In their first time headlining the Tuesday night, one of Alaska’s most celebrated rock/metal bands experienced one of the downfalls of being an underground artist in a flagging economy.
Despite a large international following and an impressive 16-year catalog of music, the self-proclaimed “underground band for underground eyes” might have been a little too under-the-radar for a weeknight show at such a large venue — which is unfortunate because they are amazing at what they do.
The night started with performances from local metal band Kill Syndicate, Chicago’s Dirge Within and Knoxville’s Straight Line Stitch, who had memorable breakdowns and an impressive female vocalist. Unfortunately, throughout the opening bands the sound was too loud, and the driving factor that makes a rock show great wasn’t there — crowd energy. There was a steady increase of fans filling the floor all night, but up until the headliner nearly half of the venue was at the bar or outside smoking.
Even though there wasn’t a sea of people invading the Gothic, the 150+ in attendance still managed to fill the floor up front with the same chaos and angst that accompanies all big rock shows. And at 10:40 p.m., with the newly re-energized crowd chanting “36!” the headliners took the stage and their fast-paced, massive presence brought the show to a higher level. They kicked off their set with “In the Midnights,” one of only a handful of tracks pulled from their new album “Collisions and Castaways”(released July 27), the band’s fifth record and first since 2008’s “The Tide and Its Takers.”
“The majority of the record is about finding yourself and dark spaces, focusing on those places and exiting them. Itap about taking ownership of things you’d rather sweep under the rug,” said front man Brock Lindow, who continued to explain how he likes to keep the meanings behind his lyrics vague, “I like to let people interpret what they want. I keep my personal demons to myself.”
The highlights of their hour- long set were old favorites “I’ll Go Until My Heart Stops,” from 2006’s “Rest Inside the Flames,” and “Bloodwork,” from “A Snow Capped Romance” (2004), which the crowd belted out along with Lindow.
Although their music is heavy and seemingly stems from darker places, their demeanor onstage is anything but. With an incredibly likable Lindow at the helm, their live show was nothing short of a party. At one point they brought out a member from Dirge Within to celebrate a birthday on stage; later in the set they had the crowd collectively sitting on the floor for an “Indian-style head bang” (equally as awkward as it was entertaining to watch), and they eagerly encouraged fans to join them for handshakes and shots after the show.
Overall the night wasn’t a slam-dunk, but no matter the circumstances and no matter how little (or how much) hype they get, 36 Crazyfists continues to be one of the most entertaining and well-respected bands in their genre — mainstream or not.
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Paige Montgomery is a Denver-based freelance writer. Check out more of her work on .
