Municipal Waste – The Castle Theatre

By: Elizabeth Zoerner

 

On Saturday, February 24th, Municipal Waste played at The Castle Theatre, one of the best concerts I have attended in a long time.

First, California-based hardcore band Dead Heat played. The lead singer brought energy to this performance, showing off his dance moves when not singing. I enjoyed the overall vibe of their music, as I had not listened to them before this show.

Next, Necrot, also from California took the stage. The lead singer/ bassist would often interact with the crowd, creating a more intimate feeling.

Ghoul was the third band to take the stage, and I had never seen anything like their performance before. While they were loading their gear onto the stage, the security guards covered all the speakers with bags, so I had a feeling something crazy was going to happen. Their set started with characters on stage, with a man in a mask sweeping, and then a character similar to the Rat King from The Nutcracker came out. As those two characters started fighting, the band came out in these potato sack-type masks. As they started playing their first song, the rat’s face started shooting water into the crowd. Both characters left the stage as the band played a couple more songs, and then another character came out. A man in a soldier uniform came out with a rubber baton and started hitting the band members. During this battle, another character dressed as a witch came out. These two characters battled and then left the stage. Just as I thought there would be no more coming out, the final one did. It was a man with a mask and a large pumpkin, while during the song the pumpkin started cracking, revealing a puppet inside. The puppet then ripped off the man’s mask, revealing another mask similar to what muscles look like below the skin. Then, the man’s face started shooting water into the crowd, and everyone went crazy for it. Though I had heard of Ghoul before this show, I had never seen any videos of them live, and I was completely shocked. All the characters that went along with their set made it feel very interactive, as they would often come down to the crowd. Being in the front row for this set was amazing and I would love to see Ghoul again.

Last but not least, Municipal Waste came out. On stage, they had multiple glowing green waste buckets that would periodically blow smoke from them, which was super cool to see. The energy of their set was super high, as the lead singer was constantly running around on the stage and coming down to the crowd. During their set, they brought this guy on stage and he brought his girlfriend with him. He mentioned how they met at a Municipal Waste concert years ago, and then proceeded to propose to her. It was a very wholesome moment in a very unconventional setting, and it was so sweet to see.

Overall, this concert has to be one of my favorites. All four bands were amazing and I’d love to see them again someday.