i had barely started going to local shows. i was very aware of the diy scene, but my ability to go to gigs got nerfed when my first time at one of the indie venues near me ended with me dislocating my knee. i'd been to this venue twice between my first show and this one, both for pretty major celebrations (first to see one of my hometown friends for the first time since high school, and the second time on halloween). this was a pretty hefty lineup, and my boyfriend had said the last bands on the list were ones he'd heard good things about from the friends he was starting to make at shows he'd go off to solo. the new semester was barely beginning, and with it, my friends were itching to go out and do fun things - not being fond of frat/party culture on campus, this meant i had much more frequent offers from friends to drive me to gigs. so i, my boyfriend, and four of our friends packed into the car and headed out to the lover's quarrel.
the building was very full. the crowd wasn't nonexistent, but most of the space was taken up by not only the sheer number of performers all having their merch tables, but there were also local oddity/craft sellers who also had their own booths. it was kind of a blessing that it wasn't too busy, because there's no way a full crowd could've fit in that room! it was pretty overstimulating from the get-go due to this, so i didn't really have much energy to talk to people i didn't already know. i stepped out of the building pretty frequently to ensure i didn't burn out of my social battery at the start of a six-set bill. this included during social propaganda and n set's performances. i didn't necessarily dislike either of them, but i had described them in the moment as "white guys who were a little too into tyler the creator".
the members of both of these groups combined to form thelastmiller, and i was a very big fan of them! i didn't know in the moment that this was their first show, but now having that knowledge, i'm glad i got to see it. they felt right at home with the set's i'd seen at local basement shows, the room filled with people not quite knowing whether to dance or mosh and doing a little bit of both. they stuck out quite a bit from the first two sets that their members performed, and they didn't quite ease into any of the other performances that night, but i honestly think this was a plus for them. i had a lot of fun.
there was an incredibly long gap between sets after thelastmiller. like, i want to say this was at least 40 minutes before anyone got on stage. one of the bands set up, and then took apart some of their setup to make way for the person who'd been playing the same 3-4 songs in between sets to get on stage. this was tw3ak. i feel absolutely no guilt for saying that i did not like tw3ak's set at all. this was very spider-gang-esque rap, a sound i had grown out of a couple of years ago, and it really did not help that tw3ak was very obviously frustrated with how many people left during the near-hour that had gone by with no music after thelastmiller finished playing. i definitely wasn't helping soothe that frustration. my friends and i were playing foosball near the side-stage, actively trying to ignore the performance as tw3ak started his songs over repeatedly, shrieking that no one was moshing hard enough for him. there were maybe five people left in the building that weren't in one of the other bands or part of my friend group once he was done.
a long while later (though not quite as long as it took for tw3ak to set up), fulano! got on stage. i was incredibly fond of these guys - they would've been perfect for both maintaining the thread of hip-hop influence and making the vibe overall heavier had they gone on before tw3ak! i unfortunately didn't do much moshing, as any time that anyone started moving for them, tw3ak seemingly got jealous and would beat on them into the nearest wall or the floor (whichever was closer). just being in the room was tiring, so i especially wasn't in the mood to get crowdkilled. it really is a shame that the crowd's vibe had to get demolished, because fulano! really did put on a very nice show. i loved their high-energy vocals, groovy instrumentals, and the way they kept their energy despite the crowd's lack of reciprocation. i really hope i can see them on a better night sometime.
we'd passed the hour that every show at this venue typically ended. i didn't know this in the moment, but nailed shut was only given the okay to get on stage since they were the only band from out of state on the bill. their set barely touched 10 minutes, but that was enough to enthrall me. tw3ak tried to kill my spirit, but my boyfriend ended up standing up for me after he knocked the wind out of me. with the dancefloor finally safe, i could absorb myself completely into their performance. the things that really gave me my Woah moment were the guitars (the only thing i could consistently hear with how blown out my ears were after five other bands) and their stage presence. no one (who didn't need to sit in order to play) stayed in the same place on stage. asher (whose name i would not learn until after the show) didn't even stay on the stage! i moshed, but it felt more like something that my body was being externally compelled to do - that's how into the music i got. it wasn't a perfect show by any means, but the dragging out and the unpleasantries were all worth this set.
after they finished their set, i rushed to the merch table. my friends all wanted to leave, so i didn't linger too long, but in the brief chat that occured while i bought my shirt, asher and i introduced ourselves to each other, i mentioned the radio station to him, he mentioned a big festival the band would be playing to me, and we exchanged fondness for junji ito (he was wearing a shirt with a panel from uzumaki on it). while i did indulge my friends' complaints about all of the show's faults when we got in the car, i spent the rest of the night replaying nailed shut's set in my mind. what a fucking night.