Girl at the Rock Shows

It would have been so easy for me to just sit at home and obsess over the election numbers as they came in on Tuesday night. I could have sat there, all in my head, all stressed out and panicked, and ended up in a very sad, disappointing, and frustrating night. Honestly, I thought about spending my night in that fashion, but I knew that wouldn’t help anything, change the outcome, or anything like that, so I got in the car and went to a show. Sure, there were many moments throughout the show on Tuesday night where I would pause to look at the numbers, and I could feel my disappointment grow every time I did that, but I was quickly taken away from those numbers when I focused back on the bands that were absolutely slaughtering the Armory stage. Long story short, I needed a distraction on Tuesday night, and I am beyond thankful I had one.

Getting the night started off right was California-bred Militarie Gun. The last time I saw this act was when they played at the super intimate 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis back in February of this year. That show was absolutely insane, and although I would typically worry about a band being able to go from filling a space that small to a space as large as The Armory, I was not worried when it came to this band. They started their set off with a bang and powered through their eleven-song set that showcased all of the sides of this genre-fluid band and easily filled the hanger-like venue. It was quite clear that most of the audience wasn’t sure what to do throughout Militarie Gun’s set, but instead of letting it get to the band, the band barked back by calling themselves out about being the odd ducklings on the tour. In all honesty, I think there was another band on this line-up that was a bit more “odd one out,” but more on that later. Whether or not you were able to sing along to this post-hardcore leaning band’s songs, I think it’s safe to say that Militarie Gun proved their worth with their short time on stage, and I genuinely hope that it’s just a matter of time before they are headlining shows of this size.

I’m honestly not quite sure where to start with the next band that took the stage. Drain are hardcore legends and have been around since 2014. They are credited as being one of the driving forces behind hardcore going back into the spotlight in recent years, and they proved why with their set on Tuesday night. From how they stormed the stage to how vocalist Sammy Ciaramitaro quickly moved off the stage and into the crowd for a quick crowd-surfing session within under three songs, there was something commanding, intimidating, and oh-so-perfect about their entire set. I think it’s safe to assume that many people in the audience were a little tense and on edge as the election results started flooding in about the time that Drain took the stage, but this band gave everyone an outlet for that unsettled feeling. There was one point when the band was closing out with “California Cursed,” where Sammy said that his goal was to have 50 crowd surfers come over the railing. I’m pretty sure that 50-crowd surfers were ushered off the top of the excited crowd within the first thirty seconds of this song. It was an insane thing to watch from afar and really added that final touch of magic that Drain needed to put them in the running for one of the best sets I have seen this year.

Before I get into the next band that took the stage, let me just say that I don’t like them. I’ve covered them before and given them props for having a dedicated following and seemingly coming out of nowhere to take the scene by storm, but I’m done being nice when it comes to The Garden. The Garden is a duo from Orange County, California, that, for lack of a better way of putting it, is an Insane Clown Posse cover band made for people who think they are too cool for Insane Clown Posse. Made up of just two twin brothers, I will say that this duo has a sound that is slightly unique and absolutely bizarre, but it just didn’t land with their performance on Tuesday night for me. I felt that there were times when the music felt hollow, and the stage show fell flat (even when a giant clown appeared from the side of the stage, but, really, that seemed to be more of just a distraction than anything else). There were a few moments here and there throughout the set where my friend and I would look at each other with a sense of intrigue because of some super unique things that this duo creates musically, but those moments were short-lived as they would quickly turn to pure chaos of clashing sounds that made no sense. Maybe I’m just old and don’t get it. It was clear that there were people in the audience who had just come for this group (they were easily spotted as they walked through the audience with Juggalo-esque facepaint), but they were all young kids. There are some sets that give me hope for the future of music and show me that kids these days do know good music, but, unfortunately, The Garden’s set was not that, and, truthfully, I was happy when it was over.

In contrast to the feeling of disappointment and annoyance that I was left with after The Garden, Knocked Loose kicked into their set, and I instantly fell in love. I’m not sure why I haven’t gotten super deep into this hardcore band from Kentucky before Tuesday night, but I know they are more than worthy of my time, my merch money, and more after what they did to the stage at The Armory. After a quick and dramatic intro, this five-piece stormed through a thirteen-song set followed by a five-song encore and didn’t leave any survivors. The Armory is a big venue but it’s not an arena yet, somehow, Knocked Loose brought an arena-sized live show into this space. It was complete with a wicked light show, fog, an intricate set design, and copious amounts of fire (which caught all of us photographers off guard). The production value behind this set was intense, but that wasn’t the most intense thing about this band. Although I had lowkey written this band off as being a bunch of kids that weren’t much more than a passing fad, their performance on Tuesday had me sold and proved to me that the members of this band are not only stunning musicians they are doing it with as much fire in their hearts as was shooting out of the stage.

The sound of Knocked Loose is heavy and aggressive, which was just what I needed as I kept watching the election numbers rolling in, and I could feel pessimism start to take me over. Although I kept my distance from the epic pit that had formed, just being within the same building as that, mixed with the sheer intensity that radiated off the stage, was more than enough to give me a distraction from the insanity happening in the outside world. Honestly, I don’t think there was a single time throughout Knocked Loose’s set where I was on my phone other than to take my photo and grab a quick video for my socials. This band had me, and I can not thank them enough for that.

I did my job on Tuesday. I voted and said a little prayer. It was out of my hands behind that, and I knew I needed a distraction, so I didn’t just sit at home and obsess over numbers. I’m thankful that my distraction came in the form of a Knocked Loose show.

Line Up:

Militarie Gun

Drain

The Garden

Knocked Loose

Venue: Armory

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing

Average Age of the Crowd: 28

Crowd Surfers- Lost count around 63

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 9.6 out of 10

Broken Bones- None Spotted

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Bodies, Drinks

Fights- None Witnessed

Pukers- 0

Passed Out People- 2

Idiots Taken Out By Security – 0

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

Militarie Gun – 2

Drain – 0

The Garden – 2

Knocked Loose – 2

Celebrity Sightings – P.O.S

Overall Score – 9.4 out of 10

Show on Deck — Bumpin Uglies / Tunnel Vision / Joey Harkum

Shameless Self Promotion:

Join My Patreon Here!

Buy Me a Coffee (Seriously!)

Check Out My New Playlist With All of My Favorite Songs HERE!