The San Francisco stop of Southern Lord’s Power of the Riff was split into two nights at two separate venues. I was fortunate enough to attend both nights with my camera in an attempt to document the heaviest tour of the year. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get both nights off of work, so on Tuesday night I had to jam over to The Mezzanine on my bike to catch as much of Day Two as possible. The Mezzanine is located on a small side street in the SOMA district of San Francisco. Tuesday’s venue was way bigger than the Elbo Room, and does not normally host metal shows. I saw the Metalliance tour with Saint Vitus there back in Spring, but this was only the second time I’d been there.
I arrived and everything checked out on the guest list (which is always a relief) and I caught literally the last 90 seconds of Early Graves, a band I was really looking forward to seeing. I also missed Baptists and Æges, but that’s ok because the other four bands I did catch ruled. Masakari took the stage and set up under cool blue lights. The band didn’t start playing so much as they exploded into unbridled energy. Band members were pacing all over the stage as they ripped through track after blistering track from their EP, full length and split with their tourmates, Alpinist. I had never seen or heard Masakari before tonight, but I was really impressed by them and they were the surprise highlight for me.
Next up were Alpinist from Germany. Like Masakari, I had no prior experience with the band. And like Masakari, I was very impressed by what I saw. The four piece assaulted the audience with bruising hardcore metal, sometimes with all three string players supplying vocals. In between their jet engine roars, the lads from Alpinist were soft spoken, polite and grateful (they must’ve thanked Greg Anderson four times during their set). After the pleasantries, the band continued to lay down more sonic brutality.
After Alpinist was Pelican. I’ve been a Pelican fan since 11th grade in 2006. I have all their releases, and used to collect their albums on vinyl, so needless to say Pelican was the band I was most excited for. I was surprised to see that someone was filling in for original guitarist Laurent Schroeder Lebec, considering Pelican has been the same quartet since forming. But with members in different states with different obligations, it’s easy to imagine that the timing of TPOTR didn’t work for everyone. The stand in guitarist did a bang up job as Pelican blazed through riff-oriented songs from their last two albums. The song “Ephemeral” from What We All Come To Need is particularly crushing live and really got heads nodding. The band stepped back in time to 2005 to play “Last Day Of Winter” from their acclaimed The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw album, so the 11th grader in me was happy. Of all the bands included on this festival, I think Pelican embody “The Power Of The Riff” the best. Being instrumental, Pelican totally rely on strong riffs to create intricate phrasing, emotion and hooks. With no vocalist screaming on top of anything, the riffs have to really be top notch because they have nothing to hide behind.
Pentagram closed out Power of the Riff San Francisco, and you could tell that there was a considerable buzz around the band. When Pelican finished, things got a little more crowded at the front of the stage. Last time Pentagram played San Francisco, they were more than a little disappointing. Their show at the DNA Lounge consisted of a couple classics, endless blues jams, and, um, a lot more harmonica than anyone was expecting. Bobby Liebling sauntered out of the dark to an eruption of cheers. Everyone was willing to give Pentagram another chance. The band was visibly confident and launched into “Sign Of The Wolf” right out of the gate. Bobby Liebling could just plug in an iPod nano of Pentagram songs, sing over them and it would still be fascinating to watch. There’s something about watching a short, frail man with frizzy grey hair and bulging eyes shuffle around stage and creep up behind his guitarist that is awesome in a way which is hard to describe.
It’s safe to say that Power Of The Riff was a big success. The first night sold out and the second night was well attended. Here’s hoping that Power Of The Riff will continue as a tour again next year.
All live photos provided by SF Sludge.
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