By: James Ballinger
Photographs by: Melissa Bird
In case you're not an everyday
reader of the blog over at VH1, recently they've put up a poll of 13 of the
most metal cities in the United States. Seattle made the list, and in the
article they specifically mention the Highline Bar as the
metal Mecca in our town. It's fair to say that it's known as such in part thanks
to owner and manager Dylan Desmond (Bell Witch, ex-Samothrace), while also being a home to so many other heavy
bands both in and out of town. And while there are plenty of other places to
see live metal in Seattle, the Highline was the
absolute best spot to be tonight for the Fight Amp and Kowloon Walled City tour that rolled in town.
Part of a joint booked Ladies'
Choice and 1000 Knives production, the bill seemed to have most of the genres
of all things heavy represented, thanks to a pair of well-rounded local
openers.
Seattle's Glose and
Mercy Ties don't have much in common musically (other than
being both great heavy bands around town); the one common bond between them is
they both have recorded with Kowloon Walled City
frontman/guitarist Scott Evans. This added a great dynamic early on in the
evening adding some diversity to really fill out the bill.
Evans produced Glose's ironically titled debut “The Very Best of Glose”, released in 2013, and the band brings that
same energy live. Perfectly noisy, and tight, Glose
puts their own spin on that AmRep style of thick riffs, and grinding drum and
bass breakdowns.
Equally energetic was Mercy Ties, whose show tonight also
doubled as the bands record release show for the Evan's produced “Proper Corruption”, their first full
length and second for label Glory Kid. Violent and dynamic, Mercy Ties ripped through the punk and hardcore influenced
LP in its entirety perfectly, proving that the band is equally intense live as
they are on record.
By the time Philadelphia
"sludge-punk" band Fight Amp took the
stage, the Highline filled up nicely, no doubt with
people eager to catch the touring bands. I've seen Fight Amp
several times now, and they never cease to blow me away. They get better every
single time, and the songs and riffs seem to get wiser with age. The set was
full of tracks off their release “Constantly
Off” from this past summer, and they come across fantastic live. While
slightly more focused and melodic, “Constantly
Off” represents what I love the most about the band. That's their
impeccable timing, their ability to shift in and out of riffs and grooves so
seamlessly that they never quite go on as long as you'd like them, but they follow
it up with something just as good. Always a fun set.
Finally, it was time for San
Francisco's Kowloon Walled City. The first time I caught
the band, they had the daunting but esteemed honor of opening for Sleep here in Seattle. I was instantly blown away by the
band, and I've been a huge fan ever since, catching sets by the band in 3
different states. This would also be the first set of shows with new drummer
Julia Lancer (The New Trust) replacing longtime drummer
Jeff Fagundes, and absolutely crushed it. Their set tonight consisted mainly of
the new record “Grievances” played
in its entirety, news I was most definitely happy to hear. While the record
doesn't necessarily make for the most intense live set, it makes up for it in
pure emotion, and I prefer that-especially after getting pummeled by these
three other bands.
