Scissorfight

6/19/04 The Middle East - Cambridge, MA

Live review

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Scissorfight Pics from this show

The bill was Malachite, Scissorfight and The Bags. Around 9:30 at night, Malachite hits the stage. The band is all women except for a frontman that makes Fat Mike look ready for the anorexic ward. The first song was a little off (it was noted that this was a reunion show for them) but by the second song, they were hitting on all cylinders. They had this crazy AC/DC meets the Misfits with a swing down the camp highway by The Cramps thing going on. The songs featured chunky riffs and choruses that included the gem "I wanna take you to the cemetery!" The mountainous dude behind the mic had some crazy banter between screaming out the songs titles. They were great fun and the entire audience had smiles on their faces by the end of the set. It’s a shame they are no longer playing shows on a regular basis. I hope they use this gig as a launch to reform the band.

Scissorfight stormed the stage to excerpts from Deliverence, I think. Wherever it was from, it fitted their monster trucks, booze and guns mantra perfectly. The crowd was totally whipped into a frenzy at the first chord. I had a prime spot right in front of Jarvis, the bass player. He is nuts on bass, bashing out some crazy lines all finger style. Ironlung had it going on that night, spitting out the lyrical pearls of wisdom including "More of those pills. More of those pills. More, more, more, more, more!" with the sonic ferocity of a cat getting strangled. Fuck You aka Octocock aka Jay’s guitar was not just an instrument, but a force of fucking nature. It was thick and sludgy and tore through the club like a runaway circular saw. Strongbow kept everyone in check with his usual granite-solid drumming. Scissorfight ripped through favorites such as "Helicopter Killing Cottonmouth", "She Wolf" and "Balls Deep". The set was highlighted by a Bad Brains cover, which I missed due to my need of some tasty beverages, and to get away from a sleazebag who thought the pit was the dance floor of Avalon, (if you’re not familiar with the Boston dance clubs, insert any generic Euro-trash bump and grind ho hangout). Total fuckwad old gross guy. ICK! Went back the front of the stage and enjoyed the rest of the set with a cold PBR. Scissorfight was just plain awesome. They better play again before the fall, but Jay said they have no plans for shows until then. Suck. Scissorfight is, however, entrenched in their compound in the New Hampshire woods formulating their next audio assault of the world.

The night was great. I love the fact that the Middle East has PBR pounders for 3 bucks. They’re a little more than the drafts at O’Brien’s, but it is a little bigger club. I wish they had Carling’s Black Label Beer. That would be killer! Oh, just a warning to y’all, now that there is no smoking in clubs, the Middle East has a serious funk to it. You never could tell before with all the smoke in the air, but now? DAMN! I didn’t stay around for the Bags. Nancy, a knowledgeable music buff whose judgment I trust, said they were not worth checking out. We decided to end the night with a well-poured Guinness at a bar down the street. A wonderful send off to the evening.

Reviewed by: lux_interior13