Ok, let's do this. Never even hearing of It's Casual before, I was pleasantly surprised that the opening band for the night wasn't a total stinker. In fact, I was completely digging their sound. May I also add that every citizen of Los Angeles can at some rate, at one point or another fully relate to their hatred for the over-crowded LA population and even relate to how they sound. I am one of these people so their lyrics "speak" to me, if you will. Pretty entertaining LA-based hardcore duo.
Not gonna lie, I was expecting a fully-packed house for the band that features Dave Lombardo of motherfucking Slayer; PHILM! I'm not gonna lie again, I'm not a big Slayer fan. I'm not exactly a metal fan either to be honest, but I'll throw down to some bad ass jams. Philm is not heavy or as fast as Slayer is, but it's definitely got a deep sound, sounds more instrumental and more ethereal with mood than a typical metal band with screaming lyrics that you can barely even make out. And as non-fast as this was, it was totally fucking loud. I was definitely into it. Not to mention everyone upfront was a sneeze-away from Lombardo's drumkit that he mercilessly hid behind as he beat the shit out of his kit. Capturing something that looked as kick ass as this sounded was proven to be difficult, but not impossible, especially when you're totally into the sound. I'm down to check out another Philm show, this was pretty fucking great. How often are you five feet away from one of metal's greatest drummers beating the drums in your face? Cue Beavis & Butthead: "Heh-heh-hehh COOL."