English Dogs / The Casualties / Toxic Holocaust / Havok
Middle East (Downstairs), Cambridge, MA 2/11/12
Tonight, TNB is off to the Middle East in beautiful downtown Cambridge, MA to check out what should be a very interesting night of high energy rock n’ roll. So who’s playing, you may ask? Could it be those legendary punkers, The Ramones? (…uh sorry, too late for that), or those crazed speed thrashers, Slayer? (…uh, not likely), or those metallic cowboys, Pantera? (…I think not), or the kings of thrash, Metallica? (…yah, right!), or perhaps those hardcore head bangers, Discharge? (…keep dreaming). No, it’s not any of those great bands, … but, in a way, it’s all of them, … yes that’s right, all of them, … together, for one awesome, rip your face off, heavy music extravaganza.
For, in truth, the bands playing on tonight’s bill represent a veritable smorgasbord of metal, hardcore and punk rock music, the likes of which, this fan has never seen under one roof. There are 4 great bands playing tonight; a relatively new (2004) speed/thrash metal band from Colorado, named Havok, a mid-seasoned (1999) speed/black/thrash metal band from Oregon, named Toxic Holocaust, a seasoned (1990) hardcore/punk band from New York, named The Casualties, and a well-seasoned (1981) punk/metal crossover band from Nottingham, UK, named the English Dogs.
Wow!, how’s that for diversity!!! Just imagine it … long haired, leather clad metal speed freaks cavorting with disheveled mo-hawk wearing head bangers!! Crazed anarchist skin heads sharing a beer with mini skirted, spike heeled metal groupies!! And if that isn’t enough, just imagine what the mosh pit will be like, …. one can only hope that everyone checks their weapons at the door …..
Aaah, come on now! … , this is the year 2012 for Pete’s sake (btw, who the fuck is Pete), no need to worry. Clothing and hair style is probably the only thing that divides the worlds of metal and punk these days. Because it certainly isn’t the music. Thanks to a little genre known as hardcore, metal music has reached new heights and has never looked back. So, whether your into metal, hardcore or punk, …fuck it!!!, just jump into the mosh pit and have some fun (…or break some bones), because the world of heavy music continues to evolve and thrive. And tonight’s show is proof of it!!!
Tonight, Slimedog is working late, so I decided to get JT first and then Slimey before heading over to the club. Since the show is downstairs, we pay and then go down a small flight of stairs where we are met by a couple of folks assigned to frisk for weapons. Slimey and I are clean, but JT has to check his switchblade and colt-45 at the door. Once inside, I ask JT why he carries so many weapons. He says its because his ex-girlfriend is psycho …. I stare at JT for a moment, but can’t think of anything to say, so head over to the bar to get a beer….
The club is already starting to fill up. And as you would expect, half the crowd are leather clad metal heads and half are spike haired punkers. There are several folks sporting very cool, colorful mo-hawks. As we make our way over to the bar, Slimedog manages to catch himself on every studded jacket he brushes up against (forcing a quick jacket removal). JT wanders off towards the front of the stage.
The first band up is Havok. They remind me a lot of Slayer. Very exciting high energy machine gun-like drums blended with cool thrashy guitar riffs and awesome vocals. Metallic hardcore at its best. Havok’s sound is phenomenal, driving the metal dudes to mosh and the punkers to head bang. Both Slimey and I raise our glasses in approval (…hey, where’s JT?).
The second band up is Toxic Holocaust, whom I’ve seen before. They incorporate a tad more devilry in with their metallic speed thrash. They’re just a threesome, yet yield an awesome full-bodied sound. They rock out the joint to the praises of all. As their set ends, JT meets us back at the bar. His shirt is missing and he’s sweating profusely. I ask him how the moshing went. He says he doesn’t know. A bit confused, I ask him what he’s been up to. He says he’s been outside changing a tire for a girl he met in the bar. I stare at JT for a moment, but can’t think of anything to say, so I order another beer …. JT disappears back into the crowd.
Slimedog and I decide to move over to the left side of the club to get a better vantage point. The third band up is The Casualties fully clad in vintage punk rock garb. The lead singer sports an awesome mo-hawk. All the punkers quickly rush the stage to join the mosh pit as the music blares. The Casualties belt out a very exciting brand of high energy, old style hardcore punk. The place is now electric with everyone boppin’ together in a mad frenzy. There’s a lot of slammin’ and diving going on in front of the stage.
All of a sudden, I see JT thrown up out of the crowd and onto the stage. He runs around for a brief few seconds and then dives back into the mosh pit. He appears to land on top of a young lady wearing a very spiky blue mo-hawk. I loose track of him and turn my attention back to the stage. The Casualties continue their onslaught to the excitement of all. Once the smoke clears, I head back over to the bar to get another beer. Along the way, I notice a bit of commotion as club workers emerge from the crowd holding two injured moshers on stretchers. JT is lying on one stretcher and the girl with the blue mo-hawk is on the other. I notice a dozen or so bloody puncture wounds running down JT’s left arm that match up nicely to the bloodied mo-hawk tips emerging from the young lady’s head. I stare at JT for a moment, but can’t think of anything to say, so I go order a beer ….
The last band up is the English Dogs, who go back a bit (1981) and deserve a lot of kudos for withstanding the test of time. Their sound is arguably more relevant today than ever before. They’re an interesting blend of straight ahead metal and punk with a few progressive influences thrown in. The crowd is diggin them big time and the moshing commences. As I scan the crowd, I now notice no discernible musical ethnicity (be it metal or punk), but instead, a blending of all (… enough to make you cry …). Eventually, the English Dogs finish their set, putting an exclamation point on a truly great night of heavy music. Slimedog and I are literally exhausted from the amazing onslaught of high energy excitement we’ve just experienced. As we make our way towards the exit, we find JT waiting for us with his left arm fully bandaged and in a sling. He walks over and says, “Hey guys, you’ll never guess what happened to me …. remember the chick whose flat tire I fixed…. well, I stage dove onto her head and cut my arm up pretty good on her mo-hawk…. she got a concussion, but before she blacked out, I managed to get her number …, cool huh?” I stare at JT for a moment, but can’t think of anything to say, so I go order another beer ….
(Andy Bang)
