Metal Monday: Last Night On Earth

posted in: Reviews & Playlists • Rock

Friday, December 30, 2011 at the Middle East Downstairs in Cambridge, MA was the setting for the ninth annual Last Night On Earth show featuring Dreamtigers, Constants, Defeater and Caspian (presented by Radar Recordings and Extinguish). Each year since 2006 it’s inception, Constants and Caspian have been on the Last Night on Earth bill. This year, both Defeater and Dreamtigers were new to the tradition. From opener Dreamtigers’ first note, there was quite a crowd (which looked to be sold out) and a vast majority of the audience stayed until Caspian finished their closing song. If the screen printed posters for the show said anything about how this night would go down, it was that it would be one for the ages.

Dreamtigers went on just after 9:00 and proved, for this particular lineup of bands, they were an incredibly suitable opener. While their performance might not have been the tightest (some botched three-part vocal harmonies come to mind) and their stage presence did not match that of other bands, Dreamtigers had just the right mix of styles in their music to provide a pretty good mood for the rest of the bands. Somewhat reminiscent of later Thrice material, they stuck mostly to a post-rock/art rock influenced sound with moments that were a bit heavier and some that were a bit more spacey. Certainly an above average opener for a four band show.

Up next was Constants, who kicked up the energy by a pretty big notch. Playing one of their heaviest songs first, they instantly grabbed the crowd’s attention. Their set was the perfect blend of tight and dirty for the band’s music and they played with a ton of energy given the somewhat subdued feel a lot of their songs have (apparently cranking it to eleven solves this issue). In addition to the musicians’ performance, the lights and sound were really good for this set as well.

After a fair amount of shuffle, Defeater then took the stage. From the first note of their first song, there were kids rushing the front of the stage, screaming all the lyrics to every song, and it didn’t really stop until the band was off stage. Defeater brought a totally different energy to the show than the other three bands. The first song they played was a very ’90s alternative-esque song featuring only a jangly guitar and vocals. The next song? Foot-to-the-throat hardcore. Barring the opening song, Defeater was by far the most intense band of the night and featured just about as much crowd vocal participation as a band could muster.

Caspian, playing their last show “for the forseeable future” as they’re entering the studio to record their follow-up to 2009’s Tertia, capped off the night. The band’s setlist included songs from all of their major albums, including the one they haven’t yet recorded. One of the new songs they played featured an entirely new element to the band: vocals. Phil (guitar/keyboard) took vocal duties, laying down a rich vocoder texture to an already dense mix of instruments (samples, three guitars, bass, drums). To succinctly describe Caspian in a live setting is tough, but the closest I can come up with would be to call it a beautiful cacophony. Caspian remains one of the loudest and heaviest bands I’ve seen to date. Completely enveloped by their music, they lull you almost to sleep with long passages of ambient textures and delay pedals, then kick it up to a thick, gargantuan section of pure heaviness. In stellar Caspian fashion, they closed their set with members and other friends joining them on stage for a drum circle. I’ve seen this bit at least a handful of times, and it’s equally cool every time. For the last song of the night, Caspian played a really old favorite which they’ve played at least 450 times (according to Phil), and to the crowd’s surprise, for the last time ever. Phil announced that henceforth “Further Up” and “Further In” is officially retired. For any fan of Caspian, that’s a very special moment.

All in all, it was a great show, and certainly one for the ages. Last Night On Earth is never a disappointment. I’m already looking forward to the tenth annual in 2012!