Howling Giant/Black Lung/Kind Live 12/07/24

Live at The Middle East(upstairs) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA *December 7th 2024*

The final rock show for me this year happened on Saturday night at a very familiar location. The Middle East Club is a place that I have been attending shows for a few decades now. The band Mars Red Sky from France was the headliner of this stacked show. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay to watch them and had to leave just as they were starting their set. However, I was more excited to see the other three bands play and for me, it was well worth it! Upstairs at the Middle East is fairly small compared to the much bigger downstairs portion of the restaurant/ club. I have been to many shows in each area and can’t really say I prefer one over the other. I arrived at the show just before 7:30 because I wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss the opening band, Kind. I have wanted to see them play live for several years now and every time that they were playing locally (Boston), I had prior commitments and could not attend. Even though Kind are from the Boston area, they don’t play in the area too often. However tonight, they were the openers and I wasn’t gonna miss them. 

KIND

Kind went on at eight o clock sharp and played for a solid thirty minutes. They sounded massive throughout their six song set! The band opened up with “What It Is To Be Free” from their latest album, 2023’s Close Encounters (review here). It’s a great song and a very cool choice for an opener. Kind is a quartet featuring Darryl Shepard on guitar, Tom Corino on bass, Matt Couto on drums, and Craig Riggs on vocals. They played a brand new song next which sounded awesome and heavy. My only complaint was that I couldn’t really hear Riggs’ vocals that well, probably because I was right in the very front of the stage. Shepard’s guitar sound was super fuzzy and superb through his Marshall cab. “German For Lucy”, the lead off track from the band’s debut 2015’s Rocket Science was the third song. It sounded heavy and obliterating throughout its seven plus minute run time. “Power Grab”, also from Close Encounters, was next and was rock solid as well! Bassist Corino provided some backing vocals on the song which was a nice touch. Kind then played “Snag”, a first time live performance of the song in Boston. More backing vocals from Corino and the band nailed it! The final track was “Hordeolum”, also from the debut. The heavy and devastating song was a suitable closer. The over eight minute monster track sounded colossal! Couto played a very tight and solid drum performance throughout every song and Shepard’s fuzz drenched guitar sound and electrifying leads were on point too. Corino’s  bass playing was also exceptional with every song. However, the very cool percussive bass and drum run, midway through “Hordeolum” was definitely a highlight. He was getting every conceivable sound out of his Rickenbacker by plucking, pounding, and shaking the instrument. Riggs was also fantastic even though the vocals were low from my vantage point. He was swinging the microphone around and had good stage presence throughout the band’s short set. I wish they played something off of their second record Mental Nudge but I have no complaints on what the band ultimately played. Kind are an awesome band and Close Encounters was my number four pick of favorite albums of 2023 (read about it here). I can’t wait to hear more from them and can’t wait to see them live again in the future.

https://kindrocks.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/share/1DR6VQFbjv/?mibextid=LQQJ4d

KIND FULL SET!

BLACK LUNG

Black Lung is a quartet from Baltimore, Maryland and consists of Dave Cavalier on guitar and vocals, Dave Fullerton on guitar, Charles Braese on bass, and Elias Schutzman on drums. I just started listening to Black Lung two months ago and really dig their sound. I was excited to hear them live and I’m telling you, they did not disappoint! They sound amazing and delivered a fantastic set! The band performed a mix of new songs, in which I had never heard before and songs from their latest release, 2022’s Dark Waves. Everything sounded great and I was impressed with how tight they were. The first song was the title track “Dark Waves” and it sounded huge. The advantage of having two guitarists really made a difference in the fullness of the band’s material. I was also impressed that both guitar amps were small Fender combos and not these huge stacks or half stacks that most bands play through. They sounded great and nothing was lacking in terms of heaviness or volume. Black Lung also played “Demons”, the lead track from Dark Waves and “Death Grip” too. All of the songs were great and the crowd seemed to enjoy their music too. The club was filling up good at this point and I was still in the very front of the stage, soaking it all in. Black Lung was only on four shows of this tour and had one more to play after this one. The band is the real deal and I enjoyed every moment of their set.

https://blacklungband.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/share/12BRBnJ9p3e/?mibextid=LQQJ4d

BLACK LUNG FULL SET!

HOWLING GIANT

Up next was the power trio, Howling Giant. I still wasn’t totally sold on the band prior to this show, to be honest. I do enjoy their Self Titled EP and last year’s 2023 album, Glass Future was decent too. However, I am not super familiar with a lot of their material and wanted to see what the big hype was for this band. Well, after witnessing and fully experiencing their live sound from front stage and center, I am completely sold! Howling Giant was absolutely amazing! Their sound was so heavy and tight, despite only having three members. This band was incredible! The line up includes Tom Polzine on guitar and vocals, Zach Wheeler on drums and vocals, and Sebastian Baltes on bass. Howling Giant opened up with “Siren Song” and then “Hawk In A Hurricane” from 2023’s Glass Future. From the get go, the band destroyed! To my delight, it was the tenth anniversary of their debut EP, so the band played “Husk” and “Camel Crusher” next.  It was wonderful and both songs sounded killer. “Comet Rider” was after that, from their 2019 album, The Space Between Worlds. Howling Giant then returned to their debut EP and played the bass crushing, “Whale Lord”. The sound was huge and the only glitch that happened was Baltes’ bass guitar cable shorted out a few times. It would only cut out for a brief second but it was noticeable because of how prominent the bass sound was in their overall sound. The band had good stage presence throughout their set and both Polzine and Baltes had big smiles on their faces the whole time. It was cool to see the band enjoying themselves as much as we were enjoying them. They proceeded to play two more songs off of their latest Glass Future, the title track and “Sunken City”. Another cool aspect of Howling Giant is that the drummer Wheeler, sings a good amount with Polzine. I am definitely on board with this band from now on and have already started to revisit their discography. 

https://howlinggiant.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/share/1BvYo2HFcD/?mibextid=LQQJ4d

HOWLING GIANT FULL SET!

Unfortunately, for it being a late night and very sleep deprived, I chose to leave after Howling Giant. I had over an hour drive back home and I am in the throes of peak season at my job. December shows are very selective because of my long and late night work schedule. To be honest, I never really got into Mars Red Sky after several attempts but I’m sure they still rocked the hell out of the Middle East. I was definitely content with the three bands that I was there for and I look forward to the next heavy rock show in the near future.