Wednesday night brought a small but resilient clutch of metal fans back to Bar Deluxe for one more musical beating. I was surprised at the comparatively small turnout, though it was, after all, a weeknight. I arrived early enough to catch the first band, Portland’s Hot Victory. At a glance, Hot Victory, a drums/electronics duo, confirmed what many may have suspected for some time now …
Floor, Thrones, Hot Victory @ Bar Deluxe 05.14
Show Reviews
As for Floor, despite their lack of bass, they were the most conventional of the evening’s three acts, providing plenty of down-tuned guitar and massive kick drums. But for all the noise, it was abundantly obvious that Floor, like Preston, felt that they were to be under no pressure to innovate or outshine any other band. They played a long and solid set that seemed deliberately crafted to showcase no one and avoid all excess, wizardry, or novelty. It was a rare event if the guitars didn’t simply double one another but went off momentarily in their own directions. In fact, the most flamboyant moment of the whole set may have been a short series of pauses in one of the final numbers. Here was metal’s answer to normcore.
I walked away from the show feeling neither over- nor underwhelmed. That seemed to be the point. Audience members, I should note, were genuinely appreciative throughout the event. However, I could not help but notice the number of persons who remained seated on stools throughout the performances and politely applauded rather than stomped and screamed between numbers. A response such as this is commonplace at the symphony or even the movies, but only recently has it begun to appear at heavy metal gigs. Perhaps it is time for rock clubs to start serving popcorn.
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