The San Francisco stop of Southern Lord’s Power Of The Riff was split into two nights. The first night was held at Elbo Room, a pretty happenin’ bar right on ultra hip Valencia Street in the city’s Mission District. Everyone I spoke with was critical of the choice in venue. It’s upstairs from the bar and doesn’t have a whole lot of room for six band’s gear, not to mention the fans. The small space did however make for an intimate and intense concert. Winter and the recently reunited Noothgrush headlined. There must’ve been a considerable buzz around this show, because the Elbo Room was packed and eventually sold out.
Local heavyweights Acephalix kicked the night off with their crushing crust caked metal. The guitar tone is razor sharp, the bass grinds, the drums are precise yet brutal, and the otherworldly vocals reverberated off the walls and in everyone’s skulls. You could put Acephalix anywhere on the bill, but putting them first really set the bar high for the evening and got everyone excited for more.
Check out the rest of this review plus tons of photos of all six bands after the jump!
Next up was All Pigs Must Die the band features Hope Conspiracy vocalist Kevin Baker and Converge drummer Ben Koller. The band ripped through songs from their EP and an upcoming full length. While I can’t say APMD were my favorite band of the night, they definitely kept the intensity level up.
Next up were Black Breath, a band we all know and love at this point. BB has been winning over audiences for the past couple years with their energetic live show and spot-on Entombed worship. Last time I saw this band, everyone went crazy, and this was no exception. Crowd participation had been pretty mellow before Black Breath took the stage, but all that changed pretty quickly. Bodies and hair went flying over the next 25 or so minutes as BB tore Elbo Room a new one.
When singer Nate told us all to stick around for Trap Them, I thought I was going to die. I had been at the front of the stage since the show, had just barely survived Black Breath and now had to go through the hurricane that is Trap Them. TT were visibly grumpy as they set up. Vocalist Ryan McKenney described the difficulty of finding a place to park the van (San Francisco has no parking, ever) and how he dealt with a bathroom emergency (he may or may not have shit in a plastic bag). Trap Them used whatever negativity they may be faced with to deliver a furious and punishing set. Trap Them and Black Breath both have experienced some lineup changes with Trap Them having a different bassist and Black Breath having a different second guitarist.
Noothgrush were the obvious draw for this show. This served as their reunion show, and the band’s proximity to the Bay Area brought locals out in droves. Old fans were there to see the band after many years, and younger fans were there to see them for the first time. The three piece delved into an almost hour long set of sludgy, downtuned riffery. I don’t think there was a moment during their whole set when the crowd was still. Noothgrush got the bodies surging and brought the humidity in the Elbo Room up considerably.
Right around midnight, co-headliners Winter took the stage. Another trio, the doom group sounded massive. I don’t have a history with the band, so I can’t really say I’m a fan, but I was totally impressed by what I saw. Winter has some of the most crushing vocals I’ve ever heard. There is so much tension in the glacial-pace crawl of their riffs, and on rare occasions that tension breaks with sped up thrash drumming and all hell breaks lose. Winter definitely had the harrowing guitar tone of the night.
Day one of SF Power of the Riff was a success. I had a great time and was totally exhausted by the end of it. I’d like to give a big shout out to John Cobbett for handling the sound for the whole evening. All live photos provided by SF Sludge.
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