LIVE REVIEW: KYLESA/SAVIOURS/RED FANG/TAUNTAUN @ MARQUIS THEATER, DENVER, CO 10/9/09

Photo credit: HeadovMetal

by Andrew Wilhelm (Denver)

Kylesa
When: Friday, October 9, 2009
Where: Marquis Theater, Denver, CO
With: Saviours, Red Fang, TaunTaun

Kylesa, that band of ne'er do wells from Savannah, Georgia, sure do bring out a weird set of folks. Classic metalheads, punks with Unholy Grave backpatches, heavily bearded Isis fanatics, and regular Joes and Janes peppered in here and there. Well, it didn't look as strange as the 1991 Public Enemy tour with The Sisters of Mercy. Kylesa aren't a crossover band - sure, their sound is driven by hardcore energy, but more informed by Sabbath and Hawkwind than D.R.I. and S.O.D. But Denver's fucking freezing this time of year, and the need for warmth transcends cliques.

When I arrived at the venue, Denver's very own TaunTaun were busting out old jams through new amps. The band had an ample sound, but the crowd wasn't quite feeling save for a couple of headbangers, and worse, most of the band looked a little stiff onstage. Local bands don't get any respect, do they? Bassist Matty Clark thrashed his Rickenbacker around, displaying more energy than his comerades, and you can't look not badass with a Rickenbacker (see: Lemmy, Cliff Burton, Rick James). TaunTaun ended their set with a cover of Metallica's cover of Diamond Head's "Am I Evil" - a stock cover choice, but one that made the crowd less dormant. In all fairness, vocalist/guitarist Chris Fogal does the modern brawly voice with classic-sounding riffs better than Hetfield does.

Red Fang, straight out Portland, were the first of the national acts to play. They ape Motorhead and Zeke in sound, but can't quite nail the way those bands make bombast tight and concise. Vocals alternated between guitarist Maurice Bryan Giles and bassist, Aaron Beam, and while Giles gave a delivery ready for battle, Beam seemed a little tired. To his credit, Beam did admit he was somewhat out of breath halfway through the band's set. A potentially killer band muffled by a merely adequate performance.

Saviours were up after Red Fang. Vocalist/guitarist Austin Barber did his best David Lee Roth imitation during soundcheck, giving the crowd a good indication that their set would have energy in spades. While I'm not a huge fan of the band on record, their set was well-paired with a "Happy Meal," the venue's deal where $5 snags you a bottle of High Life and a shot of well whiskey. Saviours galloping riffs and fantastical lyrics became more alive on stage, and the crowd responded well. They only let up to announce a new song, and for a metal band, that's the only way to pace yourself. Surprisingly, the band did not play their video single "Narcotic Sea." If that was off-putting to the fans, I certainly couldn't tell.

The band people were here to see, however, was Kylesa. Opening with "Scapegoat," vocalist/guitarist Laura Pleasants came in with deep natural growl complementing the band's bass-heavy assault. Phillip Cope, who also provides guitars and vocals, has a tendency to sound stoner-ish and unconvincing live, but here he was furious and on-point. For a tone as big as Kylesa's, the sound better come through clear, and for the most part it did. Bands with a lot of bass sometimes drown all the other elements out, but maybe that's because I'm used to Emo's (Austin) soundmen. Kylesa's set emphasized their metal and punk leanings, but trimming the psych couldn't stop the crowd from being entranced. And the way these people respond entranced? Creating a pit that gradually grew, something I've never seen in metal before (Slayer pits open big and stay big). The floor looked slippery from spilled Happy Meals, but no little kids cried. By the time the closer, "Hollow Severer" came around, crowd surfing and pit dancing was at full force. Kylesa's drumming duo, Carl McGinley and Eric Hernandez, did a short jam, but it would have been nice to see them go into full prog-rock excess. Despite the chaos on and off stage, they managed to keep time with each other. Los Melvins, y'all got competition!

It was still fuckin' freezin when I exited the venue, but better cold and filled with metal than just cold.