Life of Agony at Bowery Ballroom
photo by Mathieu Bredeau

Life of Agony played Bowery, add shows with Sick Of It All (pics, setlist, dates)

Mina Caputo was on fire Saturday night at Bowery Ballroom. I’ve seen a lot of Life of Agony shows, and lately they have all been great, but you never know which Mina you’re going to get. The Saint Vitus shows were great and special, but the tiny venue meant the crowd was smaller, and they were new drummer Veronica Bellino’s first shows before this tour. Bowery was still intimate but a bigger capacity resulted in a much bigger mosh pit with a band on stage that was well-practiced from being on the road, sometimes in cities where they aren’t as popular as they are in their hometown of NYC where many fans are also likely to have been following them since before they signed to Roadrunner and released their now-classic album River Runs Red in the early ’90s (not to mention following Type O Negative for just as long, so it was even more exciting that 50% of Type O’s final lineup was playing as part of the band who went on right before LOA). The energy on and off stage was huge all night. Mina was focused and loving but with an agressive angry hardcore frontperson attitude all night. It was great, as was the 17 song career-spannning setlist which is listed in full below. Check out photos in the gallery above.

Part of the appeal of this particular show for me was getting to see LOA at Bowery Ballroom, a beloved rock venue that you normally wouldn’t see a band like LOA at. “We’re bringing the old school sound to the safe little PC club,” Mina said at one point, an admittedly amusing part of her stage banter’s ongoing theme of pointing out how great and old school the very energetic NYC crowd was. The mosh pit was big all night with plenty of stage diving, hands in the air and singing along.

The crowd was full of Type O Negative shirts, and Kenny Hickey and Johnny Kelly’s newish doom-leaning band Silvertomb (Kenny, Johnny & Silvertomb member Hank Hell also played together in post-Type O band Seventh Void) played as direct support after Vessel of Light opened the show with their first-ever live performance. Vessel of Light, the newish doom-leaning project that brings together Nathan Opposition of Ancient VVisdom with Dan Lorenzo of Hades, have been together for a bit, but never played live before.

I would not be surprised if every single person at that sold out NYC was also a fan of NYHC legends Sick of It All, but I guess it’s not too surprisng that Life of Agony who got grouped more with metalcore have never actually played a show with them. That is about to change! The new announcement reads:

Life of Agony and Sick Of It All are excited to announce that they will co-headline two shows together for the first time in their 30 year history. The shows, labeled “Two Sick Nights of Agony” will take place December 14th at The Paramount (Huntington, NY) and December 15th at The Stone Pony (Asbury Park, NJ). Billy Bio, the new band featuring Billy Graziadei (Biohazard, Powerflo) will open both nights.

LOA, Sick Of It All and a Biohazard-related side project on the same show! Tickets go on sale on Friday October 5th at 9:00 AM Eastern.

More from the press release:

“One of the first vinyl’s I ever bought at like 17 years old was Sick Of It All’s Blood, Sweat & No Tears,” says Life of Agony vocalist Mina Caputo. “It is basically one of the most prolific, timeless, and adventurous true hardcore albums ever written. Playing together for the first time in 30 years is something we always wanted to do, and something a lot of fans want to see. Just thinking about the combined energies of those two nights leaves me euphorically beside myself. Absolutely honored to share the stage with such a legendary NY band.”

“We have a long kinship with our friends in Life of Agony,” adds Sick Of It All’s Lou Koller. I remember when Joey Z gave me their demo, and once I heard it I knew they were gonna change things up. And Life of Agony has done just that, both musically and socially, which is the very essence of the sound we both play and love! When they approached us about joining them for these shows we were excited and said yes right away! This is going to be special!”

Sick Of It All, who we recently caught on a boat, also have a new album called Wake the Sleeping Dragon coming November 2 via Century Media/Fat Wreck Chords.

“Two Sick Nights of Agony”
12/14: Huntington, NY @ The Paramount
12/15: Asbury Park, NJ @ The Stone Pony

Life of Agony @ Bowery Ballroom – Sept 29, 2018 setlist (via)
Through and Through
My Eyes
Unstable
Hope
Tangerine
Method of Groove
Other Side of the River
This Time
Lost at 22
Weeds
My Mind Is Dangerous
Meet My Maker
A New Low
Underground
River Runs Red
Bad Seed
The Stain Remains

photos by Mathieu Bredeau