Bill Duke$ Birthday Bash with NRSV

I just want to start this out by saying, the show last night, from start to finish, was awesome. It was a great time. Now let's get into it....

Straight Mangled

Straight Mangled (from Upper Darby) was fucking great. I honestly didn't go into their set with very high expectations since bands that play first are generally hit or miss. Their songs were short and aggressive with amazing breakdowns. I know most of the crowd that saw them play came to see them, but the response overall was great. Kids were dancing, and that's not something that you see during the first band to play a show. I'm definitely going to pick up their debut full length, "Gnarly by Nature", and I highly recommend that you do too.

Animal Haus

These guys (from the Phoenixville area) were also amazing. Most of their songs have a Dropkick Murphy's kind of vibe, but it works well. Their songs have gang vocals that completely promote crowd participation, and it definitely occurred. They covered Operation Ivy's "Knowledge" and they did it well, as well as covering Sick of It All's "Clobbering Time". The only complaint that I have, is that some of their songs seemed to go on a little too long. I don't know if they just did that because it was live, or if that's how they're recorded. I picked up their 5 track demo, and am eager to listen to it, and it'll be in "Record a Day" at some point in this coming week, so check back for it.

Hard to Kill

Hard to Kill (also from the Phoenixville area) played a very good set. There were some technical difficulties (broken guitar string, no strap for the replacement guitar), but they didn't cut into/hinder the set at all. They played with a high energy level, and the crowd fed off of it.

Red Eyed Devil

These guys were pretty good. It was hard for me to get into them. They were all very talented, and the bass player and guitar player were sick. Both played extremely fast and intricate lines of music, but I feel that they took away from each other. The blazing fast bass lines were masked by the blazing fast guitar riffs, and vice versa. I'm not selling them short, but I definitely think that I need to hear them more in order to get into them, so I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for their full length.

No Redeeming Social Value

My level of familiarity with NRSV was extremely limited. I listened to all of their albums that I could find a bunch of times the week leading up to this show, but that was the only knowledge I had of them. I went into it expecting a great show, I mean a band that sings about partying has to be a good time live right? Well, they seriously were. From the time they started playing, it was one hell of a show. The crowd was all about them, and like Walt said, the albums are good, but don't do them justice. From the two garbage bags of paper shreds that were thrown out at the beginning of the set all the way through to the massive amounts of Old English flying around throughout the set, it was complete mayhem. Definitely a great time, and I will be seeing them again, and Mark Rooster will not miss it next time.

True Blue Promotions did another great job with this one. Next show: July 30th Everything's Ruined, Slam One Down, Machina Infernus, Amenema, and Pity the Fool