METZ and Gouge Away are on tour together now, in support of their respective new albums Up On Gravity Hill (Sub Pop) and Deep Sage (Deathwish). The bands come from slightly different corners of the music world, but stylistically, they arrive at a pretty similar place, and it was a very good pairing. They both have an affection for noise rock, punk, and melody, and they both put on live shows that are entirely intense.
Gouge Away vocalist Christina Michelle expressed on stage that they were longtime fans of METZ and stoked to be on tour together, and they also seemed super grateful and excited to be playing to a packed house at Bowery Ballroom, a venue they last played in 2017 opening for Touché Amoré (“it felt like the biggest stage ever,” they tweeted). Gouge Away were technically opening this show but they felt like co-headliners, and a sizable portion of the crowd came ready to get rowdy and yell along. They played seven of the album’s 11 new songs (including the live debut of “Newtau”), plus three from 2018’s Burnt Sugar and their 2020 single “Consider,” and there wasn’t a single lull in the set. The band is a pure force, and Christina goes from airy singing to throat-destroying screams in a way that’s even more electrifying than the record… and that’s saying something. [A.S.]
playing ghost at bowery ballroom was special.
the only other time we played bowery was in 2017, opening for touche amore & single mothers & it felt like the biggest stage ever.
we timidly tried ghost out while we were still writing it. it’s so cool to see where its gone. pic.twitter.com/y96z5jvCNz— Gouge Away (@gougeawayfl) April 21, 2024
METZ’s Up on Gravity Hill, their first album in four years, is a bit of a swerve for these noise-and-volume-forward Torontonians, and is their hookiest, most melodic batch of songs to date. They played most of the record on Friday, which came off even harder and more pummelling live, lifting the big choruses of “Entwined (Street Light Buzz)” and “99” to even greater heights. The album’s shoegazy moments, cranked to 10, came off like Isn’t Anything-era My Bloody Valentine (you could feel it in your chest), and the new songs also had the effect of elevating the rest of the set, which included a few songs from 2020’s caustic Atlas Vending. The band also dedicated a song near the end of their set to their friend Rick Froberg (Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes), who died last summer.
The crowd was amped up from the beginning and there was a pit going for most of the time with a few stage divers and crowd surfers throughout the night. METZ aren’t normally an encore band, and ended the show with the Twin Peaks theme blaring and the lights coming up, but the audience’s shouts of “METZ METZ METZ” brought them back out for first album ripper “Wet Blanket” to cap off a very fun, very loud night. [B.P.]
Photos from the night by Amanda Hatfield are below.
