Converge, Ceremony, Coliseum, Genghis Tron, Rise & Fall and Pulling Teeth @ Europa in Brooklyn - pics

March 30, 2009

words by Black Bubblegum, photos by Justina Villanueva

That singer from Ceremony got ups, yo!

Did I brush shoulders with death during Converge‘s set? Nate Newton’s swinging bass whizzing inches from my face, Jacob Bannon’s foot on my hand as the crowd fought to tear me a part, nor Jacob’s swinging microphone straight out of a Roger Daltrey/Who video caused my near collapse. It was a moment of deviant kismet; All of a sudden Jacob Bannon snapped his wrist and whipped the microphone cord causing it to coil around my neck only nanoseconds before a stage diver jumped squarely on top of me. Hanging by the mic cord, my feet were on the floor and my body was at 45 degrees, the crowd around me holding me up from behind. I could feel myself choking until a bouncer rushed over and unwrapped for the cord from my neck… Hung at a Converge show… I guess that one hasn’t happened yet (luckily).

The bill for the evening was massive, filled with the Deathwish roster of past (Ceremony) and present (Rise & Fall, Coliseum, Pulling Teeth), save for Genghis Tron, Converge‘s tour mates from last year’s trek with Baroness and The Red Chord. Unlike Justina (who shot the whole show), I arrived towards the end of Ceremony‘s set, missing Coliseum, Rise & Fall, and Pulling Teeth, unfortunately.

Genghis Tron and coordinated lighting rig played their first show of 2009 directly following Ceremony. They opened with the epic title track to their critically acclaimed LP, Board Up The House. Drum-machine centric bands such as The Austerity Program, Godflesh, and GT have a large hurdle to get over in heavy music; the fact that there isn’t a human being smashing the kit behind them in a genre that depends on brutality is definitely a negative in the live setting. That said, Genghis Tron make the best of it, and Mookie is a passionate and energetic frontman. Justina managed to catch my favorite moment of their set on video (below)… a cover of “Bad Penny” by Big Black!

Converge hit the stage right around 12:30 AM, running through material spanning the length of their career including “Locust Reign” from their 1999 split with Agoraphobic Nosebleed, “Heartache”, “Hellbound”, “Eagles Become Vultures” (video below), “Last Light” and many others.

At one point during the show, a crazed “fan” slapped a bear hug on Jacon Bannon wrestling him from the stage and onto the crowd floor.

When Jacob finally got back on stage he remarked, “I don’t even know what happened here. I’m like nervous to keep playing… should we keep playing?”

They did (no encores), finishing the evening with “Concubine” from Jane Doe and a special treat for the metalheads mixed in with the hardcore kids… a cover of “Wolverine Blues” by the mighty Entombed sung by John Petitbone (Himsa, Botch, Undertow). It was their “second time” performing the song. Jacob Bannon took a breather during that one.

I’ve seen Converge a lot, so I was hoping to hear a lot of new songs, ones I haven’t seen them perform in a while, or anything else out of the ordinary. Unfortunately the new material was in limited supply, but the two new ones they did play bore the Converge seal of oddball drum fills, Swedish Death Metal guitar tone, and clear roots in hardcore. The Entombed cover in particular was a highlight for me… well, that and the whole not dying thing.

Converge are scheduled to hit the studio in May to record their new album, according to our recent interview with Jacon Bannon.

Genghis Tron will play Public Assembly on April 12th with Tombs, Black Anvil, and Wetnurse as part of the Show No Mercy series.

More pics & videos (from the whole show, 3/27 in Brooklyn), below…

Converge “Eagles Become Vultures” LIVE @ Europa