Photos by David Rubene
I’ve been to a bunch of shows lately (clearly), but I haven’t had been to a good old fashioned local metal show with my friends in a couple of weeks. I’ve been craving it and, even though Saturday’s show was an hour and a half away in St. Cloud, I wasn’t going to miss the chance to see my good friends rock out along with a national act that has been a favorite of mine for years.
My typical Saturday looks like laundry, grocery shopping, napping and a show at night but yesterday’s show kind of put a kink into my normal schedule. Due to an unfortunate double booking on the venue’s part, yesterday’s show started at 2:30 PM. It honestly felt a little weird when my photographer and I arrived at the doors of The Red Carpet Nightclub in Saint Cloud and it was still light out but hey, I’m all for trying something different.
At Autumns Edge was the first local band to take the stage. Although they seemed young, their music was extremely well put together. The crowd seemed to be too busy mingling and saying their hellos to friends that had showed up at the beginning to really acknowledge that there was a band on stage but about half way through AAE’s set people started to migrate closer to the stage. Although their music was heavy, it wasn’t as heavy as what was to come throughout the rest of the matinee show so their set was truly a nice change of pace. Sure, their sound wasn’t polished and they definitely have some work to do but there is potential in these guys and I do hope they make some trips down to the Twin Cities next year. I see them fitting in perfectly with the crew that I call my family.
Following At Autumns Edge was MyNorth. I loved these guys. Their classic beatdown sound is exactly what I love to listen to. It was intense, it was brutal, it was perfect. It was music that made you want to move and push the people around you a bit. The intensity was undeniable and the brutality was impossible to ignore. So maybe they were a bit of the odd guys out on the line-up with their sound leaning more towards hardcore than metal but the energy that radiated off the stage during their set matched the rest of the afternoon show perfectly.
My boys in Buried Above Ground were up next. They were the main reason my photographer (Dave) and I made the trek to Saint Cloud and I was more than excited to see some familiar faces that I hadn’t seen in a couple of weeks. As they took the stage to the sound of their entrance track, I could feel my excitement grow and it was easy to feel that majority of the room was feeling the same swell as I was. As the four members took their spots on stage, the lights (done by the one and only Sam Goldberger– Light man extraordinaire) started flashing and the bass started thumping. With in moments I had completely forgotten that it was only 4 in the afternoon. It felt like your typical late night metal show.
I’m constantly impressed by BAG’s sound. Every single time I see them live, they become better and more together. Last night was no different. I’ve seen these guys multiple times but last night was the first time that, while watching them, I was shocked to realize that these were the guys I am friends with. They were so professional and so flawless on stage. BAG’s music is heavy… super heavy and their brand of heavy is something that is difficult to translate to a live show. I’ve seen too many bands in their genre get up on stage and play a great show but their sound seemed muddled because of all the screaming guitars and shrieking cymbals. It’s just a lot for a sound system and a crowd to handle and, unless it’s done perfectly, it can easily turn into a muddy mess. There was nothing messy about BAG’s performance on Saturday. It was dead on. Every single note came through the sound system clear as day and every single cymbal and drum hit had it’s place and rang for just the right amount of time.
Sure, you can say that because I’m friends with these guys I would never say a bad word about them but I urge you to go check it out for yourself. I promise I’m not being bias at all. These guys are truly a solid band and WILL be the next thing to break out of the scene here in the Twin Cities. Yesterday’s show was part of a small stint with Born of Osiris. A couple of months ago, BAG did a small stint with Behemoth. To say these guys are on the up and up would be the understatement of the century and I am truly excited to see what is going to happen next for them.
Wrapping up the afternoon of music was Chicago based Born of Osiris. These guys are always a great band to watch live. Their intense energy and clean deathcore sounds were the perfect way to end an afternoon of great music. Singer Ronnie Canizaro has a way of getting the crowd moving with ease and, within just a couple of songs, the modest crowd had turned the area in front of the stage into a pit. I watched in awe as BOO powered through their short set with the same energy and intensity as when I have seen them play longer sets. Much like the other bands that performed, BOO didn’t let the fact that it was still light out and sets were cut short. They gave that crowd everything they got and that’s really all anyone could ask for.
I was back home in time for dinner. I was going to try and hit up another show in town but, let’s be honest, after three shows on Friday night, I was a wee bit exhausted. I’ll never miss a chance to see my friends throw it down on stage even if it means giving up a sleepy Saturday and having to travel and hour and a half. I’ll support my friends until the end– I just got lucky enough to have friends that absolutely kill it on stage.
