The weekend of Feb. 21-23 was a big one for music in Santa Rosa, making up a triple-header of shows.
Five bands played a hardcore show Feb. 21 at the private venue Hendley Hotel, a house known to Sonoma County musicians and show-goers. Local bands included Malevolent Spells, Nuns and Prison Scare. Plead the Fifth traveled from Sacramento, and Power was touring from Washington State.
Set up in the backyard of the Hotel was a mostly sound-proofed structure that provided the area for the bands to play. Strings of Christmas lights lit the stage area and the skeletal remains of a wall separated the two rooms. People poured into the cozy space to hear the bands play. The closer to the band, the more likely you were to get pushed around, so those who did not feel like joining the close-quarter circle pit stayed closer to the door. Hard-hitting guitar riffs and fast-paced drums punctuated the screams of the singers.
Guitarist Ryan Santos Phillips commented on the style of his band Malevolent Spells. “[We’re] dark hardcore, more influenced by crustpunk, powerviolence, doom and grindcore, basically taking a lot of inspiration from metal and heavier styles and incorporating that into the rawness of hardcore punk,” he said. They prefer not to be pigeonholed into any one genre, as do many if not most of these musicians. He also stood in for the guitarist of Prison Scare, who could not attend that night.
The following day, the Last Record Store hosted a free record release show for local band The Vibrating Antennas. Because “free” is everyone’s favorite word, eager faces packed the store to the brim. The opening act was The Down House, who also played to celebrate the release of their zine.
The store provided free drinks by the merch tables, and guests chatted outside in between sets. Described as ‘grunge’ and ‘stoner rock’, the Vibrating Antennas delivered a heavy, almost spacey experience. It was hard not to bob your head and get lost in the music, reducing ‘time’ to an abstract concept.
The Sunday Pizza Punx show at Brodenheim wrapped up the weekend with a bang. The lineup included an impressive seven bands– and that’s after one had to cancel. Deras Krig was the only local group to play. Others included Bombsplinter, Grima and Sadicos from Los Angeles, Ruleta Rusa from San Francisco, Diatribe from San Diego and Nomad touring all the way from New York State. The sounds of frenetic anarcho-punk lyrics and D-beats, drum beats unique to this kind of hardcore punk, filled the house.
Diatribe has been around since 1984 and it was great for so many to see them play. The singer even went out in the crowd and let the audience push him around a little.
Before long, the room was a flurry of sweaty bodies, PBR beer cans and empty pizza boxes. Mix those all together, and that’s the smell of success.
