DATE: Saturday, April 19, 2014
VENUE: Limelight, San Antonio, TX
BANDS: Morgengrau, Las Cruces, Flesh Hoarder, VBT, Cheese Grater Masturbation, Reign of Tyrants, Hexlust, Womanthrower, Richard Simmonz, USO
OH HEY, IT'S YOU GUYS
A year (to the day) since we last played a show, we in Hexlust took to the stage once more to unleash our speedthrashing slap-and-tickle show on a paying audience. The venue hosting the evening's tomfooligans was The Limelight, a place I had never before heard of under its current name, but have heard mentioned in tales of glory-day gigs from back when it was named Wacky's.
I was actually really happy with the place, and am surprised we'd never played there before. The stage was decently-sized, the staff were competent and friendly, and there was even an outside patio area where folks could get some fresh air without discarding their drinks. The venue itself is more deep than it is wide, and the stage's location at the back end potentially makes the act of getting gear to the stage an obstacle course of sharp table corners and unaware patrons. There is, however, a side door just past the table section where bands can pull up their vehicles and load in their crap.
Of course, we did things the hard way, taking our stuff in through the front door, because we believe in building resilience in mind and body by taking the most inconvenient route in getting things done.
Truth: we didn't want to move our vehicles, since the parking situation was either whatever free curb space you could find, or a pay lot across the street. We got there early and planned on staying put.
So, what have we been doing for a year, you may ask? We've been finishing up an album, that's what! Yes, friends, we are finally in the mixing stages of our first full-length, Manifesto Hexcellente. Don't ask me what that title means, because I have no earthly clue. Like our band name itself, those two words just sounded cool together so that's what we went with.
The story behind the recording is a long sad tale for another day, full of frustration, meth heads, thievery, location changes, sub-par performances, tendonitis, the band almost completely drifting apart, and - by far the biggest setback to this process - deciding we weren't satisfied (understatement) with what we had so far (just vocals and JT's solos left) and starting all. Over. AGAIN.
Because we like Morbid Angel and Vader so much, we just had to follow their example, even the counterproductive aspects.
In the months leading up to this show, when not finishing up the recording sessions, we were purchasing new equipment, holding more frequent and much more productive practices at an actual rehearsal studio, tightening up old songs, and even got starting work on new material. Unfortunately, we had plenty of riffs, but no actual songs completed and ready for the show. We hoped our wham-bam setlist of shorter songs (including "Imminent Retardation, which we rarely play) would be enough to get us through this gig without feeling too samey.
Redudancy quickly fell a few notches on my list of worries, though, as something felt wrong halfway through the first song. Especially worrisome was the sureness that it was something wrong with me. Shifting into muscle memory, I took quick stock of my kit: all stands were upright, sticks were intact, double pedal was working fine, kick drum was anchored in place. Everything that has ever been wrong before was hunky-dory, so why was my mental "CHECK ENGINE" light still on? It wasn't until we were a couple more songs in that I checked the underside of my snare and saw that my resonant head had burst, resulting in a neutered "tonk" instead of the robust "CRACK" I go for. Precisely how the awaiting hell did I accomplish that? Granted, the head was pretty old, and it never takes any direct damage so I rarely replace it, but why now of all times?
Thankfully, although it did distract me and leave me off my game for the rest of the set, the busted reso head didn't affect our sound in any significant way and we were able to continue uninhibited.
The audience energy took a few songs to build up, but things really got going once Tony announced the album. A genuine excitement was charged up once folks heard about our little Manifesto Hexcellente, and when we launched into "Imminent Retardation," the room really started to move.
Of course, right after that very song, we were saying goodnight and getting ready to pack it in. This was a festival-type lineup with like 11 bands, and even though a few had dropped off the bill by this time, it was still prudent that we get off the stage ASAP and keep this train rolling. The audience, however, weren't having that nonsense. Jake from Morgengrau was kind enough to point out, "It's only 8:50!," and we were quickly hit with requests for one more song, one more song, uno mas, uno mas! They specifically wanted to hear Tombs of the Blind Dead, the tune we mindfully left out due to its length and drawn-out ending (Baphomet Dawn was given the same consideration).
Being that we still had some time, we decided to give 'em what they wanted. I counted off, Tony launched into the beginning riff, and once the whole band came in with the audience-participation falsetto, shit went nuts. A pit started up immediately, people off to the side were headbanging, everyone was singing along to the chorus, some dude even spun his can in the air, which caused beer foam to spiral out and get all over the place, it was pandelerium!
We put a short end to Tombs (as short as we could, anyway) and STILL they weren't letting us go! This was slightly awkward for us, as everyone hates that band who play halfway through the night and take even the slightest provocation as the chance to play an encore, and you can bet that even more ire is felt toward those who throw out one more song after that, but this was a genuine crowd request, and we estimated that we still had a couple minutes to do a really short number. We once again went with the crowd's whims and pulled out our tried and true cover of "Troops of Doom," another song we were sure we wouldn't play just because we wanted to play all originals during our short set.
And what would a cover of "Troops of Doom" be without Jake's participation?
Although I was feeling rather underconfident about our performance, I was assured (with raised voices through wide smiles) that this was a solid, even great outing for Hexlust, and a hell of a note to come back on after a year off the stage.
The rest of the evening was spent talking with friends, so I didn't get around to watching a lot of the other bands. We caught up with Ralph, former vocalist of JT and Tarzan's high school band Nautilus, who just got out of the Marine Corps and surprised us all by showing up unannounced; I got to spend time with my brother, who moved out here to San Antonio in January, and my parents, who never miss a Hexlust show if they can help it; and JT, Tarzan, and I were regaled by Jeff AD, at our urging, with stories of AVRS tours and opinions of current metal releases while grabbing some decent Mexican food from the taco truck next door.
I did, however, catch Morgengrau's headlining set, and they have yet to disappoint me. Tight as ever, with furious energy, they played four new tunes that were very well-received and show a lot of promise for their future release, along with a super sped-up version of Pestilence's "Chronic Infection." The crowd - what little of it remained at this hour - were really into them, with lots of headbanging and moshing, which is really saying something considering it was 1:30 in the morning.
It's a sad fact that a couple fights broke out, which a) scattered the crowd and took their attention away from the stage, b) threatened to spill over onto the stage more than once, and c) wound up involving my bass player when he tried to help pull a fight apart and was mistaken for a combatant.
Thankfully, that particular matter was cleared up peacefully when it was all revealed to be a misunderstanding, and if anything Tarzan made a new friend out of the ordeal. At the end of the night, I think he was more upset over the beer that was spilled on his pedals than the scuffle itself.
Overall, a wonderful evening. Everyone in the band was happy with the performance, we had a great time catching up with all our friends, and we're really looking forward to finally releasing this damn album. I'll do my best to keep everyone up-to-date on release dates and whatnot.
