In late May hard-hitting rockers FIDLAR and METZ brought their tour to Bowery Ballroom for the first of a sold out two-night run, with a show at Music Hall of Williamsburg coming the following night. This was a duel-headlining tour, with the two bands rotating as headliners each night. The show featuring an opening set from Brooklyn’s Honduras, who seem to be opening all the hot shows this year.
Canadian rockers METZ released their second self-titled album METZ II earlier in the year via Sub Pop, and they brought it’s hard-hitting garage rock jams to life with purpose. The crowd didn’t waste anytime working up a sweat, throwing their bodies willingly into one another, with beer flying in the air almost in cinematic fashion. This was my first time seeing them live since their breakthrough CMJ run in 2012, and they were just as good, if not better, than I recalled.
The fun continued with L.A. punk-rockers FIDLAR, who took the shows reckless nature to even further heights. Their set was a rapturous ball of energy that just begs for bodies to be flying at all angles, with crowd-surfers working together around the clock. Their set had Bowery Ballroom crowd so crazy that midway through their powerhouse set the venue had to put one of their security guards on stage alongside them. I’ve seen countless shows at Bowery, but this was a first.
It speaks volumes to FIDLAR, who are able to summon this kind of free spirit chaos at a moments notice, making it all seem effortless. But that’s not to say that frontman Zach Carper and the rest of the group aren’t ready to throw their bodies onto the floor in dramatic fashion when need be. They put their all into their performance, and the crowd takes notice and responds.
They’ll return with their sophomore album Too on September 4 via Mom + Pop Music. It’s bound to be the soundtrack to latenight shitshows around college campuses everywhere. And that’s the way it should be.
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