Bogies of Albany brings Upstate New York some of the heaviest shows, continued the tradition by bringing in New Orleans sludge metal icons Crowbar, with support from Massachusetts’ Unearth, up and coming Black Crown Initiate, plus local bands Gunther Weezul and 40 Dead Men.
The place was packed, despite the heavy snowstorm that swept through the entire state of New York that night. Proof that great metal bands will still draw a crowd, no matter what. This marks the first time I have been to a show at Bogies. I will say I plan on coming back to more. Great venue, great sound, with an awesome bar and very intimate. Just sucks there’s no place to park. Very similar to the Montage Music Hall in Rochester.
Unfortunately for me, since I was driving from Syracuse in the loveliest of weather, I missed the local openers but made it on time for Black Crown Initiate, an appropriate band to tour with Crowbar with very heavy prog metal. Black Crown Intimate seemed to be very liked by the younger crowd. It was the perfect band to headbang to. Vocalist James Dorton, guitarists Andy Thomas and Nick Shaw all split vocal duties but they make it work on stage appropriately. Incredibly heavy and talented band.
Once Unearth got on stage, that’s when the crowd erupted and the mosh pits opened up and few bodies flew across the top of the crowd. They were by far the fastest band of the night. Frontman Trevor Phipps was all over the stage and the band was really clutch. Not really the kind of band you would expect to tour with Crowbar because it’s a different kind of metal but it was still very enjoyable.
Crowbar finally graced the stage and proved that there’s NONE FUCKING HEAVIER. It was an absolute treat to finally hear some slow, heavy, ugly, sludge metal to make my ears bleed live for the first time in my life. To hear those down-tuned guitars and the deep and scary vocals from Guitarist/Vocalist Kirk Windstein was just surreal. The current lineup for Crowbar is rounded off by Tommy Buckley on drums, Matthew Brunson on guitars, and newcomer Jeff Golden on bass, former bassist Pat Bruders wound up staying with Down last year. Their set couldn’t have started with a better song as they opened with “Cemetery Angels.” To hear the breakdown at the end with Kirk screaming “BRING IT DOWWWWWN!!!!!!” you know shit got real. The crowd went bananas just throwing their fist, stomping their feet and banging their heads.
The band kept the momentum rolling by playing some new tracks with ”Walk With Knowledge Wisely” and “Symmetry In White.” Some other great highlights of the show were the classics like “Self Inflicted,” “Conquering,” “High Rate Extinction,” and “All I Had (I Gave).” Crowbar went through their set relatively quick only taking a few breaks. With no encore the band closed off the night with the popular “Planets Collide” and the classic from their first album Vacuum.
Overall a great show, but Crowbar was boss. This is the rawest, purest form of sludge metal you will ever get. Anyone who missed this show should be kicking themselves in the head because Crowbar rarely tours through upstate New York. I had the pleasure of speaking to Kirk Windstein before their set. Let me just say he was a gentlemen. He hung out with people after the show as well. I got the chance to talk to him about the new album and some of his future plans. Windstein confirmed there will be another Kingdom Of Sorrow album. Until then, it’s all about Crowbar. And we should all be embracing it.
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