EeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeWHAT’S THAT?eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee SORRY, I FORGOT TO WEAR EARPLUGS TO THE LIGHTNING BOLT SHOW eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeWHAT, I’M YELLING? Sorry. I tell ya, ’twas a loud one. The first band that played Neumos on Wednesday for the big noisy blowout, Liturgy, is causing a big hub-bub by calling themselves “black metal.” “Transcendental Black Metal” no less. Hmmm, sounds Lynchian. Sounds pretentious. Sounds like something I’m not even remotely qualified to speculate about. The band played songs that were very long, and sounded black metal-y enough for my tastes, but looking around, I saw an audience full of yawning faces illuminated by glowing cellular devices. There was minimal headbanging. I doubt anyone was transcending. Last I checked, not one church was set on fire. BUT—Lightning Bolt started and the jovial moshing commenced. I think this confused some of the tuff guys that come to shows like this too—this moshing was much more silly and playful. Lightning Bolt is silly and playful. They joked about Primus. Someone yelled “Play the floor!” because Lightning Bolt is famous for playing off stage and letting the audience surround them like a colorful wiggly seance. Drummer/vocalist Brian Chippendale responded “We used to be a band for tall people, now we’re a band for short people. I was sick of looking around and only seeing tall people.” After 20 minutes of thrashing about, some kind samaritan brought the fact that my backpack was wide open to my attention. I escaped the pit to investigate, and although nothing was missing, I decided to play it safe and watch the rest of the show from stage right. While I was watching the audience sway and pogo, everyone smiling blissfully, I thought “Man, this is what transcendental metal looks like.” Pure jubilation. Hopefully, after the tour, some of this will rub-off on Liturgy.