July 23, 2011: Ringworm / Full Blown Chaos / Rule Of Thumb / Unfair Fight / Demon Lung @ The Bunkhouse

I was standing in the parking lot across the street from the Bunkhouse, toking up with Pek and some guy who said he was the head of Security for the night, just chatting about the Drama we all saw coming later on in the evening. White kids from the suburbs sporting some shitty jailhouse tattoos while wearing basketball jerseys and flat brimmed baseball hats were in a giant cluster a few yards away from us, being obnoxious and eyeballing anyone and everyone that came within their view. We all agreed it was going to be an interesting evening, that's for sure, and I told them both I just wanted to see Unfair Fight and after that, I would leave if things got shitty. I was smart. I had a backup plan. I had a way out.

So after the Security guy left, Pek and I followed him into the Bunkhouse and right into the middle of Demon Lung's set, and it sounded pretty good to my buzzed ass.  They were playing some heavy as fuck Black Sabbath cover that sounded pretty good, and again, I don't know why bands put fucking covers in the middle of their sets, but since it seemed like these guys (and one girl) were just getting their feet wet with performing live, so I cut them some slack and decided to listen to a few more songs. Demon Lung should stick to playing their own material. The few originals I heard them run through pretty much followed in that same Slow, Heavy, Stoner Doom Gloom Sludge Metal that wasn't that bad sounding. Chick vocalist, Horror fan guitarist, double kick playing drummer and a bass player sporting a Melvins shirt. Nice combo. They played about 4 more songs before doing another cover and I just called it done. Shame they ruined their set by playing covers. I hate when bands do that, but they did look like a new band, so I guess it's to be expected. I'd definitely go see them again, that's for sure. I took a few Pictures (which you can see by clicking here) and bellied up to the bar, waiting for Unfair Fight to come on. Demon Lung finished up to some well deserved applause. It was cool to see that other people dug what they were playing.

Unfair Fight set up rather quickly and just like that set off on their musical path of Chaos and Annihilation, fucking tearing the Bunkhouse a new asshole in the process and forcing everyone in the place to pay attention to what they were playing! I love that shit! The band is a Deranged, whirling Dervish of Fast and Dangerous musical blasts of Fury, augmented by Howls and Screams and Starts and Stops, sounding like what I imagine the soundtrack to Mad Max's Thunderdome on a Saturday night would sound like, something Insane and Crazed to get the combatants fired up and ready for battle. Yeah, Unfair Fight are that fucking sick. Easily one of my favorite Local bands EVER!!! I love watching Dan get all up in the crowds face, bringing his lyrical message, whatever that is, to them when they're standing around in the back, acting all scared and shit. "Oh, it's a Punk Rock gig! Let's avoid the Anger!" hahahaha That is soooo not happening with Dan on the mic! He's a fucking fantastic front man, and his Energy is contagious, that's for sure. When he's bouncing around and getting into the music, the man is a force to be reckoned with. Seriously. And the rest of the guys in the band are no slouches - they're right there with him. Chris swings his guitar around like it's a Samurai sword sometimes and he twists and contorts his body while shredding away on that guitar like he does Yoga 20 hours a day. It makes my back and neck hurt just watching him thrash about... LOL Brett's dangerous to stand near, because you never know which way hes swinging that bass of his and unfortunately, Pete is stuck behind the kit, taking his frustrations out on the poor thing, a Christmas gift that his girlfriend gave him, the lucky bastard. :-) As always, it all sounded glorious! It was as quick and powerful as a thunderstorm rolling through the valley and probably left just as much damage behind in it's wake, but after what seemed like a few minutes Unfair Fight was over and done and walking off the stage to some generous applause and a general sigh of relief from everyone in the room. The threat was over. They had survived to tell the tale of the Awesomeness of Unfair Fight. After this the rest of the night was going to be easy. :-) 

The next band up was called Rule Of Thumb, and I've seen that name on countless gig flyers and yet I've never seen them play before. I didn't know if that was a bad thing or a good thing before I saw them play, but after I saw them play, I realized that it was a bad thing because Rule Of Thumb are a good fucking band. They got a heavy ass sound, reminiscent of bands like Biohazard or even Helmet, which is sort of combined with this party vibe Rap attitude to just, I dunno, work! LOL And anybody that sports a Public Enemy sticker on their instrument is alright in my book! They're a bunch of scary looking dudes, but N.J. Pete told me they're some of the coolest, nicest guys in town, and for him to say that about somebody is definitely saying something! It definitely made enjoying the band a little bit easier to do. Rule Of Thumb just pummeled their way through a pretty brutal sounding set of tunes, stopping in between songs to get the crowd to drink with them or to just Thank them for coming out and seeing them play. Pete was right. These guys were nice. It wasn't some Rockstar rehearsed 'Hey - How ya' doing out there?' kind of shit, that's for sure. Cool to see. Rule Of Thumb jumped and danced around and rocked the fuck out and seemed to have a good time while doing it. I liked what they were doing, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing them again sometime soon. I don't know how these guys flew under my radar for so long but I'm gonna remedy that situation Pronto! ;-) Rule Of Thumb are definitely one of the better Local bands here in town. Does anybody else dig these guys too?

After this the night went straight downhill. I spent the majority of the next bands set, Full Blown Chaos, sitting at the back of the bar drinking with my Heterosexual Life Partner George, catching up on all things Music and Baltimore and Howard Stern related, laughing at the Hardcore Dooshbags in front of the band who were putting on one Hell of a display of their Ghey tendencies towards each other. Of course, the boys I saw in the parking lot earlier were in the midst of everything going and and yes, of course, there was Drama involved, as some tuff guy battle between Baby Daddy's went from inside of the bar to outside of the bar, and everyone cleared out to see what was going on. Cops were called, Arrests were made, Justice was served, whatever. I don't know if it was because everybody was standing around watching the Drama unfold outside, or if they had just finished playing, but eventually the guys from Full Blown Chaos came outside to see what was going on, since some of them knew the people involved and had seen the Drama explode from the beginning. Since they were done, I headed back inside to catch Ringworm.

I had no idea of who Ringworm were. N.J. Pete was kind of shocked when I told him that. He assured me that they were a good band, and so I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and check them out. 85% of the Dooshbags from outside came back in, and I took up position to get some snaps in, a safe distance away from the pit and the shenanigans ensuing therein. Or so I thought. Ringworm starts up their first song, the pit just explodes from all the gheyness going on within it, I'm checking it out and laughing at the absurdity, and then I decide to check out the band providing the soundtrack to this all. I set up to take my first shot and then BAM! Some asshole from the pit slammed right into me, sending me flying across the room and straight to the floor. I get up, put my camera away, and walk towards the pit to confront the faggot that gave me that cheap shot. He sees me coming and, of course, disappears into his group of Friends and hides behind them all. Fucking pussy. And with that, I headed out of the Bunkhouse and into the warm, Summer's night air. I had waaaaaaayyyy better things to do than put up with a bunch of chickenshit cowards. Waaaaaaaaaayyyy better things. ;-)

To see more Pictures of Rule Of Thumb, please click here. For more Pictures of Unfair Fight please click here. For more Pictures of Demon Lung please click here.

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