Pics of Rachel Bloodgood, Seaside Caves, The Godlings, and The Extras Inc. at The Saint, 1/6/16

The Saint's Free Music Series

The Saint has been experimenting with some new things lately; and, if Wednesday night was any indication, their free music series looks like it's doing ok. The venue was packed out for almost all of Wednesday night's show featuring Rachel Bloodgood, Seaside Caves, The Godlings, and Extras Inc.

It was an eclectic bill that included the gritty, bluesy, indie folk of Rachel Bloodgood, the brooding new wave of Seaside Caves, the proggy posi-rock of The Godlings, and the hard rocking, Bob Mouldian sounds of The Extras Inc. Much of the crowd was there from beginning to end, taking in the sounds and getting root beers (or something) from the bar. If you haven't been to The Saint in a while, keep your eyes peeled for one of their free shows and give it another try.

You can see pics from each of Wednesday night's sets by checking out the galleries below.

Rachel Bloodgood

Seaside Caves

The Godlings

The Extras Inc.

Hot Blood Released Overcome Pt. 1 and Their Split with The Pure 13 at Brighton Bar, 3/27/15

Hot Blood celebrated a double release on Friday night with some of their closest friends.

Friday

I was busy this weekend: shows with packed out bills on Friday and Saturday, band practice (Yes. That's still a thing.) on Saturday afternoon, and a trip down to Philly on Sunday night. All in good time. For now, let's start at the very beginning. That's a very good place to start.

On Friday night, I headed over to The Brighton Bar to celebrate a double release with Hot Blood. The band set their latest Little Dickman Records release, Overcome Pt. 1, loose on the world along with a split 12" they recorded with Long Branch's The Pure Thirteen.

The four-song Overcome Pt. 1 comes in a really cool, little package featuring the flexi disc, artwork by Alex Rosen, a "manifesto" by Rick Perosi, and a hand-burned CD for those of you who prefer digital media. The split with The Pure Thirteen comes on either white or black splattered vinyl and is another super cool thing for people who are into super-cool, limited edition, vinyl records.

The show got progressively more rowdy as each band took the stage. Two members of Hot Blood did double-duty for the evening. Drummer Billy Straniero also plays in Irate Primate who kicked things off. They play a cerebral version of hard rock that sounds like it owes something to 1990s alt rock. Irate Primate sprinkle things with some metal-ish allusions as well, making for a loud, hard-edged mix.

The Extras, Inc. were next. The three-piece did a set that highlighted their Bob Mould-influenced brand of loud, alternative rock. Dave Thirteen of The Pure Thirteen joined the band to perform a song written with The Extras' Pete Jager for the split with Hot Blood.

Dave's band took the stage right after The Extras, Inc. This time, Hot Blood's Charlie Schafer was on bass. The Pure Thirteen do a very New Jersey version of punk that got the crowd going. Dave Thirteen is an energetic front man, and people were excited for the return of the band.

By the time Hot Blood took the stage, most of the place (including the band) were several hours and several drinks into the evening. They did songs from their excellent debut LP, No Kings, as well as the songs from the new EP. The new songs have been set staples for a few months now, so the crowd was ready for "Rust," "Cop in a Tank," etc. when they came around.

Things got rowdiest when singer / guitarist Mat Kiley called for a circle pit during "Don't Be a Dick," and there was pretty much no turning back from that.

All band members eventually removed their shirts. So, yeah. That happened.

Check out photo highlights below; and, if you haven't yet, go to the galleries to see the rest of the pics.

Saturday and Sunday on the way...