Slowpoke

with Velvet Voodoo Dolls, Sugar Plum Dandy, Home, Skunkjuice, The Mighty Sturgeon, Camerons Way, Drawback, Lachrymator, Doom Nation at The Vertex
by Scott Hefflon
photo by Trevor Whitaker

Complete with singer Tim St. John’s new hair chop, Slowpoke blasted through their set full, tight, and thundering, like the crowd has now come to expect of the Pokes. The slow crush and up-tempo slap and pop funk had the sweating (and happily stinking) crowd slamming, swaying, and moving with the mood. The songs were laced with screaming metal solos and roaring vocals that ought to make The Mighty Phil (from Pantera) question his hold on the crown.

Slowpoke is more from a metal background than the first two hardcore bands, but they transitioned well. They chugged through the ever thickening crunch, bathed in red and purple light, building momentum with each song. The songs were very tight, very professional, and built to a new level of vulgar power. (To cop a few phrases.) They, of course, played their people-pleasing and pit-provoking cover of “Little Nikki.” If you can’t imagine slamming to Prince, this is something you must experience. Grind! Grind! Grind! They ended with the metal/funk/rap boundary transcending classic “Stan the Man.” A powerhouse of a band that has earned their devoted following.