Every Time I Die/Primitive Weapons @ Maxwell’s 4.21.12
I’ve been dying to go to a show at Maxwell’s with Snailentina for a while now but it seems it wasn’t meant to happen until the whirling testosterone-driven aggression party known as Every Time I Die’s live show rolled around. The place has an intimate, home basement feel it’s so small, perfect for the old school hardcore coziness ETID seems to be going for this tour in support of their new rager of an album, Ex Lives. Also in the tradition of hardcore shows, this was an early show — minus the 4+ band lineup.
Sole openers Primitive Weapons were on by around 6pm. These dudes must’ve had the cooties because no one stood near the stage in fear of the unknown (Why the hell do people do this?). The Brooklyn band played a set of decent hardcore songs that deserved more than this. Had we not been the old people, we are reduced to enjoying the chaos from a safe spot on the sidelines, we would’ve stood close and made the dudes feel supported. Isn’t that what this scene is about, anyway? Instead, we just called everyone idiots.
After a short setup, ETID ripped a hole in everyone’s butts. The crowd tore in half, divided into the have-balls and have-none— one half rushing the stage to sing and bring the mosh, the other half as far away from the mess as possible — at singer Keith Buckley’s repetitive opening shout, “I want to be dead with my friends!” from set starter “Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space.” Kudos went out to the troops in glasses who dare risk their lives in the name of Every Time I Die. Something that we would gladly do if our fearless days weren’t so far behind us.
The dudes treated the crowd to the live debut of “I Suck [Blood]” and throwback “The Logic of Crocodiles” from their first full length record, Last Night in Town. “The New Black,” “Wanderlust,” “Floater,” “We’rewolf” and final banger “Ebolarama” are always worth the admission alone. I went in ready to revel in the guitar magic of “Revival Mode” but they didn’t play it for some reason and I was more bummed about that I’d like to admit.
The whole experience was batshit and fun to watch. ETID is hands-down one of the best live bands out there but I feel like I’ve outgrown seeing them live. Before, being one of a few Latinas getting rowdy among the boys was a badge of honor. Now older and less tolerant of aggressive expressions of love for hardcore music, I realize I have nothing in common with all these angry white boys slamming into each other trying to make out with Keith Buckley and it might be time to hang up the gloves. After all, you can only stand by the sidelines for so long at these things before you feel like a curmudgeony alien turd. —Cheep
All the photos I took at this show came out terrible, the above photo was one of the better ones.
