Upon setting foot into the Knitting Factory, my cohorts and I were caught in a stranglehold of sound.

Angus Khan had ascended the stage. At first sight, they looked like a joke. All older men, one sporting an army helmet, another who was obviously influenced by Jimmy Page, and a lead singer decked from head to toe in dark brown leather and a mane down to his shoulders. But, appearances aside, they can definitely put on a show. The performance was marked by lewd comments, spitting on stage, and bubbles. Yes, I said bubbles.

Their sound paralleled Iron Maiden, Motorhead, and AC/DC; from which they forged an up-tempo, hard-hitting, good old-fashioned, classic rock show. Their on-stage antics were entertaining and reminiscent of rock/metal bands of a more glorious age. The lead singer flailed the mic stand around and braced himself against it with a scream so forceful that you would have thought he was Axl Rose himself (although at one point in the show he pulled out a harmonica and started wailing on it like it was nobody’s business…let me see Axl Rose do that). Although lyrically quite cheesy, it was a delightful type of cheesy, which careened the audience’s attention more so towards their heavy guitar riffs and intense drumming. During their song “Big Balls”, they threw out two dark purple beach balls (ironic?) into the crowd, and for “Machine Gun Funk”, the lead guitarist pulled out an electric guitar that was literally a machine gun (no lie, check out the pictures). Overall, they played an excellent set, one that left my ears ringing when I alit from the venue for a quick smoke.

The following act, Warship, was quite possibly the best set of the night. Warship is the most recent project of former From Autumn to Ashes members, and they have definitely taken their initial genre to a completely different level. Their guitarist was more than talented and had a number of face-melting riffs up his sleeve. The drummer, who was eclectic in style (he actually ripped one of his drums in half on stage out of frustration), was also their lead singer/screamer. Although the guitarist was stoically silent, the drummer and bass player exuded an odd humility on-stage, they were comedic and endearing, putting out a message that they were just happy to be there. Their lethal output of sound was intriguing and drew me in with each introductory riff.

And finally, we come to Goblin Cock. Awkward name, I know, and everyone at the venue was commenting on it all night, but they put on an engaging performance of drone metal. Their vestments? Grim Reaper robes (I told you it was interesting), creating an eerie atmosphere for the audience that was further enunciated by strobe lights, creeping fog, and strategically placed plastic skulls (that were often picked up and paraded around by the band). I left the Knitting Factory with throbbing ears, but a good heavy rock show was well worth the agony

Angus Khan: website | myspace
Warship: myspace
Goblin Cock: website | myspace

Photos by: Tatum Hengel

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