Photos: Taylor Ferguson
Antisocial Skate Shop is one of my favorite venues in Vancouver. It’s small enough to feel intimate, but big enough to let you breathe, even when it’s packed with people like it was a few weeks back for the ultimate underground local show: BAPTISTS and PASSIVE. It’s an odd pairing, with Baptists being known for their aggressive and borderline violent sound, and Passive’s heavy and melancholy post doom punk, but it was perfect.
Passive is a band we’ve watched for a while now, but it was my first time properly seeing them live. I went into the night expecting to see some morose, dancey post punk, but what they brought was so much darker and deeper than that. I never thought that doom and post punk would be into each other, let alone breed – even though these are my two favorite genres of music – but Passive showed me that they were meant to be together. Their set was intense and melodic, but crushing at the same time. Definitely looking forward to seeing them again!
Taylor Ferguson
Baptists never disappoints me. I’m lucky to live in their city, because they pretty much never leave it (although they did leave the next to play the Off Limits Fest in Mexico City). Every time I see these guys I love them more – they manage to capture pure fury and blast it back onto the crowd like a nuclear shockwave. Maybe it’s the angry, groovy riffs; maybe it’s the absolutely insane drumming; or maybe it’s watching vocalist Andrew trying to break his hand punching a cinderblock – these guys are legendary for good reason.
Taylor Ferguson
Both bands left me feeling like I’d gotten a delicious audio beatdown. Thinking back to that night now, as I’m looking out on a brutal, rainy windstorm, reminds me why I love this city so much.
PASSIVE
BAPTISTS
