Roctoberfest: Week 2

The Thermals @ Black Cat

I have seen the Thermals before, at Black Cat even. It even made my top 5 concerts of last year. So understand me when I say, that this concert through the last one in the pit, and stomped it to a bloody mess.

I was joined by my cohort from last year's concert to enjoy this one promoting their new album, Personal Life. Each of their albums deals with a theme ranging from religion, to death, to the current theme of intimacy and relationships. The Thermals continue to provide angsty post punk that brings you back to rocking out with your friends in black t-shirts damning "the man". While it maintains that feel, the new album serves up some pretty heavy lyrics with strong content.

Last year's concert was a slug to the mouth. It played loud fast with almost no pauses. Lead singer, Hutch Harris, was somewhat subdued only giving song names and brief "thank yous". This time he was more than actively engaged with the crowd, breaking several strings and gallivanting around the stage while providing some wicked guitars. The pit was bigger this year, although my friends were not as into the idea of going in this year. I must say that it was a good call because some poor bastard lost his shoe and stepped on a broken glass or something. We saw him hobbling out of the venue with a bloody near gangrenous foot. If The Thermals continue to produce a product this high energy and cathartic, I will continue to buy tickets well in advance.

Jukebox the Ghost @ Black Cat

I had tickets to this show, but as mentioned above, my friend from last year's Thermals' show was in town, so I decided to skip the show. I had just watched a streaming acoustic set of them online, and was just so exhausted by the schedule that I just decided to skip the show. Full disclosure: this would be another solo show for me, and while I am now inoculated to the experience, it's not something I enjoy more than hanging with good friends.