Sunday night at the Strutt was a fairly new stream of music for it to handle. The venue has not had very many straight up punk shows, and quite surprisingly, this one was a great success.  Local and loved Ackley Kid started the night of mayhem. This thrash punk quad got the crowd warmed up for four more bands following. Ackley Kid has been playing music in Kalamazoo for about a year now, and have been interactive and crowd pleasing since their first performance in a crammed basement. These boys were fun to watch and humble as ever as they introduced a new song and played some crowd favorites, like “I Don’t Know” and “I’ve Seen it all Before.”

Fisherking from Lansing conquered the stage afterward. You can tell these dudes know what they’re doing, and had a good chunk of the crowd moving around. Fisherking has played in Kalamazoo several times before, and this time was just as good as others I’ve encountered. This three piece has old school hardcore influence infused with new school punk riffs and breaks. Sounds like Gallows, Minor Threat, and something awesome had a kid together. Anyway, they played great, including crowd requests for more after their set list was over.

Natural Disasters, local new school hardcore and progressive punkers, also seemed right at home on stage. (For Kalamazoo punks, stages aren’t something we’re used to. Most of the shows of the genre happen in basements, not venues. ) Shafto, lead singer, that’s always animated and interactive, had a constant smile on his face. With people from out of town and Kalamazoo regulars in the crowd, I’m glad Natural Disasters could expose themselves to some people other than Kzoo natives. Natural Disasters has always been an extremely inclusive group of guys, and I’m sure will continue to enhance the city’s punk scene. Superb.

Randy Thunderbird, another Kalamazoo local, had everyone singing along. With fast riffs and heartfelt words, they always seem to give off good vibes at a show. They had to battle through some technical difficulties, but made it through with some awkward one-liners and swigs of beer.  Randy Thunderbird has been playing music since 2006, and are long time running favorites of many.

Then, headlining the night, Dead to Me from San Fran gave us a fun performance. Unfortunately, because all of the locals were done playing, some people skipped out on this band. Their loss. Dead to Me has a powerful almost surfy thrash sound, with awesome harmonies and meaningful song matter. Yes, they got a little bit preachy, but come on people, punk is about opinion. Give em’ a sec to say their piece, they drove across the whole country for Pete’s sake. Anyway, they had all the moves down: the squat and solo, the raising the fists, the freeze and play, and the aggressive eye contact. They knew how to perform, and I’m glad I got to see it.
One thing that made this show totally rad was that there were so many friends in one place. Not necessarily just mine, but everyone around was lingering and talking and having a good time between bands. People could be energetic and move around, as well as chill in the back. People in the pit were picking others up as they fell, and trying to make sure everyone was safe. It reminded me of Skelletones, quite honestly. So, I vote more punk shows to the Strutt!

P.S. This show was overwhelmed with testosterone- why more women don’t go to punk shows to see skinny men in ridiculously tight pants play rock music I will never know.

As of recent, the stage at The Strutt here in Kalamazoo has endured some of the most sonically intense performances this city has hosted in many years, and Friday night was no exception.

Spykes is the one-man project from Michigan’s very own John Olson, best known as a long-time member of Wolf Eyes.  He took to the stage shortly after 9 p.m. with his gear mounted onto a double-decker shopping cart that was decorated (or so it first appeared) with various springs.  He started by creating buzzy drones with his sampler, but shortly into the set, Olson began yanking at the springs, creating a harsh, distorted snap soaked in reverberation from the cart itself.  Yes, he was playing the shopping cart which his electronics were resting in.  A wooden stick was produced to strike and rake at the cart and springs.  At times he was very hands-on and involved with the objects, at other moments he would take a step back, sip a beer, and take in his own sounds, seeming to ascertain where he was at in the set and contemplate where to go next, quite a magical solo performance to witness.

With their gear all ready resting behind Olson, Kalamazoo locals Rotten Wood Moon immediately took to the stage once the shopping cart was set aside.  Returning to the line-up for this performance was Joshua Tabbia (Problems That Fix Themselves!), in from Chicago, and the classic quartet (no guest performers as is common with RWM shows) launched into an epic, nearly-20 minute crawl of bass-driven noise rock comparable to “Jane from Occupied Europe”-era Swell Maps that was shaken and stirred a bit differently in the dynamics department for anyone who has caught previous RWM sets.  But to keep things honest and brief, it fuckin’ rocked!

Next was D. Rider, hailing from Chicago, and boy, were they a strange mix of sound.  I’m not even sure where to begin.  Urban funk post-punk?  Dual organs on either side of the stage supplied much of the instrumental drive, sax and horns occasionally entered the fold and bopped and squawked, the guitars were deconstructed rock riffs, male/female vocals aplenty. Some moments were solid and nearly dancy thanks to a tight percussionist, while at other times the arrangements were caterwauling and removed from a basic rock ‘n’ roll rhythm/structure. I really wouldn’t know where to begin drawing comparisons. Quite the head trip to both watch and listen, but with a band that likely took their name from a song on Hawkwind’s classic space rock masterpiece “Hall of the Mountain Grill,” ya know they’re comin’ from a weird place!

