Kid Prison, Room Runner, True Widow and Whirr On Friday Night At 35 Denton.
After watching a suitably epic Friday night main stage headlining set from Sleep, you kind of find yourself at a loss for words. At that point, is there even any room for the night to continue on?
Well, yeah, of course there is: A full slate of indoor venue shows awaits.
Leading off the night at the Labb was local punk/hardcore act Kid Prison. A lot of folks — bands included — were delayed in these early indoor shows, in party due to the artists getting to venues late after fully taking in Sleep's extra-long set. Kid Prison was fairly on time, though, even if their crowd was slower to get to the venue. Still, it was a tight set and it carried over the high volume experienced earlier in the evening. Denton just has a way of pumping out this awesome brand of punk, but Kid Prison plays with just enough jangle in their stuff to recall a little Pavement — gone hardcore, of course.
They were followed by Room Runner, the new project by Denny Bowen, former drummer of Double Dagger. This band had a heavy '90s pastiche, with a nice contrast between jangly K-Pop Records stuff and heavier bands like Jesus Lizard, Black Flag or Nirvana. Bowen's a pretty funny guy onstage, too, and between that humor and the loud-as-hell rock Room Runner showcases, you can tell that, though this band wears their grunge rock roots on their sleeve, they're doing their best to drag it out of it's tired shell.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Square, Rubber Gloves for the second night in a row turned out to be one of the busiest venues of night, reaching capacity and never really letting up from 10:30 on.
Perhaps that's no shocker: Scheduled sets from True Widow and Whirr were among the most anticipated shows of the night. And they lived up to their billing, too.
True Widow shined, per usual, with their really gorgeous, heavy and almost symphonic drone that just washes over their crowds. Their music comes in waves — but it's not in any hurry to get anywhere. Songs build and crash, and that ebb-and-flow is what gives their music its punch.bIt made for an excellent lean-in to Whirr, too.
The part-shoegaze, part-punk and part-noise act from Oakland employed six members up on stage, crafting an incredibly loud and very in-your-face sound. At times, singer Alexandra Morte's voice was drowned out by the band's boom. But it was still an impressive listen, to be sure. With so many members, listeners are afforded a lush, heavy mix.
Anyway, we hope you all remembered to bring some earplugs out last night. Seems no matter where you went on Night Two of 35 Denton, you needed them.