Featured Concerts: Bully at The Bottleneck

The night of October 8th, the Bottleneck opened to Bully with openers Fake Limbs
and Heat. The set up of the show had a line-up so heavily varied in sound, headlined by a
breaking band and the fact on that it was held on the cusp of a weeknight, which alluded to the
feeling that the show could have gone either way. Thankfully, the result was a three-hour
long show that was worth every cent.

The show kicked off at around 8 p.m. with Chicago-based band, Fake Limbs. Sonically, its hard to categorize Fake Limbs as anything else but punk, as it should be. To put it briefly, Fake Limbs were a surprise–coming out of the blue with sarcastic and singsong moaning that evolved into rhythmic howling that was incredibly in-sync with every member of the band. Unconventional with a touch of the sardonic tone of Minor Threat, the vocals of front man Stephan Sowley were nearly impossible to understand, but that was all apart of the sound itself: loud, bold, and unpredictable. It was easy to imagine Sowley as lunatic drug-addled preacher whose words were never quite intelligible, but were impressive and seemed important.

After the third song, the whole band was visibly sweating, which serves as a testament
to the fact that the clean and gritty instrumentation was loaded with energy. These
guys beat you over the head with some nasty, grungy punk accompanied by good
old-fashioned death metal guitar solos.

HeatPerhaps the biggest downside was the relatively empty dance floor of concertgoers holding off until Bully went on at 9:45 p.m. Fake Limbs exceeded all expectation. Fake Limbs was then succeeded by Montreal-based band, Heat. Heat was a somewhat cliché sounding college band who presented with a calm, yet almost disinterested
sense of urgency. Going on at around 9:00 p.m. or so, professionalism was key. Heat played a very solid set–a clean and very well rehearsed line-up of songs that were easy to the ear. The vocals kicked in with a very clear sound of “Bob Dylan gone Jesus and Mary Chain” tone. However, compared to the first band, there was little energy in how they played. Though the indie-alternative “chill-wave” vibe conflicted with the flow of the Fake Limbs, the songs ultimately set the stage for Bully very well.

Coming on at about 10 pm, Bully, from the first song, made it clear that they
deserved to headline. From the banshee screech of vocalist Alicia Bognanno, to the
professional and ear-shattering blast of the guitar, back-lined by a crawling bass and
heart-skipping beat, Bully nailed it. They presented with a relaxed air, which flowed
as the set grew more aggressive.

Bognanno has a distinctly astute ear for timing, as the vocals ranged from screaming rageBully
to clear and sweet as honey. This is particularly notable considering that Bognanno, at times, appeared dangerously close to an explosion, often appearing to dare the crowd to piss her off. Their aptitude for stage performance casted them leagues ahead of any worries that they might be a simple “studio band.” With a playfully angry stage presence, emotion was packed behind each song and the crowd was satisfied through each second.

The final song went out with an explosion of fun and punk bravado as Fake Limbs front man Stephen Sowley joined Bully on stage to cover the Butthole Surfer’s “Who the Hell was in My Room Last Night?” It was arguably one of the most well executed conclusions to a concert that one could hope for. Bully was worth it and more.

Written in cooperation with Lance Faegenburg.