Live Review: Gozu, Thunderhawk, American Burn and Shatner in New Hampshire, 05.23.15
Somehow, this one felt like it was for all the marbles. Over the course of the six nights prior, I’d been to three shows — Clutch (review here), Ufomammut (review here) and Conan (review here) — and with the addition of this one, it would be four shows in three different states. I don’t mind telling you I was dragging ass after driving from Brooklyn to Connecticut after the Conan show the night before, and tacking a drive home to Massachusetts onto that and then another 90 minutes north to Manchester, New Hampshire’s The Shaskeen Pub had some pretty stiff competition from, well, the couch, but ultimately the “gotta go” impulse won out. It had been an obscenely long time since I last caught Gozu — one full year and three days, to be exact — and I was likewise eager to check out newcomers Shatner, who feature two-thirds of We’re all Gonna Die in their lineup, as if the moniker wasn’t enough of a sell.
Put together with New Hampshire’s own Thunderhawk and American Burn, it was a four-band Saturday at the Shaskeen that easily warranted attendance. My first time at the Irish-style pub, I found it inviting for more than its lack of a cover charge. Bands played on a stage in the back room, which had its own bar for those inclined to imbibe — there were plenty of them around — and stools strewn about the place even aside from a dedicated merch area. Up front played hits from the ’90s and I guess in the back it was the metal version of the same idea, with your Panteras, Sepulturas, Megadeths, and so on. It was after 9:30 when the show got going, so I knew it would be a late one, but screw it. This was the final stage of my week-long blowout before starting a new job after Memorial Day, and if you can’t get up for that, you might as well already be at the office in your business casual.
Here’s how it went down:
Shatner
My first time seeing the Boston trio felt overdue, though as guitarist/vocalist Jim Healey pointed out from the stage, it was only their third show, so I guess not that overdue. It will be a sad day for Beantown heavy rock and roll if Healey ever loses that chip on his shoulder — the aggressive edge he brings to his songwriting and delivery is a typifying staple of the city’s specific style. He and bassist/backing vocalist Jesse Sherman are veterans of We’re all Gonna Die, but Shatner are less metal on the whole, such that when they broke into a cover of Thin Lizzy‘s “Bad Reputation” amid a slew of yet-unfamiliar originals — their first recording session took place this past Feb. at Amps vs. Ohms in Cambridge, but the results have yet to hit public ears — the transition was natural and unforced. Their time was relatively brief and the set offered some symmetry in opening with “Dead in Your Eyes” and closing with “Death Reheated,” perhaps working on a theme, but the latter made a particularly resonant impression, Healey out front in a catchy, building chorus propelled forward by Cocked ‘n’ Loaded drummer Rob Davol. They’re experienced players searching out a new dynamic, but the songwriting seemed to be there, and the first impression was a positive one. I’m sure it won’t be the last time I see them and that’s completely cool by me.
American Burn
I was surprised to find out that American Burn, who seemed to be no strangers to The Shaskeen, had only formed in 2013. They’ve obviously made an impression in that time with their dudely dual-guitar groove, rooted in metal but grown to border on heavy rock — the transition in influence from Pantera to Down, if you want to trace it so specifically. Not really my thing, but they were tighter than their two years would lead one to believe, and they absolutely packed the room out with the biggest crowd of the night. I didn’t do a head count, but if you told me it was upwards of 100 people, I wouldn’t argue. There was barely space to move in that back room while they played, and those who came out not only showed up, but were legitimately into it, singing along, headbanging and so on. Credit to the locals for filling the place up. I don’t know how much touring they’ll do or how they’d pull outside Manchester at this point, but seems safe to say they’ve got their hometown conquered, or at least they did this night.
Thunderhawk
Also native to Manchester, double-guitar four-piece Thunderhawk (also stylized with a capitalized second ‘h’) released their Do or Die debut full-length last October. Their style was less metal than American Burn‘s, more Easy Rider than Sons of Anarchy, and laced with a solid dose of modern stoner push, like The Sword if they’d binged on Motörhead or, if you prefer, High on Fire at their most rolling. Lead guitarist Logan Larocque was a quiet presence on the right side of the stage compared to guitarist/vocalist Bryan McCarthy, bassist/vocalist Christopher Shelton and drummer Jon Kirsch, but seemed content to let his leads to the talking, and that turned out to be fair enough. Shelton and McCarthy, the latter in an American flag t-shirt with the slogan “the best things in life are free,” kicked out weighted groove with punker’s abandon, and for a bonus round a the end of their set, they brought up Ichabod vocalist John Fadden — apparently local to the area — for a cover of Black Sabbath‘s “War Pigs.” It seemed they’d done it before, but either way, it was a bit of fun for the crowd to sing-along to (myself included), and did well to show Thunderhawk could both nail their own material while fostering swinging grooves and let loose and have a good time. I knew nothing about them going into the performance and came out on the other side feeling like I needed to check out that album.
Gozu
Like I said, it had simply been too damn long since the last time I saw Gozu. The four-piece would be playing New Hampshire two weekends in a row, and the next week doing a tribute to Scissorfight on the occasion of Smuttynose Brewing‘s beer in homage to the Granite State Destroyers. That would’ve been cool to see, but even more than that, I was hoping to catch Gozu — the now-solidified lineup of guitarist/vocalist Marc Gaffney, guitarist/backing vocalist Doug Sherman, bassist Joe Grotto and drummer Mike Hubbard — playing something new, and along with the familiar swagger of “Disco Related Injury,” the thrust of “Meat Charger” and the mega-hook in “Ghost Wipe,” the band threw in two recent pieces. Titled “Bubble Time” and “Lorenzo Lamas” in their tradition of putting silly names onto killer tracks, both had a somewhat moodier vibe than, say, “Mr. Riddle” or the aforementioned “Ghost Wipe” — however grim the lyrical themes of either of those might be — but being the first to emerge from this incarnation of the band and more directly this rhythm section, they fit well in the set along with some of the faster, older songs. I know better than to try to suppose anything about the next Gozu record after one airing of two songs live, but nothing I heard sounded like a step backward. Informed they had 10 minutes left, they kicked into the eight-minute “Alone,” its peaks and valleys executed without any rush whatsoever, and then snuck in “Bald Bull” right after, giving the night a more raucous sendoff. How I let it go quite so long from one gig to the next, I’m not really sure, but as they continue to put ideas together for their next record, I’ll have my eye out to catch them again sooner than later. Maybe not this weekend, but soon.
—
I guess the Shaskeen had come pretty close to curfew by the time Gozu were done, because the lights came on quickly and those still hanging around were told in no uncertain terms to finish drinks, close tabs and get out. Fair enough. The ride back down south on I-93 was uneventful enough if one didn’t mind avoiding swerving drivers who’d started their holiday early, and I got home a couple minutes before 3AM, same as the night before, carried largely by the adrenaline at having pulled off this monumental week of travel and shows. I’d have called it a mini-tour if there were maybe one or two other gigs involved, but there was enough road-time even without, and I’m glad to say that in this case as in the others, it was well worth getting there and getting back.
More pics after the jump. Thanks for reading.
Shatner
American Burn
Thunderhawk
Gozu