Each act up to this point in the night had been drastically different from one another while still maintaining a common thread, and that was no different with Canadian headliners AIDS Wolf, the most extreme into the boundaries of where instruments can take us to an uncomfortable place found at The Strutt on this particular night.  The drum and guitar rhythm section, supplied by Yannick Desranleau and Alex Moskos respectively, was massive, frantic, spastic, and LOUD!  Vocalist Chloe Lum walked off the stage to the floor amongst the crowd and put on quite a performance; not so much aggressive as the music itself, she seemed in more of a trance, often vocalizing with the mic firmly grasped by only her mouth, sending her vocal shrapnel down the ears of all those in attendance.  She was wearing an Arab On Radar shirt, perhaps the most comparable band to the delicious sonic frenzy created by this trio.  Paranoid, pained and party!  Get your catharsis on!

It’s October in Kalamazoo. It’s starting to get colder now, but it was pretty warm out a week ago. Good time for a show when it’s the same temperature inside and out. On one of those lovely nights, I attended a show at the Strutt.

I walked in when That’s Blood was playing, and was kind of bummed that I only caught a couple of their songs. After they were done, I asked a friend how the beginning of the set was. He informed me that they had only played a few before I had arrived. Meaning I didn‘t miss much, but their set was strangely short. Although, they were grabbing with what I heard: a thrashy new school hardcore vibe going on. The vocalist was fairly animated and the lead guitarist involved people in the performance. I had never seen them before, but hopefully they will become another one of Kalamazoo’s lovely regulars. Plus they get mad points for staying and hanging out for the rest of the show when they played first (and probably had school the next day).

Radiator Hospital from Grand Rapids set up afterward on the floor in front of the stage. No Masters, No Stages, apparently. Nothing wrong with that. Anyway, I love Radiator Hospital, with their surfy punky low-fi love songs, but it was just not their night. They kept having countless technical difficulties with awkward silences, guitar tuning issues, and the drums shifting. But when they finally got around to playing a song, I forgot about the awkward-ness and had an awesome time.

Summer Pledge played 3rd. Hailing from D-town, this quintet of 3 guitars, a bass, and drums played a miraculous mess of instrumental complexities including melodic vocals. They played, acted, and looked professional-good lighting and a nice performance. They played their whole first album.

Then, Daniel Frances Doyle. AKA one talented human being. With his guitar loops (most songs several loops) and then drums on top of that, and then vocals on top of that, SOMEHOW he plays a complete musical number with no help at all. His songs are technical and well organized, with build up and breaks in just the right places. I don’t even understand how he controls the loops with one foot and the bass drum with the other. It was all very magical. A great way to end the night.

Saturday night closed out the barking tuna festival with a confusing mess of awesome music.  Like the previous two nights, the Strutt was filled with over 200 in attendance.

The show began with local grunge warriors, Coma Nova, who fought off 7 other bands to get their spot on the show.  The Fight for the Tuna winners defended their victory with a series of duets, blending a mellow female voice with front man Eli Kroes’s sing/shouting.  If you are into heavier rock music, you should track down a copy of their newly released album.

Michigan based Cheap Girls took the stage next. The three piece was solid throughout their set of melodic mid-tempo powerpop.  Though not fitting at all with the chaos that was to come later in the night, they delivered a quality performance.

If you’ve ever heard a mass murder being performed in a subway, then you have an idea of the sound that Wolf Eyes brings to the stage.  The Detroit based trio composed their audio horror movie with an array of electronics, heavily deranged guitar, incomprehensible vocals, and shrieking soprano sax.  Some songs had a beat underneath, others had an semi-rythmic pulse, while others were purely malicious chaos.  It is completely understandable for most listeners to loath this type of performance, but Wolf Eyes is a true gem for noise fans.

Once Wolf Eyes had cleared the stage, 9 or so cabs were set up into a massive wall of speakers.  One would think that there would be 4 or 5 people plugging into all of this amplification, but it all belonged to one man: Lightning Bolt’s bass player Brian Gibson.  He ran his bass through plenty of effects and different amps, so it could cover all of the ground that would normally be filled with a guitar.  In front of the wall, Brian Chippendale sat on his drum set with a new version of his signature microphone-mask.   The Rhode Island duet spent the next hour or so  blasting a completely unique blend of spastic and speedy drumming coupled with noisy and nasty bass and with Chippendale’s bizarre modulated vocals occasionally poking above the sound scape.  With minimal members, Lightning Bolt was free to create song structure that usually goes untouched by more conventional bands.  Even though the band played on stage (usually they play on the floor) the show earned a spot in my top 5 of the year.

With the 2010 Barking Tuna Festival complete, it is safe to say it was a success from the fan’s standpoint.  Lots of great bands.  Lots of people in attendance.  It seems that the new venue worked out great.  Thanks WIDR for doing this and thanks to the Strutt for hosting it.