Jared's Amebix Recap

Jared, one of our longtime volunteers and a huge Amebix fan, wrote a recap of the Amebix show in San Francisco. Raymond Ahner, who took some great photos at the show, was kind enough to let us share his photos in this entry. You can read Ray's show review here and see his Flickr set from the show here.

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Amebix / Annihilation Time / Hellshock @ G.A.M.H.

Taking for granted the unspoken rule that punk shows always start late, I arrived at the Great American in the middle of Annihilation Time's set and unfortunately completely missed Hellshock. I heard mixed reactions concerning Hellshock from friends, running the gamut from "fuckin' awesome" to "totally sucked." After being frisked I was allowed entrance despite the stench of cheap whiskey emanating from my pores, and made my way to the front where Annihilation Time were cranking out their last few tunes. Being acclimated to seeing the band at raucous house shows and underground venues made it a little strange to see them on such a large stage, but the weirdness soon passed as I found myself approvingly bobbing my head in the proper convention for the rest of their set. The band coincidentally shares the same abbreviated form as Alternative Tentacles - further proof of Illuminati mind control? You decide.


Finally, after splitting a five-dollar beer with a friend and smoking too many cigarettes outside, I made my way to the middle of the floor to watch the U.K. crust progenitors. My unfounded fears of Amebix ("The Bix" as the cool kids call them) mellowing with age were quickly extinguished as they tore through song after song of their heavy-and-raging-yet-melodic-in-all-the-right-parts take on metallic punk. Their classics (aren't they all?) such as "Fear of God," "Winter," and "Arise" were met with equal response as the lesser-known tracks of yesteryear; I haven't seen that many people smiling so wide at a punk show in a long time! The energy of the crowd was infectious, and I was stoked to turn around and see a friend who previously hated Amebix thrashing around in the pit and loving it! An all around amazing set from yet another band I never thought I'd get the chance to see. The only question now is when are they coming back?

(Photos courtesy of Raymond Ahner Photography)