Opening for AxCx is Gay

Date: Sunday, April 10, 2011
Venue: The Korova, San Antonio TX
Bill: Plutonian Shore (didn't play), Scumacide, VBT, Hexlust, Hod, Anal Cunt

PRE-SHOW
The notorious Anal Cunt (aka A.C. or AxCx) had re-formed and were touring again, taking their anti-music loaded with Seth Putnam's comically offensive lyrics across America. For the San Antonio stop, Aaron Goregrowler put together an opening package consisting of the loudest, craziest bands the scene had to offer, and Hexlust are proud to say that we were included in such an off-the-wall grouping.

Unfortunately, upon arrival at the Korova, we found out that Plutonian Shore would in fact not be participating in this evening's festivities, due to some drama within the lineup or something. This was rather disappointing news, we were looking forward to playing and chilling with them after the good times we had at the King Diamond Benefit back in February. Well, hope they get everything sorted out soon!

SCUMACIDE
After getting our gear set up and stored away, we sat ourselves down on one of the Korova's comfy couches with Jake and a couple of his friends to watch the opening acts. Scumacide were up first, a local grind act that have been around for at least as long as Hexlust have been playing shows (the only video of them on YouTube dates back to 2007). The lineup was intriguing in that it included no bassist and two luchador guitarists.

To my ears the music was nothing too special, it was fast and it was heavy and it was occasionally slow. One of the guitarists did play solos, which will always earn any band some points in my book. After their last song, the vocalist pulled out a bicycle and rode out of the club, which I think would be awesome if they worked that into the set itself! Like, have the band go into a long stinger at the end of the last song during which that guy hops on his bike and leaves the venue. Maybe he'd also be waving sparklers or something, I dunno.

VBT
Bringing their highly death metal-influenced approach to grindcore (and one MASSIVE bass rig) to the stage next were Vaginal Bear Trap, a name I find oddly ambiguous. Is it a bear trap for the vagina, or a vagina with the qualities of a bear trap? Not that it mattered, VBT were entertaining, with witty between-song banter from guitarist/vocalist Shane and each song announced as a short burst of guttural throat noise. They were also quite dynamic, throwing many different tempos in their songs, which ranged in length from two minutes to even as long as six. One of them felt like it was that long anyway. Either way, VBT put on a great show and should be checked out by anybody who likes some kick-ass grind with a humorous twist. A great place to start would be Jake's interview with them.

HEXLUST
The set started off optimistically, with a large crowd gathering before the stage as we went into our intro song. This was a major confidence-booster, because up to this point there hadn't been much of an audience, but then as we started playing most of the people who had been sitting down, talking near the bar, or standing outside came up to witness the 'Lust in action.

Unfortunately, this was kind of a weird set for us, compared to the knock-down-drag-out WIN fest that was our last Korova gig. There weren't any blatant mistakes made, but I was having some very frustrating difficulties with my drum kit that my bandmates picked up on, which caused them to be more on their toes than a truly comfortable performance allows. Rather than go through each song and tell you what happened when, I'll just list the issues I came across, sometimes simultaneously.

• Floor tom falling over, grinding against my thigh during almost all of "Toxic High".
  
• Pin slipping out of pedal again, much faster than usual.
• Multiple dropped sticks.
• Splinter in my left palm from picking up a stick by its frayed end. This was probably the most annoying problem, as it made playing very uncomfortable, but Tony, with his earplugs in, couldn't hear me yelling at him to hold off on announcing the next song so I could pull it out.
• General discomfort of playing on a smaller kit and having to go against muscle memory to adjust fills accordingly. This gig was originally announced as taking place in the Korova's basement area, so I nixed the rotaries and smallest toms to reduce the crap I would have had to lug down and back up a staircase.

JT was also having a difficult evening, going up against a particularly horrible case of sweaty hands that resulted in some sloppy playing, and also completely unplugging his guitar by stepping on his cable. The weirdest part of all, though, was the compliments we received. I mean, these weren't just half-assed "Hey, nice set man," that anybody could hear at any gig. These folks were telling us that this was the best set we've played yet! I was dumbfounded, but I guess it shows how hard we work to be prepared for difficulties so we can push through them and still deliver an entertaining performance.

Set List:
Intro
FBF
Toxic
Conjure
Baphomet
Tombs

HOD
Up to now, it was pretty much an acknowledged fact that if Hexlust opened up for Hod, then we would go on before them and miss most of the performance thanks to time spent putting gear away, talking about our performance, and just wanting to be out of the noise for a while. On this night, however, we managed to have our shit squared away and be back inside by the second or third song. Good thing, because this was one hell of a performance by a group of top-notch black/deathers.

Hod played mostly new material, in fact I think the only song off the "Serpent" album was "Demoralizer." While I was very unfamiliar with the songs, they were easy to get a hold of and appreciate, much less meandering and more concise than their old material. Also, what did I say earlier was a good way to get positive points from me? GUITAR SOLOS, son! Not just any ol' leads either, Lord Necron made that whammy bar his bitch in a way that was blaring and chaotic, yet oddly tasteful, possibly due to how well it blended with riffs he chose to solo over.

AxCx
After Hod closed out their set, and then played an encore at the vehement behest of the crowd (I think the tune was "Beneath the Mountain of Scorpions" but don't hold me to that), it was time for the legendary Anal Cunt to take the stage and for me to leave. This show took place on a Sunday night, during the school year, and Tarzan had a quiz the next morning. This affected me in the sense that he was my ride to San Antonio, and my drums are stored in his vehice. If he goes, I go, so back to Killeen we went.

Accounts of A.C.'s performance varied madly. JT and Tony reported that it was a terrible set, so disappointing that they left after two songs. According to them, the sound was terrible, Seth looked like he was dying on his feet and just wasn't giving a good performance, constantly sampling the alcoholic beverages lined up in front of him. Jake, however, thought the show was amazing, the highlight of which was an oi! version of "Staying Alive." JT was so crushed that he promptly deleted all the A.C. he had off his computer; Jake bought a t-shirt from Seth himself and swore to wear it to a concert he'll be attending later in the week.

I guess this is one of those rare instances in which, whether you loved the band or hated them, nobody's really surprised by the reaction.