Every Show Joe

Tag: Heavy Breather

  • Frenetic, Fast Paced Fun

    Frenetic, Fast Paced Fun

    Have you ever heard a song and immediately were enamored with it? Hearing Amyl and the Sniffers song “GFY” for the first time on the Jonah Raydio podcast was just that. After that, I immediately jumped over to Spotify to listen to the rest of the self-titled album that it came from. The energy and sound grabbed me song after another on it. Of course, luck would have it they would be in town about a month after with a rad group of locals.

    Up first is a band I am seeing more active these days, Man Hands. I’m excited to see them playing more frequently and get in front of more eyes. They are a band with a good style and vibe to them on the stage.

    They blend indie rock, like the Hives, garage rock and the energy of punk rock that inspires any onlookers to move to the tracks. This makes Man Hands the perfect opener and complement to our headliners. Plus with them playing more, go take advantage of the chance to see them.

    DOMS would end up the tamer of the bands this night. That is not to say they didn’t bring energy of their own, but it seemed calmer to what would follow and before. Their songs a lo-fi vocal over a garage and surf rock sound. It was a sound perfectly fit to this lineup of bands.

    Even with the lo-fi filter, not to the level of reverb Heavy Breather brings that was off putting to, at least, one person telling me later in the night. Regardless, DOMS put on a good set to keep the flow of the night going.

    Now if you asked me a band to be the perfect setup for Amyl and the Sniffers, then Heavy Breather would be a name to come up. Their music is high energy to get the crowd bouncing, with a Descendents influence, and just enough off kilter to give it uniqueness. Their new album “Worser” currently sits as my favorite of the 2019 local releases.

    Harvey is one of the most frenetic and fun singers in Phoenix. He will fall to his knees while exuding lyrics. He staples his face, pulling them out to bleed as he sings. The climax of his actions was when he poured glitter on himself, a usual Heavy Breather staple these days. With it on his head the remainder of the set, the shiny shimmers dripped off and flew in all directions with his movements on the microphone. Without a doubt, Heavy Breather is a hell of a band live.

    Finally, it was time to see if Amyl and the Sniffers could possibly live up to the high expectations built up in the few weeks looping their new album. Simply put, yes they did. For a little background on the band, they are an Australian band that has been around for about three years. Their music style is more akin to the fast paced 80’s punk rock with a garage rock blend into it.

    Their lead vocalist, Amy, rarely was standing still singing from stage left to right, in the crowd to atop the pipes at the back of the Rhythm Room stage. The happy go lucky style of her and the entire band accompanying the live performance of their catalog was infectious on the crowd. It brought out people crushing toward the stage, trying to sing along as close as possible to the microphone. The craziness of band and the crowd made Amyl and the Sniffers one of the best performances I’ve seen live this year.

  • The Allure Of the Small Venue

    The Allure Of the Small Venue

    There is a special feeling to watching bands in a smaller venue. That special feeling grows larger when it ends up a band that has been performing punk rock for the last three decades. In this case, it was my second time capturing that feeling of watching TSOL at the Yucca Tap Room. This night they were accompanied by two spotlights of the Phoenix punk bands, Heavy Breather and the Venomous Pinks.

    Opening up is a band I haven’t had a chance to tell you about on this site, Heavy Breather. They are one of my favorites in terms of the performances they put on. The first time I saw them, their lead vocalist had a cinder block on a chain that was to be broken over his groin. Each show has kept up that ramped up entertainment style, a later set involved Elmer’s glue and glitter.

    This night mixed a staple gun to the face and pouring glitter. A perfect complement to these acts is their hardcore punk rock sound. Members of the band are just as intense in their on stage gestures and backup vocals. Let this be my recommendation to go check out Heavy Breather when you get the chance.

    Smack dab in the middle were the Venomous Pinks. These girls were certainly the ones to really get that pit moving. Miranda is making her mark since going full time. She looks comfortable up there with the rest moving around, leaning on, and just getting into shredding that guitar. Drea with the powerful vocals only adds to the strength of the performance.

    Of course, there is a new tradition to their shows when they perform “Pizza Slice.” The crowd now participates by putting their hands up in their own pizza slice shape.  By the way, the Pinks just released the music video for the song if you want to see how that looks. You may spot me in it too. It was a excellent set from the Venomous Pinks leading into one of the best punk bands around.

    That band, of course, being TSOL. With any of their performances, half the fun is just hearing the shit that Jack is going to say between songs. He is unabashedly engaging in responding to comments shouted from the crowd. One heckler consistently telling him to just play song ended with him pointing out how it is time to let the band tune. However, by the third time he had the band just play a jumble of sound to demonstrate what the break would be like if we just listened to them tune.

    The other half of what makes a TSOL set so wonderful is the awesome punk songs they have from their deep catalog which included fan favorite “Code Blue.” I think I’ve been spoiled, as usually Chip Hanna drums when they come to Phoenix, but the one taking over was no slouch. He actually was more than on top of it that one point when Jack had to slow him down from starting the next song. It was one of those fantastic nights of punk rock  at the Yucca Tap Room capped by a legend in the business, TSOL.