Girl at the Rock Shows

It has been an absolutely fantastic year of music thus far, but my concert calendar has been lacking one thing- a solid metal/ hardcore show. Although heavier music isn’t my go-to when it comes to the daily playlist of my life, it is my bread and butter when it comes to live shows. I know it’s been a long time, but when I started this blog, I really focused on the local metal scene. I feel like I owe a lot to the metal and hardcore scene, and I was able to pay my dues on Tuesday night as I stood there, felt the familiar sense of heat, and smelled the not-so-sweet smell of sweat throughout the absolutely iconic heavy show at First Avenue.

Los Angeles-based Momentum was the first to hit the stage for the sold-out Tuesday night show, and they definitely didn’t hold back. With an unmistakable hardcore vibe to their music, Momentum started the night with an undeniable sense of brutality and intensity that would reign supreme throughout the rest of the four-band bill. There was something almost intimidating about Momentum’s set. They forced you to move even though, in the grand scheme of the evening, it was still early. Their heavy-hitting beats were as deafening as they were perfectly placed. Although their sound overall could be described as just being heavy, there was a sense of perfection with everything this band did making them the perfect way to start the night.

I was super excited to see the next band- Judiciary – live. This is one of those bands that, although I don’t often spend time in the heavy music world when it comes to what I listen to when I do, Judiciary’s name is always on that playlist. Like all of the other bands to take the stage, Judiciary came out and instantly hit the audience hard with their unique blend of hardcore, thrash, and metal. The audience instantly got into it with bodies flailing every which way. I sadly didn’t take any notes during Judiciary’s set as I was just so in awe with the amount of power they were hitting me with, so although I have so much to say about their set, I’m also left sitting here with nothing to say. Judiciary’s set really sparked the love that I used to have when it came to metal music again, and I feel like that says more about their set than any description I come up with could.

Although there was a slight sense of violence throughout the night (and I don’t mean that in a negative way at all; it’s just part of the scene, and it’s a part that I personally really liked), it really seemed to reach a peak as San Jose, California-based Sunami took the stage. This was a new name for me but not for those in the audience. Before the band could even start, the audience had riled themselves up into a massive pit of sweat and limbs. It was clear that many people had been waiting ages to see this band perform live, and they weren’t going to miss a single second of enjoying it. Sunami admitted that had it not been for headlining act Kublai Khan, they probably wouldn’t have come to the Twin Cities anytime soon but also admitted that that would have been a colossal mistake. One of my favorite parts of Sunami’s set outside of their intensely heavy sound was definitely the way they were clearly feeding off the audience, and the audience was clearly feeding off of the energy radiating from the stage. I totally understand people who feel that heavy music is just loud noises, but I really wish those people would have been able to feel that connection between the band and the audience during Sunami’s set on Tuesday night.

That connection seemed to only magnify as the stage was turned over for headlining act Kublai Khan TX. A metalcore act that spends a lot of time dabbling in the hardcore vein of things, Kublai Khan TX is from, you guessed it, Texas, and has been around since 2009. Over their time as a band, they have released four albums and have curated a live show that is one for the record books. Tuesday night wasn’t my first time seeing this band live, so I knew what was about to happen as the band members took their places on stage, but, at the same time, I feel like you’re never completely prepared for a Kublai Khan TX show.

Much like the other sets of the night, as soon as Kublai Khan TX started playing, the audience turned into nothing more than a sweaty mess of blurry figures and flying limbs. Between the giant pit that had opened up on the floor, even though this was a sold-out show, leaving people very few options as far as how to get away from it, and the constant flow of crowd surfers, things were chaotic throughout the set but that’s what made it so perfect. The crazy thing about metal and hardcore music is you can see how this music makes people feel. From those who were eating up the aggression radiating off the stage and channeling that feeling in the pit to those standing on the outskirts screaming every word, knowing dang well they would wake up on Wednesday with zero voice, you could see the power of this band and their music on everyone around you.

I didn’t take many notes at the show on Tuesday night. Honestly, I was in my happy place, and I just could not be bothered to stand there and try to figure out little snippets that deserved a note. Obviously, I regret that as I write this review today, but Kublai Khan TX’s show on Tuesday was one that you just had to experience, and reading about it would not even come close to doing it justice.

Line Up:

Momentum

Judiciary

Sunami

Kublai Khan TX

Venue: First Avenue

Smell-O-Meter: Sweat

Average Age of the Crowd: 32

Crowd Surfers- Lost Count at 31

Mosh-ability- 12 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- $0

Broken Bones- None

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Bodies / Hats

Fights- None

Pukers- 0

Passed Out Kids- 4 Spotted but there were surely more as it was super hot in the venue due to the movement and packed house

Idiots Taken Out By Security- 0

How Many Times I’ve Seen These Bands Before (or at least how many times I can remember)-

Momentum – 0

Judiciary – 0

Sunami – 0

Kublai Khan TX – 1

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score-9.2 out of 10

Show on Deck- Real Estate / Marina Allen

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