I usually stay away from the Casbah shows that feature big bands, they're crowded and teeming with other photographers. I don't like feeling like a part of the paparazzi, but I was here to see the openers anyway.

Archons invited me to the show a couple months ago, and I almost couldn't make it due to a potential reunion gig with a former band of mine. When that fell through at the last minute, I hurriedly made arrangements for a night of pounding metal.



Their CD is good, but it doesn't come close to capturing the band live. If Kyuss wasn't so burnt out from all that desert heat, this is what they'd sound like.



I stayed in my favorite spot during their set due to crowds and the fact that Doom had four photographers snapping away right in front of him. If he looks familiar, it's because he works at the Casbah, although he's usually wearing his trademark camouflage jacket. He's a much nicer and thoughtful guy than his badass look might suggest.



Everything else about them is just as badass as it looks...







...and sounds.

-------------------------------

I'll start off this next set by saying that I never heard of Om until Archons mentioned them to me, and didn't even hear their music until the day of the show.



While I'm usually a fan of guitar-less bands, this was a bit different than the typical fast and heavy sound of the bass and drum combination.



These guys go for the slow burn, building up over many minutes to a frenzy of simultaneous bass distortion and drum soloing. Being unfamiliar with the music, every song sounded basically the same to me.



Not that it's a bad thing- obviously this isn't a group that goes for varied song structures. Everyone around me was in a blissed-out state, I guess I just wasn't inebriated enough.