In the beginning was the Cruz.
And the Cruz was with Satan, and the Cruz was Satan.
This perversion of the first verse of the Gospel of John pretty well sums up my experience of day one of American Waste this past Saturday upon the newly refurbished, hallowed grounds of the Beaumont Club.
The festival ran Saturday and Sunday, dividing around 40 hardcore and metal bands between two stages, one inside and one set up outside in the "Back Yard," a clean, sunny lot of new grass where the Westport Beach Club used to hold volleyball tournaments and serve as a litterbox for neighborhood cats.
Speaking of cats, black-maned rock puma Stevie Cruz was the man of the hour late in the afternoon when his bands Hammerlord and the (recently reunited) Esoteric took the stage for quick, almost-back-to-back sets before small crowds inside the club.
Sandwiched between the 'Lord and the, uh, 'Teric, was the Blinding Light, a partially local, partially Sioux Falls, SD-based band whose bassist, Hunt Industries vice president Terry Taylor, was instrumental in organizing the festival, along with his colleague Pat Fielder of Velocity Marketing.
Though attendance was clearly less than hoped for while I was at the fest on Saturday afternoon, no one looked to be having more fun than Taylor rocking out with the Light, sans shirt, no less!
Rock. And awe.
During the three hours I was at the fest, I was treated to superb sets from the above bands and more, beginning with a brutal black-metal surge from scary-looking, scary-sounding and scary-name-carrying Athens, Ohio, band Skeletonwitch.
Evidently, I received and posted (oops) the wrong schedule, because I had expected to see locals Hundred Years War on stage instead of Skeletonwitch, but apparently HYW had canceled some time ago. That's cool, though, I'd never seen Sk'witch, and probably wouldn't have gotten to otherwise. Like just about all the bands I saw, these guys didn't give anything less than their all despite the fact that attendance -- at least from what I saw during my three hours there -- was clearly less than hoped for.
It may have been that building a mostly local metal fest around one national band's tour stop, hurt sales. One heavy music connoisseur I talked to pointed out that a lot of the bands playing American Waste could be seen any given weekend in KC -- for a lot less than the (still reasonable) ticket prices of the festival: $25 for Saturday, $15-$20 for Sunday or $35 for a two-day pass. Of course, headliners Testament don't come through town all that often, so I expect the place filled out after I left, wanting to submerge my head in hot wax after the Esoteric's set.
And how about that Esoteric? Two years' hiatus and they come back and summon every ounce of unhinged punk-metalhead energy they had back in the day. Besides Cruz, drummer Marshall Kilpatric was in particularly fine form. He's been away in L.A., playing with Wes Borland's band Black Light Burns, occupying a throne previously filled by almighty journeyman drummer and viral album marketer Josh Freese. With his cymbals raised to neck-breaking heights, Kilpatric was a demon behind the set, and a small but rowdy circle pit broke out.
If you were among the many who missed the Esoteric's righteous return, you can redeem yourself this Saturday at the Riot Room when they play with At the Left Hand of God and Marasmus.
Hats off to the tough and energetic -- and unexpectedly straight-faced (given the name and all) -- local death-metal growlin' Koktopus, who brought it mightily despite following the fearsome Skeletonwitch.
Hats back on, however, to Troglodyte. I know we featured this band in last week's Pitch -- and they were hella fun to read about -- but in practice, behind the grisly masks and matching gear, they were as lackluster as a bunch of garden slugs on a hot sidewalk. Really, guys? Is that all you got?
Bigfoot seemed to be suffering from low blood sugar.
Whatever.
Anyone check out the later acts, or, hell, any of Sunday? How was Coalesce?
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TROG FUCK'N RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How the fuck can you comment on any METAL BANDS, you didn't even stick around for TESTAMENT!?!?!? TROGLODYTE are a great band and awesome guys.
Thanks, Dan. That's an excellent point about the no-food/no-reentry issue. Lessons for next year, hopefully.
Its awsome how the death metal bands in kansas city never get a good review in the pitch. The worse the review the better they are!!!
I thought the whole fest was great. I forgot to bring sunblock. I saw a dude wearing his own band's shirt on BOTH days. The "no re-entry" rule was terrible. Was there food for sale? I didn't see any. If not, that's criminal to keep people in a venue for that long. The outside sound could have been a lot better. The one-armed sound guy didn't seem too interested. Blinding Light was excellent. The Esoteric sound like they never stopped practicing. I am looking forward to their show at Riot Room on Saturday. Unearth was fun, as always. Sunday was even better, in my opinion. Vena Amori was great. I think At The Left Hand Of God are the best death metal band in Kansas City. Eyes Of The Betrayer were highly entertaining. The crowd thinned out once Coalesce went on. They are one of those bands that you either get, or don't get. Those that stuck around saw a great set from a legendary band. Good fest.
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