File this one under yet another reunion show that I never thought I’d see. Marginal Man existed from 1983 to 1988 and have only reunited on two other occasions and not since 1995. Thus, when I first heard about this, I made sure to get a ticket as I knew that this could possibly be not just another one-off but perhaps the last time they’ll ever play. Of course, I hope this is not the case, especially after the stellar headlining set they played at the nearly filled-to-capacity Black Cat this past Saturday night.
The setlist focused heavily on 1984’s Identity EP and the 1985 Lp Double Image. In fact, they played nearly all of Double Image except, notably, “Forever Gone”. They included several songs from their 1988, self-titled swan-song Lp as well with singer Steve Polcari acting as if almost a quarter of a century hadn’t passed since then, jumping around all over the stage and showing off the energy of a frontman half of his age. Guitarist and sometime lead vocalist Pete Murray, guitarist Kenny Inouye (whose In Your Ear label reissued Double Image on CD in 2000), bassist Andre Lee (who made a funny between song comment regarding audience members’ 401Ks) and lanky, boisterous, animated (and shirtless) drummer Mike Manos all played with conviction and passion and everyone in the crowd was left satisfied.
Openers Strike Anywhere were so good that they nearly stole the show! I’d only been somewhat familiar with them before the show, hearing their debut full-length Change is a Sound and being impressed by it, but never having seen them live. Back in 2002, I remember a friend telling me that they were his favorite current hardcore band because they made me feel like he did when he saw Gorilla Biscuits. After watching them, I know exactly what he means. They play straightforward posi-core in the vein of 7 Seconds, the aforementioned Gorilla Biscuits, their mentors and fellow Richmond, VA band Avail, Lifetime and even the headliners Marginal Man. I couldn’t make out all the lyrics, but they were clearly political. Of the many bands who play this style, Strike Anywhere are amongst the most convincing I’ve ever heard. Visually, they’re stunning, too, with a short, dreadlocked lead singer, a guitarist in a Turning Point shirt and another guitarist with a completely different look as well. Thus, they look like they should be in 3 different bands, but yet it works. Mostly, though, this is stuff with heartfelt, positive conviction and political rants between songs that don’t seem hectoring, but sincere. They also clearly seemed to be thrilled to be playing with Marginal Man and perhaps their energy level was even higher than normal as a result of this. In any case, don’t miss this band if they come anywhere near you.
Marginal Man weren’t the only old band to reunite on this evening. Though I know they’ve been working on some new songs and I think they played the recent This is Hardcore festival, I don’t know how much the recently reunited ’90s metal-core stalwarts Damnation A.D. have actually played out. It was nice to see them for the first time since the mid ’90s. Singer Mike McTernan now reminds me of Sheer Terror vocalist Paul Bearer, both with gruff deliveries, solid black t-shirts, menacing tough-guy looks and lots of tattoos. Most metal-core does nothing for me, but for whatever reason I’ve always enjoyed Damnation A.D. and again, it was nice to see them again despite the sub-standard sound during their set. During one song, Worlds Collide vocalist Matt Burger jumped on stage and the band performed a Worlds Collide song. Afterwards, he gave the mic back to McTernan, completing a very short Worlds Collide reunion set.
Marginal Man’s setlist can be found here.
You can see YouTube clips of 5 songs here.
