Thee Parkside, San Francisco
September 27, 2013
Sadly, today marked the 27th Anniversary of the passing of Cliff Burton. I'm not going to dwell on it here... and will only say that, yes, I did listen to 'Orion' on vinyl. Anyway, there was a time 3 years ago when Thee Parkside was the hub of underground Metal shows in S.F.. Portal played here for dog's sake! Sadly, Metal at this venue has become less common and according to the Umlaut Archives I had not been here in 19 months.
Hometown Acid King shows have also become special events since they have become few and far between; it's still hard to fathom that the band has been spanking eardrums for 20 years now! Having them share tonight with fellow hometown heroes and friends Black Cobra made tonight even better. As expected, the night was not only a gathering of volume lovers, but the sold out show was also a nice reunion of old Umlaut friends. SPECIAL!
Apologies to Buffalo Tooth but I didn't see any of their opening set. I've been slacking and this was my first Black Cobra show in over a year. Sorry, guys! Right around 11:00pm Jason and Rafa blasted off in the hot and humid room with the vintage classic 'Omniscient' and for the next 45 minutes or so all was right in the volume world. From there they went into 'Five Daggers' and then into what I consider their signature song 'Chronosphere'. The heat and humidity in the packed room only made the volume that much more suffocating... in a good way of course. The kidz in the room went crazy and the 11-song set slammed shut with a frenzied version of 'Obliteration'. Sweat was well spent during Black Cobra's set and the room temporarily emptied as people returned to the patio for air and hydration.
[Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse]
I was horrified when I realized it had been over 2 YEARS since the last time I saw Acid King! I had been out of town for last year's hometown show (with Yob no less). Horrifying. Thankfully I was at the show tonight, which was only Acid King's 5th hometown show in almost 7 years I think. Crazy. Fans in Europe should count themselves lucky since that is where Acid King annually spends most of their tour days now... and with good reason of course.
[Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse]
Tonight's set was an abbreviated 10-song version of Acid King's recent European performance that set things off with a monstrous version of the geographically important 'Busse Woods' that rode into the classic '2 Wheel Nation'. It's almost a spiritual thing for me being in the same room as Acid King puts that carpet of tone and volume down over a room's face. As during Black Cobra's set, the heat and humidity from the packed room only made the volume that much more suffocating... in a good way of course. The highlight of the entire night came near the end of the set as Jason and Rafa of Black Cobra joined Acid King onstage for a dominating version of '39 Lashes'. Kind of epic, dude. Then Lori, Joey, and Mark eased the night to a close with their standard 'Sunshine And Sorrow'.
Acid Black King Cobra
[Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse]
[Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse]
Did I find out tonight that the some kidz still do cocaine at Metal shows? Yes. I was so distracted talking to friends that I forgot to do a mech audit. My bad. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag. According to the Umlaut Archives tonight marked the 30th time I've been in the same venue as Acid King dating back to their first ever show (!) and also the 16th time I've been in the same venue as Black Cobra. Kind of crazy... and hopefully Thee Parkside recycles because this is what the front row looked like after Acid King left the stage:
