Liturgy – Bottom of the Hill – SF [Review]

San Francisco’s Bottom of the Hill might be small, but at least it’s not super pretentious. The venue has played host to some of the most idiosyncratic bands around, including Battles and – on July 20, 2011 – the current Black Metallers du jour, Liturgy. Those Brooklynites’ brand of BM has nothing to do with corpse paint, leather, or highly questionable politics: the genre tropes they favor are devilish speed + high-pitched shrieks + occult imagery, the latter strangely more reminiscent of witch house and hipster Goth fashion than Satanism. And since I am no purist (thank God), that’s perfectly fine.

First: the opening acts. When my faithful concert sidekick (aka husband) and I entered the space, San Francisco’s own Common Eider, King Eider were playing. They churned out sloth-paced Metal, with ritualistic chants, post-rockish instrumental explosions, and absolutely monstrous drums (by the way, on drums was George Chen, of the highly commendable Chen Santa Maria). The general atmosphere was of unease and foreboding. I felt those sound constructions ominously sucking the life out of me – which may or may not have been the musicians’ intention.

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Matt Fazzi- Happy Body Slow Brain [Interview]

I first met Matt Fazzi while still attending Silver Creek High School in San Jose, CA. It’s amazing to think that was nearly ten years ago. In the years since, Fazzi has toured the United States and the world over as a guitarist and song-writer with Facing New York, Taking Back Sunday and now Happy Body Slow Brain. Fazzi and the rest of HBSB have been on the road for the last few weeks playing with the RX Bandits on the latter’s farewell tour stops through Texas. After those shows, Fazzi and company hit up the southwest and will finally end the stretch at San Francisco’s Bottom of the Hill on July 9^th for the hometown show. The guys of HBSB have kindly hooked us up with a pair of tickets to the Bottom of the Hill show to give away. (Find out how you can get them, here!)

Photo courtesy of Happy Body Slow Brain. Photo by Clayton Lancaster.

I got to hang out and catch up with Fazzi when he came back from New York to the Bay Area to rehearse with the rest of HBSB for a few days before actually hitting the road. I had gotten to the coffee shop pretty early to settle in and take in the nice, sunny San Jose, CA afternoon. Waiting outside for Fazzi, I see him park his car. Once he spots me, he gives me a wave. Sporting semi-long hair and aviator sunglasses, I think to myself: He definitely looks like a rock star. Before officially starting with my questions, we catch up on each others’ personal lives, and talk about our travels and popular music festivals like Coachella, Bonnaroo and Glastonbury.

Happy Body Slow Brain- Bottom of the Hill Ticket Giveaway

Happy Body Slow Brain at Bottom of the Hill on July 9th.

Profiled this week on the eventseekr blog with an interview with HBSB member Matt Fazzi, eventseekr is also giving away a pair of tickets to the Happy Body Slow Brain show with Finish Ticket, Bird by Bird and PK at San Francisco’s Bottom of the Hill on Saturday, July 9, 2011. All you have to do is make a post on the eventseekr Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/eventseekr) or reply to us (@eventseekr) on Twitter with the hashtag #HBSBeventseekr (http://www.twitter.com/eventseekr), and tell us why you think you deserve to go to the show. The contest begins Wednesday, July 6, 2011 at 11am, and runs through Friday, July 8, 2011 until 12pm. The winner of the contest for the pair of tickets will be notified also on July 12^th by 3pm. There will be no physical tickets given to the winner to the show. Rather, the winner will gain entry into the venue through a guest list at the door on the night of the show.

The show itself is an all-ages show, but participants in this contest must be 18 years of age or older or have their parent’s permission to attend. If the winner is in fact under the age of 18, eventseekr requires the parent or guardian of the winning participant to verify the child’s age and consent to the contest and admittance to the show through an email to eventseekr@wcities.com.

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