Ode to Doom is coming up on three years of presenting shows on the regular at Arlene’s Grocery in Manhattan, and I’m proud to have had this site associated with it more or less since the outset. Claudia Crespo, who runs Freebird Productions, has been putting together killer lineups all the while and on March 20 — next week, y’all — she’ll present Geezer, Grass, The Ancient Stone and Slush for a four-bands-on-a-weeknight bill the likes of which will make you want to take the next day off.

The kings of Kingston, Geezer headline as they support their recently issued Spiral Fires EP (review here), and they’re joined at the top of the bill by Grass, whose demo has been making the rounds of interwebular hyperbole. The Ancient Stone open and Slush follow shortly thereafter as the night gets a reasonably early start at 7:30, all very civilized, all very heavy. It’ll be a good time.

When Ode to Doom started, I thought part of the appeal was that it was a reminder of 10-15 years ago before Brooklyn took over as New York’s creative hub — I guess Queens is next? wait till the craft-brew crowd takes Weehawken — but at this point, Ode to Doom has built its own community and made its own impact, true to the history of the basement barroom shows of yore, but consistently admirable most of all for its forward-thinking nature.

Bottom line, I guess is it’s worth getting off your ass and going. I don’t say that about everything, but the truth is Manhattan needs less couture and more culture and this is how that happens. Support creative work.

Info follows:

March 20 – Ode To Doom W/ Geezer, Slush, Grass, & The Ancient Stone

DOORS AT 7!!!
The Ancient Stone at 7:30
Slush at 8:30
Geezer at 9:30
Grass at 10:30

Flyer by Ritual Design.

Geezer, Spiral Fires (2019)

Ode to Doom on Thee Facebooks

Ode to Doom event page on Thee Facebooks

Tickets at Arlene’s Grocery website