Church Basement Metal

Philadelphia, PA. The room is tiny. Whether that smell is the ginkgo tree outside, or a bit of residual vomit, it's hard to say, but one side of the room is off-limits as far as I'm concerned.

The basement of the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia seems an odd place to host a multi-band death metal concert. But here we are, shooting the first of three nights to make a live video for Dillinger Escape Plan. I'm waiting around for the first three bands to finish, Flashbulb, Horse the Band, and Between the Buried and Me. I'm camped out in the church's kitchen, the remains of a thousand spaghetti dinners etched into the very walls. The crowd is young beyond belief, and very exuberant. I rather wish we were documenting the entire event.

When DEP finally comes on, I nestle into a corner, stage right. Looking around, it's obvious there are several times more cameras than musicians. Ben, the guitarist notes the same thing, and has their manager come by and see who's who. No, I say, there are only three of us; me on stage right, Eric (director and B-camera) roaming stage left, and Jeff standing on a chair in the back getting the wide shots. In short order, the manager has booted the bootleggers, and I have a little more breathing room.

The set is fast -- 40 minutes or so. But considering the astounding level of energy this band expends, it's long. Hell, I'm tired just standing there with an XL2 on my shoulder.

The wrap is quick, and even though we get lost a couple times in downtown Philly -- I've never seen a city that has four consecutive parallel one-way streets before -- we're in our Mt. Laurel hotel rooms in short order. I sit down to write these thoughts, the riffs still running through my head, and that familiar ringing in the ears.

I've discovered Death Metal at an advanced age.