The Ottobar in Baltimore is one of the iconic venues in the country, even recognized by The Rolling Stones magazines. On March 23rd they hosted Show Me the Body alongside Jesus Piece, Scowl, Zulu, and Trippjones. It was the second last stop in the USA for SMTB’s World War Tour that started in February in Philly. All who attended the night came prepared to experience one of the most hardcore shows possible and they were not disappointed.
It all started with Trippjones AKA Dr. Slice with his weirdly unique style where he was playing beats and samples from his laptop and performing along with it. For the first song, he came on stage with two dumbbells and performed while curling them. He absolutely engaged the audience, who were vibing throughout his setlist that also featured his newest song “Sex Electric”. Next on stage was Zulu from LA - for 20 mins what we experienced was a new genre of Harcore punk - it has elements of electric, funk, reggae, and African folk. The best part was to see the ease and enjoyment they were performing with. The moshing started with the first song and went on throughout the 20 min setlist that consisted of songs mostly from their newest album - “A New Tomorrow”.
Scowl was next on stage - one of the newest names from the Hardcore scene of Santa Cruz, they have been praised by Hayley Williams of Paramore. Kat Moss the vocalist can change her tone from clean to scream in a blink of an eye. The presence of the band is stunning on stage. The setlist consisted of songs from their latest album “How flower grow” and also they did a cover of Misfit’s “Attitude”. The songs were not too long and were enough to give you an adrenaline rush. Next up it was Philly’s very own Jesus Piece - it was chaos on stage (in a good way). Aaron Heard on vocals is a powerhouse of energy - it was total destruction going on for the 30 mins. Their music is a blend of Metalcore, Punk, Industrial Metal, and death metal. The setlist featured songs like - “Curse of Serpent”, “Gates of Horn”, and “Conjure Life”.
Finally Show Me the Body took the stage with Julian Cashwan Pratt on vocals accompanied by the Banjo that set them apart, Harlan Steed with his bass and programming console, and Jackie McDermott on drums. If you have not seen them live, we highly recommend experiencing them if possible. A hardcore Punk band who does hip hop and samples and also uses a Banjo - this should be enough to catch someone's attention. With the genre-blending sound, their lyrics are equally effective. The set consisted of their famous numbers like - “Loose Talk”, “K-9”, “Not For Love” and my personal favorite “WW4”.
Overall it was a great show and it was good to see how other band members collaborated on different songs. Finally a shoutout to the venue and band’s management for the successful execution.
Show me the Body
Jesus Piece
Scowl
Zulu
Trippjones
