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It’s always the smaller shows where the venue gets loud, the people stage dive, dance, go insane with the music that always remains the best in my opinion. When the bands get big, that stage gets higher, the wall comes up and some of that magic is utterly lost. It almost becomes a separate entity. Like sitting in front of a radio imagining what the beast feels like. That’s why I love the shows that feel more like home, where the crowd becomes the sound, where the artist smiles brightly and sees how their music touches everyone in the room.
Spokane, Washington at The Big Dipper on October 19th, Fox Lake from Devner, Colorado, alongside openers Freak & Kaonashi made that magic happen. I got to witness an entire venue become the show within itself. I've gotten to witness a lot of shows within these past few years but I have to say, it was by far one of the sickest shows I’ve gotten to see firsthand
The night opened with Freak, it was the very first time I had heard of them and quite honestly I’m happy I have. They were a heavy hard sound that also knew how to have fun. The music seemed to be a mix of heavy metal along with the sound of garage punk. That type of old emo vibe we got from the 2000s, along with a loud respect for the other bands involved in the tour. I don’t think I saw a single one of them sitting out, heavy heads swaying with the crowd and a huge hype of the night.
The next band on stage was Kaonasi, and I’ve never seen such a crowd interaction like this one. The singer stood within the middle of the floor putting his mic to other faces and having the listeners lungs be part of the art. The floor became part of the show with a mixture of created sound keys along with heavy drums and guitar ripping on the stage. A guttural growl ripping from his voice along with a heavy sounding scream every so often, it was a masterpiece to see.
The night closed with Fox Lake, who left no sound unturned. It was my first time hearing them and now I play them on repeat on Spotify. One of those sounds that are absolutely unique and their own. I don’t think any other band can come close, with the heavy metal sound and rap along with the heavy growls and lyrics that hit hard. The closest thing I can compare it to is Limp Bizkit but in my opinion, a lot harder and we all know how life changing that sound was.
I had the pleasure of speaking with the lead singer after the show who was so kind and extremely thankful for me coming out. Yet it was me that had the most thanks for the show they put on was a hard hit, absolutely energy building and I had never seen that venue all head bang together in such a way it was like a house party. As soon as I got home I had to send videos to my friends and tell each one of them to give the bands a listen. Each one put on such a powerful sound that I wish I could go back and listen to it for the first time again.
