Lawrence Field Day Fest 2015, Night Three

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The third and final night of 2015’s Lawrence Field Day Fest kicked off hard. It was pushed back half an hour, but Eyes of Iolite wasted no time in getting things ripping. “The Thing” kicked it off, and for the rest of their set, it was fuzzed-out blast after blast. Sludge? Doom? Whatever you want to call it, this trio knows how to deliver metal. It’s so fucking heavy, with a volume and low end that makes it hard to even breathe. There’s no moshing to this: just let the band lead the assault.



My friend and former roommate has been playing drums for the People’s Punk Band for months now, and he’s been talking them up as a band I’d love. I tend to worry about hyperbole such as that, because it’s usually unwarranted , but in this case, he was dead right. Big, chunky riffs, and that weird harmonic vocal thing that Turbonegro or Death By Stereo does? Sold. Fucking sold. It’s punk ‘n’ roll, and my only complaint was carrying around a goddamn camera bag, because this is the sort music to which you throw yourself around with wild abandon. Doing that with a grand of electronic equipment is dumb — although, in this case, tempting.

It’s basically what happened halfway into the Federation of Horsepower‘s set. The rock ‘n’ roll train that this five-piece rides is hard to avoid becoming a passenger on, and when they do something like cover Cocknoose’s “All Jacked Up,” what the hell am I supposed to do? Not scream along like a maniac? Obviously not. This is as near as I get to attending church, so I better testify while the service is going on.

Exaggeration aside, they’ve been a favorite for over a decade now, and any chance to see them rock out in my town is a welcome one. That goes doubly true for a show like last night’s, where in addition to 100% rock ‘n’ roll power, frontman Gregg Todt wandered outside and across the street with his wireless pickup, playing guitar in the middle of a goddamn crosswalk. That, my friends, is showmanship.

I saw Gnarly Davidson, but only about a song or two. It was, as to be expected, very loud, the band set up on the floor and blazing through their setlist. Every show from these three makes me wonder whether or not they have to chug water beforeheand, because thet have to be getting some sort of workout from their performances. They put their fucking all into their music.

Psychic Heat proceeded to rock out the Jackpot afterward. It’s odd, because the band plays out so often, I don’t feel the need to see them as much as I have the opportunity to do so. That means that every set I catch is light years ahead of the one previous. Saturday night’s performance was frighteningly tight garage psychedelia, and their crowd was all head-shaking, hip-moving enthusiasm. Bonus: Kliph Scurlock was filling in on drums, absolutely murdering the kit, and comedian Barry Crimmins (star of the new Bobcat Goldthwait doc, Call Me Lucky) was right up front. It was amazing, and the perfect end to three days of rock insanity.