Karen Ponzio Photos
GRIZZLOR
It was the last day of a long, noisy week. Fortunately there was a place in town that had a different type of noise to replace it, as Cafe Nine hosted three bands — Hylda, TRVSS, and GRIZZLOR — this past Friday night. All three were trios, and all three made enough raw and powerful sounds to replace any and all else in everyone’s brain for a few hours.
Local trio Hylda took to the stage first for a short, tight set that served the slowly growing crowd a mellifluous metal interjected with enough growling vocals and pounding beats to satisfy any hardcore fan. It did not take long for heads to start nodding along. Even the star lights hanging on the curtain behind the band seemed to flash in time with the rhythm section. By the time the 20-minute set was over, my own mood was improved and my mind could barely recall what it might have been so concerned about before the music started, though it did make note to make sure this band was one it watched for in the future.
TRVSS — hailing from Pittsburgh, Penn. — played its set in near-total darkness. Only small bar lights at the foot of each performer and the rope light that wraps around the front edge of the Cafe Nine stage provided stage illumination. The blackened space suited the band and its sound as it powered through a longer set, with minimal time for rest, ample amounts of volume and a bounty of vicious beats. They even threw in a few bars of Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles. “And I say, it’s all right,” they sang. By that time it sure was.
Last to the stage, or at least part of the stage, was local favorite GRIZZLOR. The actual stage was reserved for drummer Warren and a wealth of large amps. Vocalist and guitarist Victor and bassist Jon set up themselves and their pedal boards, as well as Victor’s old-fashioned phone receiver microphone, in front of the stage. The crowd gathered around them way before any music began. Launching immediately into some of the heaviest music you will hear in this city (and possibly anywhere else), this band incited those surrounding them to move and rage right along, something this reporter loves to see but also something she needs to keep behind lest she unknowingly gets caught up in it while recording.
To that end, the videos are slightly obscured in some places, though still give a strong sense of the proceedings, which were more than loud: They were awesomely life affirming. Smiles and screams were seen and heard. Bodies moshed and yet made a place for each other in the raging. A band and a crowd became one organism at times as GRIZZLOR smashed through a set — with many selections from the band’s last release, 2019’s Coolness Factor 6 — that left everyone hot and sweaty in the best possible way.
Where was my mind after all of this? It was buzzing full of music and in the best mood of the past five days. It held over all weekend. That is the power of music.