BigYawn

Ah, the last hoorah! I knew after this show I was going to sort of ooze across the finish line of 333 bands, and even though this was not a bill I was generally excited about, it was four bands. And even at this stage of the game it’s quantity over quality. And, come the end of December there really isn’t much quality to speak of anyway.

The one band I was the most excited about seeing was the opener, Solar Powered Sun Destroyer(326). This meant they only played for about 30 minutes, and I missed a couple songs. But what I heard was good, if a little emo-esque. It worries me that their 30 Seconds to Mars material might be the best they have, but I’m hoping they have more in their bag of tricks. And I really don’t get the darkness/trying to stay anonymous stuff either.

Domino Team(327) surprised me. Partially because one of the members was Arnold, my favorite Black Cat bartender, but also because they were old school thrash punk. Lots of yelling from the two vocalists, some flourishes of loud guitar, and that’s about it. Again, not really my thing, but I could see how they were entertaining to some

I thought they were from Baltimore, but apparently Cloak/Dagger(328) were living in Richmond and are now mostly in DC. That’s good, we need some new blood up here. Sadly, the place was pretty much empty by the time they went on. There was one of the biggest snow storms in DC history starting to brew outside, so I can understand how the crowd might be a little skittish, but this was a pretty diverse line-up, and all had plenty of energy. Cloak/Dagger were good, and likely should have headlined this show. I’m looking forward to more DC shows from them in 2010.

Regarding Sleeper Agent!(329), other than being led by DC legend John Stabb, there isn’t much positive to say. I’m not  happy to say that, and despite recognizing what Government Issue and Stabb meat to the DC hardcore seen 20+ years ago, I’m simply not sure how much of it translates anymore.