I wrote a review, for the better. It’s a show I’ll remember.
Getting Knocked Loose in Detroit 2024.
Kicking off their tour in support of the upcoming “You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To” album, the big dick swingers of the hardcore scene, Knocked Loose invaded Detroit’s Russell Industrial Complex to wreak havoc with some help from Speed, Loathe and Show me the Body.
Thanks to early doors, being slave to a real job, traffic and the rain, I made it just in time to catch the tail end of Loathe’s set. Walking into the complex soaking wet from standing in line waiting to get in, I was ready to dry off in the inevitable stink sauna we were walking into.
Knocked Loose has long been on my list of gotta see’s. They were on the bill at Chicago’s Open Air in 2019, but in an effort to chase a buzzer for that night’s main events I missed them, and everytime they’ve rolled through town since, there’s been a conflict. The squeeze was worth the juice, especially with them headlining this one and not just being the opener.
Always better when it’s a headlining gig, nothing gets left on the table, and it is an honest days work for the band, instead of phoning in a half of a shift, for a crowd that isn’t necessarily there to see them. Always shoot to catch a band for the first time when it’s their name on the marquee.
Show me the Body came out and delivered a pretty mind bending set. It was my first time seeing them and was quite impressed with the show, the band is full blown organized chaos, walking the crowd to the edge with their eclectic sound and high energy art. Definitely would check them out again.
The crowd was warmed up good and proper by the time Knocked Loose was ready to clock in. Hiding the stage with a white sheet, the house lights went dark and the band was ready to open the door to let the customers come on in. The sheet fell to the stage unveiling the stage which was full of these trippy looking willow trees and an illuminated cross, mimicking the art of the forthcoming record.
(photo credit Brynn)
They hit Mach 5 instantly holding nothing back as they ripped into their set opening with ‘Blinding Faith’ a track from the new record. I was wicked impressed with how the band sounded, especially Bryan Garris, there was some trepidation on my part going into the show, curious if he had the chops to deliver live, without sounding like a half assed version of the studio stuff. Not one point during the show did he lose any of his tenacity. Sounding even better than the record at times. With no sounds of struggling to execute the unrelenting vocals.
(Photo credit Brynn)
The sold out crowd did not let up either, although the amount of cell phones recording was super annoying and alarming. The curmudgeon in me was getting irritated as the waves of cell phones recording in the air was distracting at times. Suppose it’s my fault for not being tall enough to see over that shit.
Garris gave a heartfelt call to the city, talking about the venues they’ve played over the years. They ran through cuts from their catalog, although they left “Pop Culture” at home, focusing on material from “A Different Shade of Blue” “A Tear in the Fabric of Life” and “Deadringer” along with the recent tracks they have just released.
After about 40 minutes while they were in the middle of ‘Guided by the Moon’ the band stopped playing and the house lights came on, while the boys dipped off the stage and security handled some business. I saw the show fuzz supporting some fella who looked to have a bad case of turf toe, limping as security escorted him to the back. After a a few minutes the band re emerged and Bryan gave the whole OSHA sanctioned safety speech before catapulting back into full blown chaos. The band got hotter as the set progressed, getting everyone extra rowdy during ‘Counting Worms’ with a sold out crowd chanting the infamous ARF ARF in unison before the brutal breakdown.
No show of this nature is complete without beckoning a wall of death which is exactly what was summoned as they closed the show with ‘Everything is quiet now’
The track list was pretty solid and full of bangers, although I gotta admit I was hoping to hear ‘A Serpents Touch’ ‘Forget your Name’ ‘Road 23’ ‘The Gospel’ ‘Small Victories’ and ‘All my Friends’ but the set was still nothing to sneeze at.
It was my first time catching a show at Industrial Complex, it was a pretty cool setup, the acoustics were decent and definitely changed depending where you stood. All in all it was a great night, and a killer show. I’m looking forward to catch Knocked Loose again, now that the cherry has popped I’m sure I won’t be missing them whenever they roll through town next.
The new album drops on May 10th, and should be a brutal tour de force. Find the fellas on Instagram and Spotify, and let your ear holes do a little 2 stepping.
ARF ARF.