It’s 8 PM on a rainy Tuesday night. You’re probably snuggled on your couch with some hot cocoa and a good book, or perhaps celebrating getting through the roughest of all the weekdays at a bar with coworkers. Yet, no matter what you do, the remnants of your case of the Mondays linger like the stench of an ex-roommate’s cat. The reason? West coast melodic metalcore rockers The Bronx are at the First Unitarian Church, and you are not. Sucks for you, but not for the crowd of Philadelphians ragin’ within the confines of the church basement.
Say what you want about Philly, but one thing we know how to do is show up fashionably late to nearly everything. Consequently, show openers Sinatrah played to an appreciative crowd of about fifteen people. Sorry dudes! Thankfully, as Dirty Tactics went on and the rain began, more people put down their Mix pizza slices and meandered over to actually watch some music.
Dear Dirty Tactics: Where have you been all my life? Had I known Philly had an answer to Chicago’s The Lawrence Arms, I would have been out at every show pumping my fist to your frenetic, snotty punk. Though the crowd was on the sedated side (pizza coma?) Dirty Tactics won them over with a stellar live performance and spot on back and forth vocals.
If you’re wondering what kind of music Aneurysm Rats plays, here’s a hint: they’re called Aneurysm Rats. It’s probably loud, angry, fast, and full of breakdowns. The band did not fail to live up to the name. Their brand of take-no-prisoners hardcore probably caused several of the more faint-hearted rats hanging out in the vicinity of the church to actually have aneurysms. The band seemed much tighter and less plagued with technical issues than at their show several months ago at the Broad Street Ministry.
It took Bronx singer Matt Caughthran all of thirty seconds to awaken the sleeping beast within the audience that night, jumping down onto the floor with an ear shattering “Come on!” A major point in Bronx mythology is that they were offered a major label deal after only two live shows, and it really isn’t hard to see why. Lots of bands have energy and chemistry, but the Bronx takes both those things to a captivating level live. The crowd went from a standstill to stage dives within three songs! Also captivating was bassist Brad Magers’ epic metal hair and ‘stache, which he used to full headbanging advantage whilst destroying on his instrument.
