Landmine Marathon
Yucca Tap Room
July 31, 2010
Fresh off a month-long U.S. tour, Landmine Marathon looked anything but tired last night at the Yucca Tap Room in Tempe. In their first ever gig at the Yucca, the band tore through a brief-yet-ferocious set that spanned all three of their albums and left the crowd hungry for more.
New Times music editor Martin Cizmar's favorite band, Pigeon Religion, kicked off the show at roughly 9:50 p.m. with a barrage of feedback and droning guitar and bass. Apparently, PR's singer was a no-show, so the band's set consisted of one song that lasted approximately 12 minutes. The band performed without stage lights or a drummer, although the guitarist/impromptu vocalist made use of a cymbal by scraping at it with a guitar.
Elders took the stage next and played an energetic set of hardcore punk that barely cracked the 10-minute mark.
By the time Landmine Marathon hit the stage, the crowd had spent more time waiting between sets than actually listening to live music, so the band was faced with the challenge of snapping the crowd out of its PBR- and house music-induced stupor. Vocalist Grace Perry did her best to get a mosh pit started, but the crowd seemed more prone to half-speed headbanging. Perry repeatedly jumped back and forth between the stage and the crowd, and by the time the band's set was done, the crowd seemed to finally be getting warmed up.
That was good news for Gehenna, who closed out the show with a strong set of grindcore and crossover thrash. A few legitimate mosh pits actually formed during Gehenna's set, but amazingly, no one was injured, ejected or arrested. Who'da thunk that metalheads could actually mosh responsibly? Maybe this whole "moshing" phenomenon will eventually catch on at other local venues too.
Critic's Notebook:
Personal Bias: I've been a metalhead for more than a quarter-century and I'm on record as having a crush on Grace Perry, so yeah, I probably have a personal bias or two.
The Crowd: Solid mix of heshers and hipsters.
Overheard in the crowd: "You guys sound awesome!" - anonymous fan midway through Landmine Marathon's set.
Random Notebook Dump: "These guys sound like Sunn O))) getting raped by Hellhammer." - my best stab at summing up Pigeon Religion's one-song set
Landmine Marathon Setlist:
Exist
Red Days
Chained By The Same Fate
Crisscross Thoughts
Shadows Fed To Tyrants
Skin From Skull
Rise With The Tide
