8 Foot Sativa @ The Royal 23/03/2013

Opening up the night was the palmy lads Deaths Door – hard and fast with lots of breakdowns for the moshers, simple catchy vocal rhythms and the song writing riffery contained a lot of tempo changes which helped to build up to all the breakdowns and signature riffs. As more and more people packed in to see 8 Foot Sativa the mosh pit got bigger and bigger with everyone amping to see the headliners all you could hear between songs and bands was people chanting and screaming for 8 Foot Sativa!

Bloodspray For Politics took the stage next, and if you came to 8 Foot Sativa’s last show (or if you have caught them any other time) you know these guys are so tight it sounds just like the album, some songs were played that aren’t on the album but need to be recorded asap (so I can thrash them on my stereo too). As their set progressed the crowd (and the pit) continued to grow bigger, and the screams for 8 Foot Sativa got louder…

Gift Of Ruin took the stage as replacements for Gunt (who unfortunately could not make it) and as the final opening band they brought the pain and sent the pit crazy. Nothing but high energy full force battle stations, low tuned grooves ripping through the pit sending people flying everywhere. (Ryan’s) trademark mic swing came out again, this time he managed to do it without hitting anyone in the face, and they even had a drunk fan get up onstage and propose to the drummer. As the room filled up with a sea of heads moshing back and forth the anticipation was everywhere… time for the headliners.

8 Foot Sativa – holy crap! I didn’t think they could top the last gig but they came, they owned, and they destroyed Palmerston North!!! (as well as my neck, back, voice etc.). The pit got so brutal security had to form a wall at the front to protect the onstage gear, it also happened to send “that camera guy” head first straight into the brick wall side of stage but if you wanna stand in the middle of the pit you get what you get. It was pretty epic seeing an almost original line up onstage once more, it’s like nothing had changed (Jack Hammer even managed to crowd surf at The Royal AGAIN). Playing a whole bunch of stuff from the early Jack Hammer years (and for those of you who were paying attention, some non-Jack Hammer era stuff came out but it was done so well I almost missed it). This was the final show of the tour before the boys get ready to get into the studio and record a new album and it went off, hopefully by the time the album comes out and the next tour starts I will have recovered from this show and will be ready for more!!!