Live Review: The Atomic Bitchwax, Mirror Queen and Polygamyst, on a Boat, NYC, 06.27.13
The forecast called for stormy seas, and for a little bit, the East River set to humbling those of us aboard the Half Moon for a Rocks off Concert Cruise with The Atomic Bitchwax, Mirror Queen and Polygamyst, but for the vast majority of the night, it was smooth waters, cool vibes, and heavy rock. I’d never been to a boat show before — not out of any disdain for the idea, it just 
never happened — so it was something new to me entirely. I still kind of feel the water moving.
It had been a punishingly hot week, and humid in that cruel way the East Coast gets in the summertime, but even with the haze and forecasted thunderstorms, a good crowd filed onto the dock. There were three boats lined up — Keller Williams was playing on another, which, upon Googling it, The Patient Mrs. decided was a real estate presentation — and the Half Moon was the smallest of the bunch. Standing in line to get on, it was pretty easy to see who was headed where. Easy to imagine that of the evening’s vessels, ours was the drunkest.
As regards Brooklyn-based openers Polygamyst, I was flying blind. I knew the band had opened for Pentagram and for Weedeater, both at the St. Vitus bar, but nothing else. I recognized singer George Souleidis from that venue as well, and though from the fact that they were on those bills and this one, I expected something heavy, I was pleased to find that
heaviness tinged with elements of classic metal, in both the vocals and the guitar. It was dark on that boat and only getting darker as the sun went down around 9PM, but Polygamyst offered metallic riffing with little to none of the posturing that so often accompanies a modern take on early, NWOBHM or even thrash metals.
They’re a relatively recent advent and they seemed it, but their songs were dynamic and a blend of Orange and Marshall tones gave their duel-guitar attack a sensibility fitting its rock and metal balance. I suppose that balance made Polygamyst the odd men out on the bill, whereas Mirror Queen and The Atomic Bitchwax — shortly to embark on a European tour together supporting Earthless — are more rock-minded, but they didn’t made for an odd fit, and the mood was so good on the boat anyway that the crowd was ready to get down with whatever was coming. At least that’s how I felt. It had been a cool couple of days despite the heat and spirits were high.
Fortunately, they stayed that way for the duration. Early into Mirror Queen‘s
set, the rain started and was soon coming down pretty hard. There had been little jerks this way and that — swaying mostly but a couple bumps here and there — during Polygamyst, but for Mirror Queen, nature upped the proverbial ante and at one point, literally toppled the band. As the boat dipped heavily toward the starboard side, drummer Jeremy O’Brien‘s kit came about half apart, his tom and crash cymbal falling to the floor even as guitarists Phi Moon and Kenny Sehgal and bassist James Corallo took a tumble. Audience members scrambled to help get O’Brien‘s drums aright — some jerks just kept trying to take pictures; whoops — and to Mirror Queen‘s credit, they hardly missed a beat.
There were a few more tosses as lightning struck outside on and around the East River and the rain came down, now in drops, now in buckets, now not at all, but Mirror Queen continued, undeterred, to deliver an engaging set of classic NY-style heavy rock. They have some subtle touches of psychedelia, but the core of the band is Phi Moon and Sehgal‘s guitar work (last I saw the band, it was Thomas Bellier of Blaak Heat Shujaa accompanying Sehgal), and the two went well together, Phi Moon, who also played in Polygamyst and is in Zoned Out, having some flash to his solos that stood out amid Cream-style jangle and laid back feel of the riffs and Sehgal‘s vocals.
By the time they were done closing out with a Captain Beyond cover, it was calm seas. We passed by Liberty Island and I got as close to the Statue of Liberty as I’ve ever been, and The Atomic Bitchwax loaded onto the stage area quickly. Time was a factor since the boat was set to dock at 11PM — a three-hour tour! (I’m sure I’m the first person ever to say that) — but the Bitchwax still had plenty of time to work out their riffs. “Hope You Die” sounded particularly vicious, with bassist/vocalist/founder Chris Kosnik clearly reveling in the bluesy, shouted lines he was trading off with guitarist/vocalist Finn Ryan. Drummer Bob Pantella even got in on the action, though he wasn’t mic’ed, tilting back his head to join each time the NJ trio hit on the line, “I hope you’re asking why/You gotta die.” Kind of a grim theme, but a fun song and a highlight of the set for sure.
The Bitchwax pull a lot of faces that at this point are pretty familiar to each other, and especially on the boat, there was even more of a party atmosphere than there may have been in a standard venue.
“So Come On” I can’t hear without picturing the desert-y video they made for it, but the song worked just as well on the river, and their cover of Pink Floyd‘s “Pigs” was a slower-grooving changeup from their usual head-spinning turns. They’ve never been huge, and they’ve never locked in their step with what’s trendy at any given point, and seriously, what a killer band. I don’t know if they’re destined for permanent underappreciation, but they look like they’re having so much fun playing their songs, and whatever era the material is from, it feels like it’s just made to be delivered just like that. The Half Moon wound up being the perfect setting.
Our boat bumped the Keller Williams boat as we pulled into the dock, but I’m pretty sure no hippies were dumped overboard as a result. At least I didn’t hear a splash. We were shuffled onto the dock quickly and sent off to dry land unceremoniously, and though I know it probably wasn’t the first boat show for a lot of people there — Clutch and Eyehategod have had them in the last few years, neither of which I was able to make — it was for me, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more than I got.
More pics after the jump. Thanks for reading.
Polygamyst
Mirror Queen
The Atomic Bitchwax
