Concert Review: Pot Luck Fest at El Torreon (plus Fists Up! video)

What do you do with one day left in your Thanksgiving vacation? If you’re Metal Mark, you throw a punk rock matinee at El Torreon and call it Pot Luck Fest. Everybody brings leftovers or some other food, and you get a chance to chow down one last time, see four bands, and still be home in time to watch the Simpsons.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like very many people knew about the 3 p.m. show, as there were roughly 20 people in attendance by the time Iron Guts Kelly took the floor at 6 p.m. Yes, I did say “floor,” because bands were set up in the club’s northeast corner. IGK knocked out a quick set of old-school hardcore to the fan and bands still remaining. They played the title track to their most recent album, Axe to Grind, as well as numbers like “The Killing Fields.”

It doesn’t matter how many times I see the band — I am never short of amazed at how tight they are. They can turn on a dime, and it seems like bassist Shawn Reynolds and guitarist Josh Leon don’t even have to look at drummer Sean Riley to know when there’s a change coming along. They just go, and hit hard as they move. And it’s almost a blessing that frontman Boj’s vocals were turned down, or the echo-y concrete box that is El Torreon would’ve given even more of a reverberant pummeling.

Bonus points to the band for covers of both Slapshot’s “What’s At Stake” and the closing hardcore version of “Caught In A Mosh” by Anthrax, featuring impromptu guest vocals by Ryan Leach.

Check out the rest of the bands, as well as a video from Fists Up!, after the jump.