After years and years of being a metal fan I had never been to Saint Vitus. It always seemed hard to get to and I always knew it would have shows run late which wasn’t good for someone who realies on buses and trains to get to NYC(aka me). After my friend Doug moved to NYC, I deicided to pay him a visit as I had that weekend off. The Saturday of that weekend we both diecided to give the St.Vitus venue a first shot. We headed down to Vitus that night after doing random stuff in NYC. For dinner we checked out this lobster joint called Lobster joint. We got to the venue at door time and then 30 mins later the show started.
S.N.A.F.U
First band on was a punk band called S.N.A.F.U. They were a fun warm up as the had a sound simliar to Poision Idea. We ran into a bunch of my friends around this time.
Against the Grain
After chatting with my friends during the intermission the second band, Against the Grain came on. They were also a punk band but this time with some classic rock influence. Like S.N.A.F.U they were a fun warm up.
Child Bite
I had seen Child Bite play with Superjoint Ritual and King Parrot back in 2015. It was a very fun performance as was this second time. The singer had a lot of charisma and punk on a better performance than the first time I saw them. This would end up being Doug’s favorite band on the night.
Acid Witch
Last but far from least was the main band of the night, Acid Witch. I had seen them once at mdf 2011 so I was overdue for another espcally after considering their album last year to be their best. Like, Child Bitte Acid Witch put on a better performance than last time. They mixed up the songs greatly as I got to hear greats like Mr.Bestile,The Black Witch,Worship the Worm and Stoned to the Grave. During the match members of Child Bitte came on stage in masks adding theatrics to the performance. All and all it was an awesome show and I can’t wait to revisit this iconic venue.
An average Thursday was something one could only dream about. Whomever’s dream it was that came true must’ve been bored beyond belief.
I did may weekly freelance work (to attempt to try to make a buck), took a few matters into my own hands and waited around for some brute to install a washer/dryer combo. One who couldn’t wait, I passed the time by writing, listening to a combination of Cypress Hill, Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains (in that very order) and playing Marvel vs. Capcom 2 on my Playstation 2 (rock the classics!) for the drones to come between two and five.
A quarter to seven was not exactly what I was expecting.
They couldn’t do what was needed due to negligence on the guy who ripped off my family faking his way into installing a washer/dryer combo into a basement the week before.
Long story short, I was pissed.
My body yearned for sushi, but upon arrival to said sushi joint I realized not only had they recently changed the name but had adopted the inhabiting chain’s menu – raising prices and getting rid of the items I originally had intended to order.
I settled for pizza.
Half a block and a street away my cohorts Timmy and Kevin were parked at the Coney Island Avenue 7-11, grabbing a six-pack of Hoegarden. I walked over, got picked up and off we were like three 80’s headbangers on their way to a Judas Priest show.
When we finally got to St. Vitus, we found an awesome spot in front and dove into our brews while cranking some metal to get the blood flowing. After the beer ran out we headed into the surprisingly packed bar and grabbed some Lemmy’s (aka giant, overpriced Jack and Coke’s)
Unfortunately, we had missed Godmaker (which should not have opened based on the fact that they’ve been touring with Moon Tooth alone) and Meek is Murder. However, Netherlands was taking the stage.
Netherlands was a highly energetic mess of doom and ambiance flooded in visuals. I was a bit puzzled at first as the singer/guitarist had a wireless mic as opposed to using the club’s (makes more sense but doesn’t look as cool). Overall they had a good sound that was great to drink to. Unfortunately, a lot of the songs were very similar and at times they relied a little too much on said visuals and became a little one-dimensional. They did their job as far as getting the crowd pumped, but if they hone their craft and break that barrier, they can really be something special.
Afterwards came another round of drinks (changing things up with a Newcastle this time around) and some catching up with the Moon Tooth guys however I could. Their merch booth was covered in shirts, buttons and decorated in “Chromaparagon” (their debut album which came out today) paraphernalia. Eventually, it became “that time” and the mighty Tooth hit the lights.
If you don’t know Moon Tooth, you’ll have to claw your way out of the ditch, crush the rock and crawl out from wherever you came from as they’ve been all over the metal world lately (thanks to hard work, dedication and a crack marketing team). A sound full of classic, modern, aggressive and progressive influences – it’s hard to define what type of genre Moon Tooth actually is. Due to the strange sophistication of sounds, the term “Fancy Metal” immediately comes to mind (which I will sue over copyright!).
As per diem, Moon Tooth was all over the place. Frontman John Carbone could not sit still, whether he was having stationary seizures or bringing all of his energey directly into the face of the crowd (moshing around him or not). To describe the reaction of Moon Tooth’s fans (I’ll dub them “Toothians” or “Moonnites,” which I will also sue over copyright!) would be a sin, because we already have video evidence all over American Hardcore.
The Moonnites and Toothians were rampant, moshing and/or headbanging seemed to be fair game and the explosive attitude of the Tooth complimented their followers. Guitarist Nick Lee was loose and letting all his skills hang out on a Dean while keeping time and keeping up with drummer Ray Marte and Vin Romanelli’s Warwick/Precision attack. Make no bones about it, everyone was excited for “Chromaparagon” (my only complaints: No Reverend Sensei guitar and no backflips).They wrapped up their set with a longer, slower and predominantly instrumental number that according to Carbone they will allegedly “not play much.”
Allegedly.
At around 1:30 a.m., after having said my “good-byes” (and some hellos) we had another drink and rode on into the night, where I came home to a pleasant surprise:
The Bonesaw 