Originally published in ‘zine issue #9, 1993
Chem Lab and Skrew
Fifth Colvmn, Washington, D.C.
by Editor
The club is usually a techno club with three bars, but they stuck a stage in the middle of the main dance floor and Skrew came on. The Texas band has a newer Ministry-ish album out on Metal Blade Records and basically played the same set as it did when it came the last time, except that it was better before. The singer/guitarist only played guitar on the first few songs and then gave his guitar to a roadie or someone to play so he could just sing and shake his ass and shit.
Chem Lab on Fifth Colvmn Records came on second. The band sounded better than it did when last it came and had a second guitarist this time as well. The band was selling “fuck art let’s kill” shirts after and went over quite well with the young crowd. An energetic set by these guys.
Surprisingly, a cool place to have shows. But they charge $3.75 for a fucking beer, though. ■
Mercyful Fate, Flotsam And Jetsam, Cathedral, and Anacrusis
The Bayou, Washington, D.C.
by R. Mason
Oh my fucking God, I was actually going to see Mercyful Fate! I was so chuffed that it didn’t matter that Cathedral bored me to tears with 45 minutes of them displaying exactly how much they really want to be Black Sabbath. The set included the new single, “Ride,” a few songs off the EP, and a lot of new crap. Hey, Lee, you shoulda stuck with Napalm. Also, the dude from Repulsion was on bass. A waste of my precious time, but I was too stoked to care.
Next up was F&J. I’d been wanting to see these guys for a while, but I was a little disappointed with their performance, but that’s primarily due to the awful lack of guitars in the mix. They kicked off the set with “Swarming Like Flies” and proceeded to play most of Cuatro. They played couple of songs off of each LP, and even threw in “Der Fuhrer” off of Doomsday. The old material sounded surprisingly bland to me, but the new stuff sounded pretty good live. Overall, it could’ve been a lot worse.
Okay, now I was packin’ a woody as Mercyful Fate’s equipment was set up. After a much-prolonged setup with the crew running around the stage (even during the intro), I was more than a bit impatient to see this godly band get on stage. When the opening riff to “Curse of the Pharaohs” began, the crowd went fucking insane. Mercyful Fate ripped through an hour and a half of mostly classic songs and some new ones; an incredible performance. “A Dangerous Meeting,” “Is That You, Melissa?” and “Satan’s Fall” were a few of the godly songs they played. They finally encored with “Evil.” Unfortunately, Timi Hansen has been replaced and the drum solo was boring, but dare I complain? I have witnessed the only black metal band that ever mattered in flesh and blood! Sure, Cathedral was only good for a laugh, but who cares? If you miss this tour, I will personally track you down and kill you. ■
Photos: Cathedral (top) and Mercyful Fate (center and bottom) playing that night (D.U.)
World’s Collide, Outspoken, and Grip
Beta Punx Warehouse, Washington, D.C.
by Vaughn Currier
When Richard and I got there, Grip had just started the show off. Grip’s a pretty trippy hardcore band from Richmond, VA. I’ve seen them do better. Outspoken [New Age Records] was next. One of my favorite str8 edge bands that’s probably one of the best current live bands around. The place was really going nuts. They’re nice guys, too.
As billed, this was to be Worlds Collide’s last show. About four songs into their set, a fight broke out in the pit and this guy went to break it up, and he got maced. Worlds Collide stopped playing, and Matt Burger (the singer) started yelling at this “gangsta boy” who was causing all the problems. Everyone ran for the exits because of the mace. The show was stopped and Richard and I jetted, but I heard after that the police showed and apprehended “gangsta boy” and it was allowed to continue. The D.C.P.D. found a gun on the guy that started the fight. I guess because of the incident and neighbors protesting or whatever, there won’t be any more shows at the Beta Punx Warehouse. Typical. ■
