Chopped in Half!

Thursday September 8, 2005

It felt like I hadn't been to The Trocadero in a long time. It had probably been over a month, which is the longest I've gone Trocless in years, I think, so I dutifully drove into Chinatown last night to see Napalm Death and Obituary. A death metal wednesday! We left pretty late - after 8:00 pm - hoping to miss Napalm Death, whom I've seen a dozen times and who are unfailingly dull (except for Barney's spastic manchild stage moves, which are moderately funny for a few minutes), but alas, we got there just minutes before ND started their set. To the bar, then! I usually drink Woodchuck cider at The Troc because they have it on tap, and it's usually Dark and Dry, which is the best, but last night it was Pear, which is a little icky. I didn't think to inquire about the flavor, though, and so it was Pear that I drank. That didn't make Napalm Death's set go by any easier, although I think I did hear a little of "Suffer the Children," the only Napalm Death song that I really like. I took Nancy downstairs to see Barney's nervous-tic-style stage presence, thinking their set was almost over, but they just never got off the stage! They played for over an hour, which is unconscionable.

After they did finally get the hell off the stage, the changeover for Obituary was not too long, although we were both feeling pretty antsy. Nancy, I think, just didn't feel like standing around at a show, and I was only moderately excited about Obituary, having just seen them a couple months ago at the Louder Harder Faster fest in Allentown. The new album is listenable, but really not too good. I'm beginning to think that the appeal of Obituary is entirely nostalgic - if you weren't there to hear them in 1990, you're not going to fall in love with Cause of Death now, just like I'm never going to come around to loving Frozen in Time. When all was said and done, though, the show was not bad, and the setlist was surprisingly different from the one they played in Allentown, if not exactly for the better. They played at least four songs from the new album, at least one song each from the last two (both of which sucked), three (I think) from Cause of Death, and two from Slowly We Rot, although it's a given that they'll play the title track from that album to close the show. I should have thought it would be a given that they'd play "The End Complete" from the album of that name, but not only did they not play that song, they didn't play any songs from that disc. The mind boggles! The End Complete is not a great album, but it's reportedly one of the best selling death metal albums ever, and the title track got a lot of airplay on Headbanger's Ball back in the day. That song also has one of the greatest codas ever, and it's a blast live (you'd have to hear it, but there are a LOT of dramatic cymbal catches, which are always cool). Obituary subscribe to the "leave them wanting more" school of setlist prep, though, and while I would have liked to have heard "The End Complete," I was still pretty happy that their set was only an hour long.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the crazy chick that spent the whole night moshing by herself. She wore a broken pair of glasses that was in fact just one lens and one half a frame. Nancy thought at first that she was wearing a monocle, which would have been the coolest thing ever. As it was, she danced around, holding the glass to her face, clearly high on something other than life and/or metal, while various overweight men oogled her. One meathead with a mohawk who was checking her out was treated to a gingerly raised middle finger. Good times! Nancy and I both hope that this girl becomes another of the regulars that we see at many shows, to be counted among the likes of Drunk Girl, The Wanderer, and Horsehead. I wonder if all of these people recognize me and think, "Hey, there's Coroner Shirt," or possibly something less flattering. I hope so!

Posted by Matt at September 8, 2005 05:15 PM

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