Concert Review: Scorpion Child – Atlanta, GA ,July 30, 2013

934659_10151773243660943_1518412614_n90 degrees in the blazing hot Atlanta sun isn’t my favorite place to be on any occasion and there are very few bands that I would put up with that for. Austin, TX’s Scorpion Child is one of those bands and there was no way in hell I was going to let anything stop me from seeing these guys live for the first time in Atlanta. So I caked on the sunscreen, grabbed my camera, voice recorder, and writing implements and headed out to Mayhem Festival.

So just to set this up for you all, many of you know what Mayhem Festival is. It’s a traveling, day long festival in the vein of the traveling festivals of old such as Lollapalooza and HORDE. Packed with vendors, overpriced drinks, and 40 dollar t-shirts, Lakewood Amphitheater was in full effect for Mayhem 2013. Upon my arrival I was taken aback by the vast amount of lip piercings, emo metal Justin Bieber like hair dos, fauxhawks, and more facial piercings that you could shake a stick at. I was also blown away by the number of kids there who looked like they hated life more than I hate Strawberry Quik. This was without a doubt and odd crowd for me to imagine such a roots oriented band such as Scorpion Child attempting to win over.

After band after band after band of screaming, yelling, downtuned guitars and anger/angst induced moshing, 544702_10151773244160943_1731160_nScorpion Child took the stage and delivered something completely different to the crowd. Originally set to perform on the tiny Sumerian Records stage, Scorpion Child was moved to the much larger Musician’s Institute stage due to a cancelled band. The crowd of pale, now a shade of pink, black haired metal kids gathered at the stage and as they watched Scorpion Child take the stage, you could see the look of utter confusion on their faces. The band presented the crowd with a heavy dose of feedback and low rumbling bass and without warning slammed into “Kings Highway.” These kids had no idea what was hitting them but I could tell from the looks of disbelief at lead singer Aryn’s voice and the smiles on their nodding heads that they loved it.

969609_10151773244315943_545598510_nI was absolutely floored by Scorpion Child’s unbridled passion and power up on that stage. In all honesty, it’s one of those situations where in my mind, I knew what I was hoping out of seeing these guys live but my expectations were exceeded tenfold. I loved the fact that each member of the band has such a strong, powerful, and confident presence. It’s not like watching a band of bored dudes fronted by an egomaniac vocalist. Each member of Scorpion Child shines and they do it all without the ego trip of “Look at me!!!!” They just do it so naturally by feeling the music and truly dedicating themselves and investing themselves in each and every note that they play. How can you not love a band that truly loves what they do and are willing to share that with gazing eyes regardless of what kind of audience it is? Scorpion Child played to this crowd as if they were there solely to see them. That’s a bold and powerful move but they had the goods to back it all up and then some.

“Polygon of Eyes” was where the band took things to stratospheric heights and from the reaction of the crowd everyone had been happily taken along for the ride. This was the song that had a little moment for each of the band members to truly shine and show just what they were capable of. Guitarists Christopher Jay Cowart and Tom Frank just floored everyone with their hook laden, face melting riffs while bassist Shaun Avants and drummer Shawn Paul Alvear laid the solid foundation for which everything bore their weight on. The rest of the band’s epic 25 minute set included the stellar album cuts “The Secret Spot” and “Salvation Slave” only to draw things to a facemeltingly epic closing with “She Sings, I Kill.” Lead vocalist Aryn Jonathan Black addressed the crowd and said, “Now this is a heavy one folks. But you don’t have to hurt each other. Just love!” What a powerful message that was driven home to a crowd of kids who spent most of the day at that point running in circles while knocking the shit out of each other.

As Scorpion Child left the stage, I overheard things like, “Did you hear that guys voice?”, “Those 1014049_10151773244005943_977819594_nguys kick fucking ass”, and the best thing I heard all day was some kid in a Behemoth shirt say, “Wow. I think I need to start listening to some different kinds of music. That was awesome.” That statement right there, in my opinion, said it all. Yesterday I witnessed the true power of great rock n’ roll music. I saw a band do more in 25 minutes than many can do in an hour or more. Scorpion Child embodies everything that I love about music. They make music that is good for the soul and put on a live performance that borders on damn near religious experience; a rock n’ roll spiritual revival if you will. Walk away from this show I knew I had just witnessed something really special and had without a doubt just witnessed one of my newest favorite all time bands. The Scorpion Child cult is one that I will be a proud member of for a long, long time to come.

Scorpion Child Setlist
Kings Highway, Polygon of Eyes, The Secret Spot, Salvation Slave, She Sings (I Kill)

Discover more from Southeast of Heaven

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading