Nightlife Skinny

Ever drive down Park Street on a Friday or Saturday night around 10 p.m. and wonder why people are filing into the Unitarian Universalist Church?

I can assure you, they aren’t attending late-night prayer services.

For a few months now, a local promoter has been throwing weekend concerts featuring local and regional acts in the church’s quaint little reception hall. The cover’s usually $5-$8 (depending on the magnitude of the bands), along with a canned good donation for charity.

And now that we’ve covered “feeling good about yourself,” let’s talk about “feeling blown away.”

Call it hard rock. Call it hardcore. Call it metal. Call it metalcore. The name isn’t as important as the energy you feeling flowing through your skin when these local and regional acts unleash a frenzy of chopping guitars, thrash percussion and emotional guttural lyrics. Last Saturday night, at the benefit concert for Bob Delaney, Unearth, Cannae, Halo Effect, Cicada, High School Sweethearts and Cezanne Wept all got under my skin.

Start to finish, this snug little church hall served a non-stop blitzkrieg of mosh, metal and mayhem last Saturday night. Well, not literal mayhem. People weren’t running around committing random felonies – this mayhem was internal to the listener and apt to cause a random swinging of arms, legs and even whole bodies.

The urge for flailing was rampant during the Boston band Cannae.

The bass feedback rattled in and out to the flow of the crowd’s building pulse. Cannae’s guitarist, Stephen Colombo, made the smallest downstroke on the strings, eking out a modest low-end chord. In your mind, you could see the fuse lit, and time slowed down as vocalist Adam Dulong tossed his head back in anticipation.

The band lunged into a synchronized, explosive assault of the meatiest metal this side of Boston, and I wished I had something to hold on to. The abrasive guitar lines battled against the smack of the floor tom amid a growing crescendo of growls. Four minutes later, the song ended with a thud and the panting sweaty mass of faces smiled with exhausted satisfaction.

“This is a positive underground scene that we are trying to nourish,” said Kathy Findlay, the show’s promoter from Really Chaotic Productions.

Positive indeed. All the concerts benefit charitable organizations and all the events are chem-free, as evidenced by (Cezanne Wept) vocalist Jesse Duncan’s shirt which read, “Drugs are for losers.” Of course, one of the oldest upshots to hardcore shows is the sing-a-long. You laugh, but it’s the truth. If you’re diehard enough to know all the lyrics and have the energy to dive over people and up to the front of the stage, vocalists notice and reward enthusiasm. Saturday night, Trevor Phipps of Unearth was willing to oblige on more than one occasion.

Regardless of whether or not you get a charge out of raucous, filling-shaking hardcore metal, these performers are impassioned. And trust me when I say that this stuff is downright “inspiring.” If you’re not convinced, here’s something to chew on. The show’s guest of honor, Bob Delaney, was watching an Unearth show in Lewiston at the end of March when a rowdy attendee slammed him headfirst into a concrete floor, shattering a vertebrae in his neck. A strong supporter of the Eastern Maine Straightedge Alliance, Delaney was seriously injured while participating in something he loves.

After a bone transfusion from his hip and three months in a neck brace, Delaney returned to performing with his fiery metal band, Cicada.

A dull pain in his neck, four metal screws and a seven-inch scar from the operation still remain, but they’re almost non-existent compared to the his passion for performing.

“I walk, talk and live music – it means everything to me,” Delaney said after his set, wiping sweat from his brow. “If I didn’t have music, I probably wouldn’t be able to breathe.” Keep your eyes peeled for a Really Chaotic Production on Aug. 25 with veteran hardcore act Kill Your Idols and up-and-coming tour mates Death By Stereo.

Unearth – www.unearth.tv Cannae – www.cannae.net Halo Effect – www.geocities.com/haloeffect01 Cicada – www.angelfire.com/extreme2/Cicada 5 Big Ones with Kathy Findlay Promoter and organizer for Really Chaotic Productions Q: Who benefits from the shows here?

A: We collected canned food as part of admission and we give that to the Bucksport Community Area Concerns where’s it given to the homeless and those in need.

Q: What made you decide to use the U.U. Church?

A: It’s a couple of different reasons. Price was one thing and also the money the church gets is going towards the community. The people here have also been really easy to work with.

Q: When do you start advertising the shows?

A: I start as soon as I have the date set – we’ve been advertising this show for four or five weeks. We hang flyers in local businesses like Crosby’s Guitar Shops and Bull Moose Records and also Web sites like justanotherscene.com.

Q: Where do the bands come from to play here?

A: Cannae and Unearth are both from Boston, Halo Effect is from Portland, Cicada is out of Old Town and Cezanne Wept is from Orono. They really come from all over.

Q: How did you happen on the idea for the U.U. shows?

A: Well, I go to all the local shows and I wanted to support the local scene. I wanted to give local bands a chance to play with and talk to bands that are already on the road.