Featured Live Show: The Chariot / Horse the Band / Arsonists Get All the Girls

Tonight, there shall be distortion... And it was good.

The night in question was last night at Gramercy Theater (Blender Theater, if ya nasty)... Beards aplenty filed into the Manhattan club to boogie down with chaos engineers The Chariot, along with Arsonists Get All the Girls, Horse the Band... (and *sigh* Norma Jean)... After waiting in line outside the venue in the fucking freezing cold, stupidly wearing just fingerless gloves as my only winter accessory, I took a seat in the Old Man Section in the back of the club to rest my frail, aging bones and to get a bird's eye view of the audience in attendance. One thing I instantly noticed was the noticeably noticeable harsh divide of the crowd: either late-twenties-ish bearded and flannel-clad gentlemen or 14 year old scenester co-eds in neon-splashed graphic tees, graphic hoodies, and skinny jeans, with noses buried in their cellphones, no doubt twattering nonstop about how the show is going to be the most epically massive "evar"... I wept silently within... but not in a goth way... in a man way.

Anywho, it didn't take long into the show to see who these children were here for... judging by their attention to the Arsonists set that opened the night, they were definitely Horse/Norma fans. Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to shat on the headliner of the night or their direct support (I just honestly think someone shoulda stuck with their original vicious blueprint while someone else needs to start expanding on their schtick... respectively). In other words, these two will not be discussed here. Only the two I traversed midtown to go see...


(Arsonists)

As mentioned before, AGATG kicked off the night... and they did so with fuckin fire. This is only the second opportunity I have been able to catch these cats, and it has been a long time coming. The first time being at the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival two or three years ago when they were only a mere "I've heard a few decent things bout these guys, maybe I'll give them a passing listen for a song or two" blip on my radar. And ever since have grown into an act that always seems to find its way into my listening rotation, thoroughly pummeling my ear canal in some of the most wonderful ways possible... See the track "Shat Shart Tart" if you need an example... Anywho, their set paraphrased: ridiculously awesomely abrasive. My only slightly negative comment would be that they seemed cramped as hell up there with six members and what looked to be all the bands' gear for the rest of the night. But regardless, they still delivered the wallop, though I noticed they seem to be drifting in a more accessibly brutal direction, I hope which continues to be a positive thing rather than detracting.


(The Chariot)

And then it was time for the main event... Well, the main event in my personal opinion... And boy howdy, did they ever fucking bring the ruckus. Fucking A right, The Chariot NEVER cease to amaze me live. It just seriously never gets old. They fucking wail, and they're a cavalcade of cacophony, hellbent on obliterating every notion of a nice, calm rock show... Instruments thrown, abrasive lighting, alienating feedback, dizzying ragdoll antics by the members, and general disregard for any kind of structure or even fuckin safety, are all par for the course with the ones they call the Chariot... If you can't tell, I'm kind of a fanboy for these guys. They're like my little underdogs. Momma's special little guys... It was somewhere between the jarring mash of feedback and samples and the whipping around of a workshop hook lamp that I realized I wasn't going to do this set or any set of theirs any justice through verbally trying to describe it. You just have to do yourself a favor, tuck in your balls, and go see these delightfully damaging little scamps when they blow through your town... And do like I did, make sure you venture out of the Old Man Seats for these guys, cuz it's just a tiny bit better when a guitar neck narrowly misses clipping your ear. It always is.

And to send you packing with a smile, a splendidly beautiful representation of why The Chariot is one of the most INFUCKINCREDIBLE live bands ever... Go see for your damn self, ass:

The Chariot - Unofficial video for "Teach" (sick live montage):

Dispatches from Powerviolence: Arsonists Get All The Girls' Bassist Passes Away

Sorry to be the bringer of bad news, but we here at the Belly have been alerted that Pat Mason, the bassist of Arsonists Get All the Girls, has passed away... Rather that give you some flashy, witty verbose account of this, I think it would be more appropriate to let you read the band's official statement:

"We can't describe the pain and sorrow that we all are feeling right now. Last night/early this morning our bassist, Pat Mason, passed away. Pat was an amazing person and brother to all of us. It was his 21st birthday and we all got to see him at band practice. He then proceeded to go out to the bars. He went to sleep at a friend's house. We don't know the full details but when friends tried to wake him up this morning he didn't wake up. We could never trade him for the world and could never replace him. We will always love him and will always be in our hearts. We are going to continue with the band cause that is what Pat would have wanted. There will be a donation account set up soon for his family and possibly a local benefit show as well. Thanks for everyone for the support that the band has since the beginning. We love you all and Pat loves you all as well."

When the donation account is set up, us fellas will be sure to post it up as soon as possible... Our condolences to Pat's friends and family, and especially the band... I guess we didn't know about the game of life.

So Sick It Hurts: Arsonists Get All the Girls - "Hits from the Bow"

Best name ever? Yes. Best music ever? Quite possibly. I literally shit my pants the first time I heard these guys. Ok, scratch the word "literally," but you know what I am trying to get at. (By the way, if I ever do really shit my pants from an album, you all will be the first to know). These guys are just plain amazing. It's insanely brutal experimental hardcore with a dash of death metal (I won't call it deathcore because some stupid fuck will write me bitching about how it's not actually deathcore even though he still thinks Thursday is screamo and Fall Out Boy is punk). Plus there's keyboards, but not those lame "tryin' to get spooky" keyboards you find in symphonic black metal bands. These are goofy, cheesy keyboards. Amazingly, they fit right into the entire absurdity of this band. I seriously think this is what a band started by Sean, some close friends, and myself would sound like. At most points the music is technical and intense, so you know the gang must take themselves somewhat seriously, yet at other times, it just gets ridiculous. I'm talking over-the-top 80's hair band riffage, Spongebob references, and vocals that couldn't possibly be meant to be taken with more than a grain of salt.

But don't let a little bit of silly fool you, this band is more aggressive than your step-dad after a night of booze and hookers. We all want to relive those nights, don't we? Well, here's your chance. Get down with Arsonists Get All the Girls as soon as humanly possible.

The video sucks. Sorry. Everything I could find was live and sounded like a fart being echoed in a toilet bowl.