Portraits of Past - Live @ Cake Shop NYC

I went and saw Portraits of Past this saturday. It was EPIC.

When I got there I was almost as excited to see Off Minor and Ampere play. Especially Off Minor as I had never seen them and was told they were great live. So to begin, the Cake Shop is very small. And it was very crowded. Very.

So Off MInor played, and while I enjoyed listening to their set, I was a little bummed that a lot of the people in the front just kind of stood around. I mean, if youve listened to Off Minor than you know that they have a pretty explosive quality. I expected the place to erupt in flying bodies. This was not the case and it was somewhat to my dismay. Nonetheless, they played adequately and Jaime did all the straight arms and good ole hardcore guitar maneuvers that you would hope for. I just couldnt really see them that well so all in all it was good, but not much better than listening to their records.

Ampere was next. I saw Ampere play with Daitro last year and that was a great show. People were into and plenty of people were moving. As was the case with Off Minor, no one moved. I barely even saw people moving their heads. Again I was slightly disappointed. Of course Ampere sounded great, but since I had the same spot I couldnt really see them going off and since no one was moving there was a general air of "lets just get this over with because I am hot as fuck right now and I could be home listening to my records and having more fun". It confounds me that people dont physically react to this kind of music more. Maybe it is because Off Minor and Ampere play technically complex songs and its harder to find a groove to lock into. As a side note, it occurred to me that Ampere and Off Minor would have been very likely candidates for a split recording. I am not sure why this hasnt happened and as of now I am not sure it will. Rumors abound of Off Minors imminent end. When I asked Jaime who was selling their records he repiled "No one!" and laughed and then added, "The real question is: Who is buying our record? NO ONE!!! HAHAHAH!!!". I simply said, "Well, I want to buy one if you can have someone sell it to me and he kind of was like, "Oh... okay... cool."

So by the time Portraits of Past were coming on, I was getting to the point where I was antsy for this to be over. Not that it was a bad time, but, well, read above... Last year I saw Lifetime and Brainworms on two separate occasions and they were both bonkers. People going off! Thats what I like about going to hardcore shows. The kinetic energy and the way it affects the band... It becomes a cycle. A closed circuit loop where the band electrifies the audience and the audience in turn electrifies the band. I think I will go on record right now and say that if I am going to any punk or hardcore show that I expect that to be the way its going to be. I want action and craziness. I want a time I can remember. Not just a hotter, louder more crowded version of me listening to records in the comfort of my own home. If you disagree, then why are you into this kind of music.

Portraits of Past made good on this ideal. And not only PoP, but the crowd made good on this deal. People went off. It was great and affirming. Just when I thought I was bored enough to leave, PoP and the crowd came through in spades. Man it was hot. Very good time. They closed with Journeyman which was what I was hoping for. I beat my chest very hard. I sweated about 5 lbs of liquid out of my body. I went home emaciated and glowing. I can only hope for more shows like this.

These are some pics from Damian. They are not from the cake shop. They are from the SF shows and the Death By Audio show in Brooklyn. One thing I will say is the Cake Shop is too small to be that crowded and I have yet to see any good photos from that show. If you know of any, or if you took any that look great, send em through and I will post them here. These shots are pretty freaking cool though, and I think you can get the idea.