An Awesome Weekend of Rock: RWAKE & PELICAN in Washington, DC 7/27 & 7/28 Show Review by Alex Harisiadis
Washington, DC in the late summer is probably one of the worst places to be in the entire country. It's hot, it's brutally humid, and more often than not, it's a slow time for concerts. But, within 24 hours of each other, DC's intelligent metalheads were treated to not one, but TWO of the current crop of forward-thinking metal bands: RWAKE and PELICAN.
RWAKE are clearly creatures of the heat being from Arkansas and all, so it comes as no surprise that they decided to do a US tour in the middle of the summer. And it is completely fitting that they chose to do so, because RWAKE's music is much like DC's summer weather: hot and muggy. From the show's opening one-two punch of "Leviticus" and "The Finality" off of Voices of Omens to the slippery, yet powerful, "Forge" off of If You Walk Before You Crawl, You Crawl Before You Die, RWAKE just exuded a mighty heat, much like the sun or Hades. One might say that RWAKE was on to something by naming one of their early records Hell Is A Door To The Sun...
PELICAN on the other hand brought a cooling, yet devastating effect to the Black Cat, much like a crushing wall of ice. PELICAN took the audience on an exploration of urban spaces and the wonder and awe that cities can impart upon us. The set felt almost like wandering through these abandoned cities before coming upon the sea, which is when PELICAN dipped into material from The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw.
To look at it metaphysically, RWAKE and PELICAN each portrayed an opposing aspect of a typical DC summer. The brutal, swampy heat of the weather tempered by the coolness of a refreshing beer or a well air-conditioned space. Or the brutal sludge of RWAKE tempered by the cooling majesty of PELICAN. Either way, whether it ran hot or cold, DC's metalheads got bludgeoned in a most spectacular fashion.
RWAKE are clearly creatures of the heat being from Arkansas and all, so it comes as no surprise that they decided to do a US tour in the middle of the summer. And it is completely fitting that they chose to do so, because RWAKE's music is much like DC's summer weather: hot and muggy. From the show's opening one-two punch of "Leviticus" and "The Finality" off of Voices of Omens to the slippery, yet powerful, "Forge" off of If You Walk Before You Crawl, You Crawl Before You Die, RWAKE just exuded a mighty heat, much like the sun or Hades. One might say that RWAKE was on to something by naming one of their early records Hell Is A Door To The Sun...
PELICAN on the other hand brought a cooling, yet devastating effect to the Black Cat, much like a crushing wall of ice. PELICAN took the audience on an exploration of urban spaces and the wonder and awe that cities can impart upon us. The set felt almost like wandering through these abandoned cities before coming upon the sea, which is when PELICAN dipped into material from The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw. 
