Live Review: Danava/Rabbits @ Someday Lounge, September 17th, 2010

Heavy metal and hard rock has long been the bastion of socially-awkward men or dudes with some serious anger issues to work through. So, the only way that a band working in those genres to make that push toward the big time is to draw in a female following. With that as a measuring stick, Danava is one of the most successful metal acts around. By the time they hit the stage, young ladies were squeezing their way toward the front of the room to bask in their unholy prog rock including one strange smelling brunette who spent a fair amount of time in front of me, hips and locks swinging freely.

What helped bring the ladies and their tattooed, unshaven mates in throngs to the Someday Lounge was in part because there was no cover charge, but mostly due to the fact that this was the first Danava concert in a year. The band has been hunkered down in their rehearsal space, banging away at new material for an upcoming album. It was these songs that they put front and center in their set. The live versions are in keeping with the band’s sinewy, far-reaching aesthetic, with the two guitarists (Dusty Sparkles and Andrew Forgash) and bassist Dell Blackwell all playing the same blistering melody in different keys while Sparkles wailed over the top in full Bruce Dickinson mode. Danava must have someone advising them on how to create buzz for their future endeavors: their full headlining set lasted no more than 40 minutes. The quartet blasted through eight songs and vacated the stage fast.

While Danava allowed a great deal of space in their songs for bits of instrumental flair and some breathing room for listeners, Rabbits offered no such quarter. Their attack is relentless, unyielding, and brutal. The trio is pure physicality, each member hurtling around their corner of the stage for maximum effect. They throw themselves into their music, forcefully attacking their instruments and growling out lyrics that match their angry, punk-infused sound. In that respect, there was a bit of a working class vibe to their short, fiery set. They punched in, punched their audience silly with sludgy riffs and thudding percussion, and punched out. Like the evening’s headliners, Rabbits didn’t stick around long, but they made their presence felt. I’m still thrumming away on the inside, waiting to get my next fix.