Live at San Francisco Bathhouse, 13/07/13

Wellington seems to be having a good run of metal gigs at the moment; it seems like there are a couple of decent gigs to get to every week, usually with a few bands (at least) on the bill, making them real value for music fans.

Mid-July saw one such gig at the San Francisco Bathhouse, when art metallers El Schlong returned from Berlin for a quick tour of New Zealand.  Joining them for the Wellington leg were Akashic Index, Ovus and Shakahn.

I missed Akashic Index, and arrived just in time to see Ovus setting up. I was impressed with their progressive instrumental sound, and the way they managed to maintain the audience’s attention despite not having vocals, and very little in the way of crowd interaction; although their furry animal hats showed that it wasn’t because they were taking themselves too seriously.

Local legends Shakahn were up next, throwing down a bunch of their older songs with a couple of newer tunes scattered amongst their set for good measure. They sounded a little rougher than usual for this show, but that worked in their favour, giving them an edgier show that really got the crowd going.

El Schlong rounded out the night, putting everything into their set. I hadn’t seen them play in Wellington for about six years, and it was interesting to see how much they had changed since then. This is one polished band, who know exactly what they’re doing on stage. Their sound was great, really showing their style of metal well, and they had their stagecraft down, throwing out a few jokes to the audience as they ripped through song after song, leaving a worn out but happy crowd of Wellington metal fans.