weedeater/KENmode/lo-pan/inter arma 8-6 asheville

[khoomeizhi]

first there were pot brownies.

had never been to broadway's before, it being a local dive that's known for its weekly 80's night and not much more. they seldom have shows of any kind. this was a $15 show with all traveling acts, musta been set up by tonedeaf...last time weedeater played in town it was another place that never has heavy shows, too. $15's a little steep for a show at a dive bar, even with 4 touring bands, but in a town who's traveling heavy shows are not super-frequent, maybe it's fine. the place was definitely packed by the time weedeater played, so it doesn't seem like it scared too many folks off. good patio area.

inter arma: band was set up on low stage with the vocalist off the stage in front, interacting with (screaming towards) the audience. some nice riffs. i need to check out their recorded material. enjoyed the vibe they had going but could have personally used more riffs that grab you and less straight-16th note barrages...though i may have been more amenable to it if i knew the material more...

lo-pan: lots of rockin' kyuss-style fuzzy rolling riffing. bass player and guitarist in awesome near-unison lockstep. well-sung vocals, some of whose chosen intervals made me think somewhere between john garcia and maynard. not really my preferred style of vocal, but fit with the music well. no complaints. i see what the fuss is about. after getting in and getting drinks for myself and lady, my show budget was minimal. since lo-pan was the only band that still had cheap patches for sale, that was my only other purchase of the evening.

KENmode: then the pendulum swung back towards abrasive. detected hints of amrep-style noise rock wrapped up in a hardcore vibe. not really the kind of thing i'm looking to put on in my abode for home enjoyment, but i enjoyed nodding my head to it in a show environment. drummer had the energy to hold it all together, hitting hard. canadians, eh?

weedeater: as noted earlier, the joint was pretty packed for this. some house PA issue kept the vocals from being audible for at least the first half of the set. standard weedeater kickass tone that's loud enough to really feel. seemed like a short set, with a number of tunes played considerably faster than i'm used to, maybe just because they could? the new drummer hits hard, but for my money plays too tight (lost that heavy-hitting but loose keko feel) and spends a bit too much time twirling sticks. yeah, he's having fun, and that's great, but, you know. i love this band, but i miss keko. he might have been my favorite part of the band.