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READ YELLOW AND THE DETACHMENT KIT
BLOODLESS BLOODSPORT

It was billed as an old-fashioned battle of the bands. And like a boxing evening, the first "Audience Participation Rock Off" upstairs at the Middle East last Wednesday had an opening bout to whet the audience’s blood lust. In the hardcore division, it was local outfits Bones Brigade versus Shanghai Valentine.

After taking the stage to a recording of a newscast about grave robbing in Texas, the Brigade snapped to attention with the first chord. Singer Dave Sherman, wearing black gloves for extra evil, leapt into the crowd and was soon raving about needing souls while a guy in the audience spit beer at bassist Graham Field. A clutch of other gents circled Sherman as the band, wearing black outfits with white bones painted on them, churned away. And churned away. Generic, but fun.

If Bones Brigade are would-be Misfits, their friends Shanghai Valentine crank the time frame up by aiming for Danzig. I stepped out of the packed room for some air and returned to hear Shanghai Valentine’s singer howling, "This is a fuckin’ massacre. Do you know what a massacre is? Son of a bitch! Destroy!" A real massacre would have been messier — though the pit in front of the stage churned a little more, the only thing that got out of place was the performers’ hair, which they shook in keeping with proper head-banging etiquette. Shanghai Valentine stacked their tunes with melodic intros, single-note guitar interpolations, tempo changes, mastodon-sized riffs, and more metal, but they did not wear bone shirts. And their set ended without fanfare. No voice vote, no show of hands, no secret ballot. No effort to determine a winner.

So maybe that was shadow boxing — a warm-up for the real headlining grudge match between saber-edged rock outfits the Detachment Kit, from Chicago, and locals Read Yellow? Both bands set up on the small upstairs stage. Detachment Kit trotted up in boxing gloves and hooded training robes, with red pants and yellow T-shirts underneath. It was an even contest. Detachment Kit started by hurling down a slab of rock that fused the dissonant energy of early Sonic Youth, punk attitude, and pop structure while Read Yellow stood watching. Read Yellow fired a similar volley. By the last few songs, members of both groups, who have toured together and are buddies, were playing on each other’s tunes.

Again, no voice vote, no show of hands, no secret ballot. No winner. Caesar would not have been pleased, though the patrons seemed fine with the bait-and-switch. If you came for a cockfight, however, you got a civics lesson. Yes, we can all get along.

BY TED DROZDOWSKI

Issue Date: April 8 - 14, 2005
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