Earlier this month I made the bold choice to attend and photograph shows on three consecutive nights down in the Boston area. It was a thing. A wild, wild thing. A logistical maze of a weekend with a weird balance between super intense, very late nights and surprisingly quiet, low energy days. But it was awesome. Over the next few days I plan to roll out (relatively brief) recaps of each of those shows with some of the shots I snagged. The first show was Friday night at Widowmaker Brewing – believe it or not a brewery I had not explored before that point – featuring Dozer, Gozu, Legions of Doom, and High Desert Queen. Let’s talk about it.

I’ll start with just a few sentences to set the scene. Bailing on work a little early, I reached Braintree… Widowmaker… the hotel… efficiently enough, about a two hour journey all told. The brewery itself is awesome. Heavy metal-adjacent breweries are a beautiful thing, and this is one of the better ones for sure. The taproom (converted to venue space) is an effectively laid out open area with an industrial vibe, but in a good way. You know, rather than a “oh look another warehouse they make beer in” way. The beer? Phenomenal. I leaned into the Czech dark lager, but also had the opportunity to try a number of their IPAs between that night and the following morning when I posted up at the bar to edit some of the photos from this show (that process, by the way, did not suck). All awesome. The show itself was an absolute blast. Across all four sets a mesmerizing liquid light show filled the wall behind the stage, matching the energy and atmosphere of the music perfectly. The low, small stage allowed the crowd to really be close to, or in some cases, involved in the action – a nice reminder to always make time for smaller shows in smaller venues. There is absolutely no way to replicate how engaging and personal the experience can be.

As for the performances themselves, what can I say? It felt like all of us in the crowd were part of them. High Desert Queen kicked the night off and honestly that might have been my favorite set out of the bunch. Super lively on stage (and off), they just set the tone for the night perfectly. Their form of desert fuzz translated to the environment very naturally and I could have watched that set three times over. Second up was Legions of Doom, fresh off the release of The Skull 3. Seeing these names on stage up close like this was, frankly, pretty ridiculous. And to know this record, and this project, is an emergence of what would have been Eric Wagner’s ideas for a third album from The Skull just added so much more to it. It honestly just felt special to experience.

And then Gozu. What can I say about arguably my favorite Boston-based project? Oh, what’s this? Cave In would like to have a word? That’s cool, I’ll see them at the same venue at the end of October (probably). But I digress! This set was just so much fun. Heavy on Remedy, their 2023 release many of us here adore, there was no shortage on personality or energy on stage and the minutes just flew by. I’m just stoked I finally caught them live. From there, Dozer closed out the evening. I’m not gonna lie, at this point I was feeling the day a bit – long work week, long drive in stupid traffic, late night… excuses, excuses. But I bounced back quickly into this set. I’ll admit that while I overlooked Drifting in the Endless Void when it first came out, I’ve clung to it more this year. But since this show? Can’t stop listening to it. Its basically held a permanent spot in the rotation since then. This set was a bit of a different mood, but Dozer found a way to make their massive sound feel even bigger, most notably in the choruses of the first three tracks from the aforementioned album (and damn was I happy they all earned spot on this setlist). Their first U.S. shows in… *checks notes*… two decades?! Shit. I couldn’t ask for more.

And thus ended night one! In looking back on it now, I actually think I left that show with significantly more energy than I arrived with. That’s rare for someone [redacted] years old! It was just such a great time. Everything about it was a great experience – from the people, to the beverages, to the music. I can’t wait to be back at Widowmaker in a few weeks. (Note: not officially confirmed, but I’m willing it into existence.)

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb