I kind of love it that I don’t know what to expect at shows these days. Acid King, sold out, on a Monday night, for example. Don’t get me wrong, Acid King are fucking incredible live, and everyone and their cousin should show up to see them, but it was like a great correction in the universe to see that actually happen at the Cambridge’s Middle East Upstairs where the no-pun-intended riff royalty showed up aided by local support from Gozu and Black Beach, plus a liquid light show on three projectors shot upward from the front row of the crowd for all three sets. The packed house was a generational mix, some of those who probably saw Acid King on tour their last time through — some nine years ago — and others turned on and tuned in by this year’s excellent Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere (review here) studio comebacker on Svart, but the gig was enough of a draw that even The Patient Mrs. came out for it, and that’s even rarer than a Monday sellout.

Speaking of not knowing what to expect, this was my first exposure to local trio Black Beach. The Middleboro, MA, trio have been around long enough to belt out a series of EPs and short releases since 2013 and have a debut full-length, Shallow Creatures, reportedly due early next year, and while they were the youngest act on the bill, that only served to add vigor to their swinging blend of heavy punk and indie, leaning at times toward stoner riffing but probably drawing from cooler influences than stuff like Nick Oliveri-fueled Queens of the Stone Age, even if they were taking the longer road around to get there. They had a good early crowd on their side and made the most of it on cuts like “Rats” from last year’s Play Loud, Die Vol. 1 or “Future Failure” from the upcoming LP while geometric shapes and orange and blue oils colored the stage, winding up with enough grunge in their sound to be distinct from heavy rock but not entirely separate, their most intense moments satisfyingly cathartic but still thoroughly grooved.

It’s only been five months since I last saw Gozu play, but they’ve clearly spent the intervening time hammering out new material. The slower groove of “Bubble Time” was complemented well by also-new set-opener “Lorenzo Llamas” and “Mr. Riddle” from 2010’s sophomore outing and Small Stone debut, Locust Season (review here), and after “Meat Charger” from the same record, they hit into the nodding chug of “Oldie” and the unabashed throttle of “Nature Boy,” both new, and the latter of which might have to become their closer for sets, as once people get a grip on what they’re doing with its quick turns between the verse and chorus and its building fury, it will be a hard one to follow. The four-piece of drummer Mike Hubbard, bassist Joe Grotto, guitarist Doug Sherman and guitarist/vocalist Marc Gaffney were locked in as one would expect, but encouragingly, there was no hiccup in the switch between new material and old, and like Black Beach, they seemed readily comfortable on their home turf.

After “Nature Boy,” they wrapped with “Bald Bull,” the only inclusion in the set from 2013’s The Fury of a Patient Man (review here). That was somewhat surprising, but I guess time was limited, and the show moved along at a pretty solid clip. Between that, the simple fact that Acid King were touring at all, that Gozu were on the bill — Kings Destroy played with them as well over the weekend, but weren’t doing the Boston-area show; nothing against Black Beach, but it would’ve been nice to see them and a three-band night with Kings Destroy, Gozu and Acid King would be like the god Apollo doing me personal favors — and that in keeping it to three bands, the show seemed to acknowledge the fact that most people there probably had to go to work in the morning, the whole vibe of the night felt like getting away with something. Like the entire room full of people snuck out of their lives to show up, or maybe that was just me.

Nearly all of Acid King‘s set — from “Intro” to “Outro” — came from Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere, and as I continue to be enthralled with that record, that was just fine by me. Through “Red River,” “Laser Headlights” and “Infinite Skies,” the San Francisco three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Lori S., bassist Mark Lamb (also of Fought upon Earth) and drummer Joey Osbourne unfurled tonal bliss and unmatched rhythmic roll, Osbourne‘s swinging snare work in “Laser Headlights” like a master class in how to do groove right. The nod? Infectious. The performance? Dead on. Acid King took the stage and melted the room. Philistines moshed, others nodded, still others disrobed. I’m pretty sure three people called into work and quit their jobs in the midst of “Infinite Skies.” It was fantastic. It may have taken them 10 years to get a record out, but watching them play to the full-to-the-brim Middle East, it was more like Acid King had just been waiting a decade for the rest of the world to catch up, which obviously it has begun to do.

They played two older songs, “Electric Machine” from 1999’s landmark Busse Woods was led into perfectly by “Coming down from Outer Space” off the new record, and “2-Wheel Nation” from 2005’s III, which was the encore. “Electric Machine” might have gotten the biggest response of the night, though I was even more stoked for “Coming down from Outer Space,” not that it’s worth quibbling one or the other in a reality that was kind enough to present both. Lori‘s guitar finished out “2-Wheel Nation” alone after Lamb‘s bass and Osbourne‘s drums dropped out, the fuzz imprinting itself in a last remaining mental cast on those there to hear it. I consider myself fortunate to have been in that number.

More pics after the jump. Thanks for reading.

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