Off With Their Heads, Mustache Ride, Gunshot Wound, God Ate My Salad
Firehouse 13 in Providence, RI
May 16, 2009

I was planning on catching Oxblood at Club Hell before heading to this show, but I didn't know that my friends' a) had a band and b) were plauying this show until I called Matt to tell him that Dropdead was playing and he tole me they were opening the show.

I left Reason to Fight with three songs left to their set in hopes of catching the horribly (and hopefully temperarily) named God Ate My Salad. Being being in the best state of mind, I took a few wrong turns and couldn't find Firehouse 13 at first. By the time I walked in the door (with the bouncer writing Avengers-a rival baseball team to the Deathhawks), God Ate My Salad was playing the last half of their last song. It was a catchy part with Emerson from Mustache Ride providing some backing vocals, and the crowd seemed to enjoy it. I didn't see the rest of their set, but I did like what I heard (though it was a catchy part played over and over-so I didn't get a huge sampling of their material).

I guess I heard Gunshot Wound the last time I saw Off With Their Heads, but I didn't really remember them, or especially remember them being this good. They slayed through a set a punk hardcore that wasn't melodic per-se, but had some enjoyable and catchy rhythms that I had fun listening to. I liked their set a lot and will try to etch their name into my forgetful head.

Mustache Ride has always been hit or miss with me, and I wasn't that into them on this night. They played tight enough, but they don't play fast enough. If these guys added some more speed and some variety to their songs, they would be a huge force to be reckoned with instead of a band that is teetering on the side of locally good.

I think Off With Their Heads is one of the most promising bands in punk rock, with their damn near perfecr blend of English and American punk, and they again blew me away with their set. They played a good mixture of songs fron their albums and won over some fans, even though the crowd was much smaller than it should have been for a band this great. They were lively and energetic, and I can't get enough of thei singer's Cock Sparrer meets gruff Hot Water Music-ish voice. I was blown away, which was to be expected, but ended up getting too drunk to go see Dropdead playing somewhere else in Providence (two shows in one night is still impressive).

Written by: RF
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