The deal was basically that I was going to drive back from Maryland to catch one of two shows, though even as I made my way out of Sparks where I’d been staying, I wasn’t 100 percent sure which. Short story shorter, Pentagram in Philly won out over Mighty High/The Brought Low in Brooklyn, and given the events to be detailed in the second part of this review, I’m glad it did.

We’ll get there.

I’d never been to the Starlight Ballroom before, but its name being so similar to Jersey‘s own Starland Ballroom, I was perhaps prejudiced against it from the start, even if only on a subconscious level. Any regular attendees out there should be well familiar with pre-made excuses for being an asshole. Well, there’s another one.

Serpent Throne was on when I walked in, the native instrumental stoner act chosen from out of the ether to open the show. It was early, around 8:30, and the place was mostly empty. The Solace guys were hanging out in the crowd, The Gates of Slumber too. Both bands waiting their turn to kick ass as the audience grew in number and intoxication.

In the second part at least, I also count myself. And though it started innocently enough with living the High Life, all smiles and laughs and appreciation for what was to take place on the stage, by the time The Gates of Slumber were finished and Pentagram were getting started, my buzz had morphed into that special kind of belligerence and nastiness that’s both embarrassing and shameful. I was at the show with a friend whose patience I’ve tried far more times than intended. It’s hard to be an asshole.

I’m getting ahead of myself. When Jersey natives Solace were on stage, it was still the land of smiles and good times. As ever, Solace were amazingly heavy, the double guitars sounding massive through the surprisingly large Starlight Ballroom, and Keith Ackerman‘s destructive force on the drums not to be forgotten. It wasn’t the best I’d ever seen them (though if you asked me what was, I don’t think I’d have a specific answer; likely it occurred in a smaller room), but they gave a great showing as few bands can.

All the while, more beer. Hadn’t been my original intent to drink myself to a point much past sobriety, but I did, and while The Gates of Slumber were on stage, once again impressing is a way that I’m beginning to see more and more as their own, I and my compadre began handing out fliers for a show of our own back in Jersey that’s coming up. Seems simple enough.

We went outside and put them on cars, came back in and put them on tables, etc. Normal flier protocol. By the time The Gates of Slumber finished, the word had been spread. Soon, shortly after Pentagram went on, a young woman in a Kill Hannah hoodie (minus points) came up to my friend holding several of the fliers and said, “Are these yours?” He said they were, and was promptly told that we couldn’t hand them out inside the building because they advertised another venue.

Sounded like bullshit to me. And even more right then. I’ll cut to the end (in no small part for my own sake) and say I didn’t make enough of a scene to get kicked out, but having paid $25 for a ticket and already spent over $100 on beer and merch, leaving some pieces of paper around at the show didn’t seem too much to ask, especially when the “other venue” being advertised was more than two hours away from the Starlight Ballroom. But you know, some situations just don’t call for being a dick.

After plastering the men’s room with more fliers, and generally making an ass of myself, I went outside to cool off and put more on windshields. Yes, this while Pentagram, one of the all-time greatest doom bands and the act for whom I’d already traveled no less than five hours that day to see, were on. When I went back inside, still pissed, I eventually conceded to the cooler head of my friend and let it go, but it was clear even in my state by then the damage had been done. The course of the evening was “The band’s all ruled and I was a douche.” Great.

I went in the back and sat for a moment on the cushy bench seats. There were people I knew all over the room, but I found myself suitably miserable and bummed out about the whole experience. Pentagram played for about an hour and covered most of the hits, ending their encore, not surprisingly, with “When the Screams Come.” The lineup with which frontman Bobby Liebling has surrounded himself — Unorthodox‘s Mark Ammen on bass, Spirit Caravan‘s Gary Isom on drums and guitarist Russ Strahan — sounded both excellent and loud, and after the show, Liebling stuck around in the crowd to have pictures taken and sign autographs. Of course I took the opportunity to get some info:

They’re touring hard most of 2010, so he doesn’t know when they’ll be recording the new album, to be called Last Rites. Whenever they do get it done, it won’t be out on Season of Mist. He said they were looking at a couple other labels, among them Phil Anselmo‘s Housecore Records for the release.

My info gleaned and autograph received, I made way for the next person in line, and after getting Karl Simon and Bob Fouts of The Gates of Slumber — both of whom were gracious and nice-seeming dudes — to sign the same poster, it was time to split for the long ride back north. I still wasn’t driving (though I offered), and we stopped at Wawa where I got a sandwich that took too long to be made and then stank up the whole car. Obviously I didn’t know either of those things was going to happen, but once you’ve already established yourself as a dick for the evening, your every action thereafter is peppered with said dickishness. It’s a fact.

Though I was offered a guest bedroom when we got back to my friend’s house, I figured if I stayed, I’d unintentionally burn the place down somehow and have that on my conscience as well as the evening’s dickery, so I drove home, tired, post-drunk, miserable, and landed at about 3AM. Was up for another hour, telling myself the saving grace of the night was that I had tomorrow (Sunday) to try and make up for it.

Little did I know.

To Be Continued…

Tags: Gods, Pentagram, Philadelphia, Serpent Throne, Solace, The Gates of Slumber

This entry was posted on Monday, January 18th, 2010 at 12:11 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.