Almost exactly one year after their last show at Kuudes Linja, BONGZILLA returned to the same venue for another mid-week night of stoner music, green colors, and funky smells mixed with the sweat of the audience. This time the excuse was the release of their sixth full-length “Dab City,” coming to stores officially just a couple of days after the show.
Notably different was the opening band: a very young (at least in terms of longevity, since they formed in 2021) unsigned band, FRIGID WINTER is a local trio of women playing dissonant and raw extreme music with slow tempos and screeching vocals. They have only one official release out to date, which is their demo from last year, but they certainly didn’t leave a bad impression with their performance, warming up the crowd who, then, in large part flew downstairs to take a breather before the main act.
BONGZILLA was pretty much as expected, fishing mostly their set out of their post-reunion material, with the vocalist cracking up jokes about crack – pun intended – and other substances, while the green lights engulfed the trio on stage along with the bass and the slow riffs, setting the mood for this early Tuesday evening show. This time there was a little less smell of weed in comparison to last time, and also, no smoking on stage, to be fair. Nonetheless they delivered a solid show, as seen by the enthusiasm of their fans filling up the hall, from the start with “Sundae Driver” until the conclusive “Greenthumb” from their 2002 record, “Gateway.”
Being caught in the moment, the gig almost felt too short. Waiting for the next appearance (probably won’t take too long), everyone quickly went back outside into the light of this sunny evening. The best part of these early shows, especially in this time of the year, is that you can still have enough time to enjoy a pint (or a few) at the local bars without being excessively late. The downside is that the following day is still a workday.
FRIGID WINTER
BONGZILLA
