Review by Lisa Burke
June 14th 2015, The Roxy, West Hollywood CA: New Orleans’ finest extreme metal export Goatwhore embarked on a North American headline tour in June 2015 with support acts Ringworm, Black Breath and Theories, promising to bring to the masses the most crushing touring package of the year. Surrounding their 2014 Metal Blade Records full-length release ‘Constricting Rage Of The Merciless’, Goatwhore successfully completed some hi-profile tours like Metal Alliance and Summer Slaughter as a support act, but this time they’re delivering eagerly awaiting fans a full-on experience of the band’s on-stage monstrosity, with weapons old and new from their six-album arsenal. The tour visited Los Angeles for a gig at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood on Sunday June 14, and our writer Lisa Burke was in attendance to give us a firsthand account of how the event unfolded. Enjoy it below:
I’m going to have to start out by saying if you aren’t Goatwhore, I can’t hear you. One great thing about seeing a show at the Roxy is that there are no bad places to stand. In fact you can pretty much sit on the band’s lap if they let you. I arrived just in time to see Black Breath so I unfortunately can’t comment much on the other openers Theories and Ringworm. Ringworm is from Cleveland, and they are metalcore mixed with thrash. Rumor has it if you’re into that sort of thing they can make it happen. I’d never seen Black Breath before and I was impressed with their technical accuracy, clean vocals, and some creative drumming. They are basically a comibnation of all things thrash, black, death and punk, based in Seattle and they have a similar style to Entombed, however I found some of their riffs to be very Slayer-esque along with some of the vocal styling. There were some large gaps between songs which were most likely due to technical difficulties, yet the singer, though he made a good attempt, was not the best small talker and I’m pretty sure I took a nap for a couple of minutes. All in all, these guys put on a great show, and I’d definitely see them again. The songs off their most recent album were definitely favored.
If you’ve never been to a metal show you’re probably not reading this, but there’s usually that one guy who stands out in the white t-shirt who wins the superhero stage diving moshpit champion award at a no stage diving venue and this show was no exception. This guy was having the time of his life and the pit was brutal yet everyone seemed schooled in mosh pit etiquette so no one ended up bloody or broken.
Goatwhore originated in 1997, are from New Orleans and they kick ass at their self-created brand of blackened thrash ‘n roll. At this show they had a fill-in bass player who fit right in and killed it all with ease on his ESP. Their actual bass player’s girlfriend apparently just had a baby so he was unable to attend. I have to mention that this band had some really fantastic metal leather accessories. From spiked armbands to full-on studded gauntlets to the guitar player’s amazing spiked shin guards this band, had it all. I’d love to give credit where credit is due, unfortunately I did not get the info on who makes these special pieces. If you’ve ever worn leather armbands you know when you’re under hot lights, sweating is an understatement, but they do it anyway because Metal! Frontman Ben Falgoust’s vocals were perfectly energetic and engaging and he was very kind to the audience. I’d also like to point out that Goatwhore has one-and-a-half guitar players because Ben plays the fuck out of the air guitar and it looks like it sounds great. Sammy was spot on at all times in guitar riffs as well as vocals, and those leather shin guards with the metal spikes aided in making one bad ass performance.
I enjoyed their older songs the best, yet I could have listened to them play every song they ever made for as long as it took and not been bored. This is a band that as soon as they walk out on stage you immediately trust that you won’t be disappointed. Halfway through the set I noticed front and center in the audience was what appeared to be a headbanging child. I wasn’t sure at first if it was just my own hallucination, but right before the last song Sammy not only called him out but commented on how there may just be hope for the future of metal yet. This child did not appear to be over 14 yet he knew exactly who he was, what he liked, and came equipped with badass leather arm bands and a black denim jacket completed by a Celtic Frost patch. Way to go future metalhead!
All in all, Goatwhore commanded the whole room from the second they took the stage, and attending a show on the remainder of this tour should be a no-brainer for any and every metalhead in North America.
Remaining Tour Dates:
06/15 Santa Cruz, CA The Catalyst Atrium
06/16 Oakland, CA Oakland Metro Operahouse
06/17 Salem, OR Duffy’s Hangar
06/18 Seattle, WA The Crocodile
06/19 Vancouver, BC The Rickshaw Theatre
06/20 Kelowna, BC Level Upstairs
06/21 Calgary, AB Dickens Pub
06/22 Edmonton, AB The Starlite
06/23 Saskatoon, SK O’Brian’s Event Centre
06/24 Regina, SK The Exchange
06/25 Winnipeg, MB The Zoo Cabaret
06/26 Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock Social Club
06/27 Chicago, IL Reggie’s Rock Club
06/28 Detroit, MI Majestic Jr.
06/29 Cleveland, OH Now That’s Class
06/30 Pittsburgh, PA The Altar Bar
07/01 Syracuse, NY The Lost Horizon
07/02 Toronto, ON Hard Luck Bar
07/03 Montreal, QC Les Foufounes Electriques
07/04 Ottawa, ON Mavericks
07/05 Allston, MA Brighton Music Hall
07/06 Brooklyn, NY Saint Vitus Bar
07/08 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts: Black Box
07/09 Washington D.C. Rock & Roll Hotel
07/11 West Columbia, SC New Brookland Tavern
07/12 Atlanta, GA The EARL