Let’s get this out of the way: Thunderbird Café was an amazing introduction to the city of Pittsburgh. While I certainly ate my share of pierogis and Primanti Brothers, the Thunderbird is what really sold the city to me. First, it has some of the chillest security I’ve ever encountered. They were damned cool and helped a few people out when they didn’t really have to. This is the kind of shit that makes a venue worth coming back to. A+, would not get tackled again. Second, walking through the crowd, I felt like I was truly among my peers. Among the GWAR and Lamb of God shirts was a random Salad Fingers shirt and someone wearing a fucking LIVEJOURNAL hoodie. Holy shit.
Opening the night was New Orleans’ Brat, who brought a weird, twitchy, delightful energy to the stage — as if Lady Gaga ditched the stupid Haus of Gucci and joined a crusty backyard metal collective in the 80s. Think Hey Mickey if that song was fucking thrash metal. Unfortunately, the lead singer was recovering from being sick and handed off some of the vocal duties to the guitarist, which worked… kinda. It was still a fun set, but it felt a little like watching a unicorn try to do a cartwheel: majestic, but you know it can do better. Hope to catch them again when everyone’s firing on all vocal cylinders.
Ov Sulfer? HOLY. FUCK. I haven’t moshed in years — years! — but I was able to navigate the eddies of the pit like I was 22 and invincible. Didn’t throw my back out or nothing. Didn’t hurt that I was able to go from back of the house to against the stage by riding the waves of black-clad metalheads.
Every stomp, every guttural scream, every demonic lighting cue screamed full send. Even after I stopped pushing my luck in the pit, it still did its thing. At one point I got bumped so hard my back cracked, and I think I heard my spine whisper, “Thanks, duder.” OK, maybe I did get a split lip in there, but that ain’t nothing. I’m starting to think my 40s need more mosh pits, not fewer.
Revocation was next and… listen, I love their music, but the set felt like it was powered by decaf. The songs hit hard enough to rattle your fillings, sure, but stage presence? Not so much. It wasn’t bad, it was just like watching a really good band do a really good rehearsal. Competent but weirdly disengaged — the kind of performance that makes you check your phone even though you’re actively headbanging. They’re pros, but they didn’t exactly tear it up. I don’t think they moved much at all. Sure didn’t stop the crowd from thrashing, though.
Then Nekrogoblikon took the stage and IMMEDIATELY made me forget every mundane thing that’s ever happened to me. Bills? Dentist appointments? Employee onboarding?! Don’t know them. Revocation’s stage energy? Replaced with a gremlin in a dress shirt throwing his gobby little body from side to side. The whole set was a chaotic goblin rave, and I was here for every bizarre, sweaty minute of it. The crowd screamed. The goblin danced. I laughed my ass off and probably lost another chunk of what hearing I had left.
With the current hits “Show Me Your Goblin” stirring the crowd into a frenzy and a cover of Korn’s debut album that sounded close enough to the original… for ten seconds, the band kept the Thunderbird’s energy at maximum for the entire fucking set, all the way through the closing classic “This is It.” I had only seen Nekrogoblikon as an opener (for GWAR), but I am thrilled to have seen a full headlining set. What a good goddamned time.
Shout-out to the dude with the facial tattoos and subdermal implants who gave me a thumbs up mid-show while I was trying to simultaneously protect a row of unsuspecting folks from pit fallout and shoot photos without catching a crusty fist to the dome. Also, apologies to the girl who got bonked in the head by my camera when I got absolutely steamrolled by the pit surge. If it makes you feel better, I saw stars too.
Final verdict: 3/4 bands absolutely brought it. I left sweaty, sore, hoarse, and happy. Nekrogoblikon might be the most fun you can legally have with a goblin on stage. Go see this tour. Bring earplugs. And maybe a neck brace.
