To misquote, we spent all our money on concert tickets and merch, and the rest we wasted.

Starting with Mechanismus Fest which is 4 nights and 24 bands in Seattle in excellent company:

Night 1 at El Corazon: Highlights were Ego Likeness, who were in fine form, with the lead singer blowing everyone away with flawless vocals. Seeing Beborn Beton for the first time- hearing Another World live was really nice. Suicide Commando was flawless and full of energy. Skull Cultist, Gencab and Aesthetic Perfection were all good, though I admit I was distracted by Enter The Dragon playing on the bar’s TV and listened rather than watching during AP’s set. We started counting the number of times he said “SEATTLE!!!!” and stopped at 24, which is about once every 90 seconds.

Night 2 at Madam Lou’s, hereafter referred to as The Croc (odile). I missed a lot of this night but Intent:Outtake was a really great surprise. Excellent music well performed. SINE came in in a latex nun outfit with a neon cross on the stage and her voice and the power of her lyrics spoke volumes. (She is opening for Curse Mackey and Clan of Xymox this fall and I highly recommend catching that tour.) I missed Nuda, Liebknecht, SITD and Klutae due to hanging out with old friends. Had seen SITD and Klutae before and they’re both good.

Night 3 at The Croc: Opened with Sweden’s Normoria, whose background videos were lovely- along the theme of nordic Paganism, with some political commentary as well. The lead singer’s costuming was theatrical and beautiful. They were followed by Red Lokust, a harder industrial band with a lot to say. We picked up a great CD from them. I definitely enjoyed DSTR and Angels & Agony, though I do feel that A&A are better recording artists than live performers. Eisfabrik had a lot of strobes in their light show. Strobes are my kryptonite and I had to leave so couldn’t watch them, and didn’t make it back for 16 Volt though I heard they were really good.

Night 4, the last night, at The Croc: Missed The Secret Light this time around. They play Portland frequently and I’ll see them again, no doubt. Their bassist Michelle Pecchia is a goddamn rockstar and though she wasn’t feeling well I heard she slayed. Came in at Mortal Realm and was super surprised at seeing a great performance, second best of the night that I saw. (Many of these acts are one or two people.) Another excellent CD acquired. Glis was good though I had high expectations- that were too high, as it turned out. I left to go hang out with old friends across the street during DJ Acucrack and returned to see Funker Vogt give a good set and Front Line Assembly absolutely play the best show of theirs I have seen, and I’ve seen them at least 3 times. There’s a reason they have fans all over the world. After they were done, there was that moment of sadness when the crowd realizes that they’ve witnessed something epic but it’s over now. Festivals that are this good and intimate are like a dream and when the dream ends, it’s hard to come back to normal life. The last day’s ritual of hitting the Uwajimaya food court on the way to the train, then catching up on sleep, is a good buffer.