see Exhorder, but all of the bands playing that night were killer. I saw Exhorder play a year earlier at California Death Fest IV, and I liked what I saw. They played a high energy set of thrash and groove. It was really easy for the crowd to get into them. Coming up around the same time as Pantera, these are one of the bands that should have been a lot bigger than they are. I had a chance to speak with the singer Kyle Thomas after their set. He seemed like a really cool guy. They have a fairly new release called Mourn the Southern Sky. I need to start listening to them more before they come back to my neck of the woods.

I know it’s easy to stay at home and be comfortable, (which I usually do), but it’s nice to go out every once in awhile and treat yourself. It always puts a smile on my face whenever I bring home a poster, patch, or even a t-shirt. I might even get lucky and get a guitar pick or a set list. It doesn’t matter if you’re familiar with the songs as long as you’re supporting live music and enjoying yourself in the process.