Yes, THAT show. We’ve already written about the ever evolving weirdness/controversy/fallout from Saturday night’s show, but that’s not why those of us that were there showed up. We were at the Dollhouse for the music, and that’s what I’m going to focus on here.
Nine bands is, in my opinion, too many for a Saturday night metal show. Not that I wouldn’t have wanted to not see any one of the bands(EYEHATEGOD, Enabler, Ringworm, Holly Hunt, Iron Man, Shroud Eater, Day of the Beast, Coastlines and Pridemeat) that played (seriously), but it makes it an endurance contest. The other option, of course, is to show up later in the night for the headliners, but miss a good bit of the undercard. That’s not really how I roll, and I have seen some amazing and legendary acts open for other bands early in their careers.
Anyway, there was pretty much music from 5:45pm to around 2:30am. There was a surprisingly decent number of people early (of course, just band members, crew, volunteers, security, etc., adds up pretty quickly) and ummm, a disappointing number by the end of the night, although the rumors floating around that EYEHATEGOD wasn’t going to play surely sent some people packing early.
There wasn’t a bad set over the course of the night, which is kind of amazing for a 9 band bill. Of course, favorite sets are based on preferences and mood, but for my money (sore subject?) Shroud Eater, Ringworm, and EYEHATEGOD played the sets of the night. All the bands expressed appreciation for each other and the crowd, even when things turned sour toward the end of the night. EYEHATEGOD in particular made it very apparent that they were playing solely in appreciation of those in attendance, mentioning that a number of people had traveled “crazy” distances to be there. I heard “Athens!”, “Atlanta!”, “Miami!”, and “Jacksonville!” shouted in response. I was truly astounded that they played a full set nearing 2 hours long! If you disregard the controversy, it really was an amazing afternoon/evening/night/early morning of music.
Here are the pictures. Lighting was so lousy that I resorted to using the flash a few times, which I have never done at a show before. It’s a shame, as The Dollhouse appears to have the capacity to provide some pretty darn good light. Maybe it was a “dark room for dark music thing” but….well, whatever, you just want to see the pictures, not read my bitching about shooting them.
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