Lavery's Anticipates Groundswell of Support for Saturday's Show

Video by Rob Seaman

If there was ever a perfect time to rock the establishment, it's Presidents' Day Weekend.

Especially if that establishment happened to be the Bunker at Lavery Brewing Company — a great place to hide out while local bands are destroying sets. This Saturday, Fog Giant, LUCiD, and Ladders will assemble for an evening of unimpeachably good hooks fit to serve a diversity of ear drums. And all at just a fraction of the annual defense budget ($5 cover).

Fog Giant lumbers into the concert hall with a sound heavier than William Howard Taft, with fuzzy, gritty, groovy doom metal riffs that could easily overfill a Black Sab-bathtub. The Erie-based quartet of Andrew Vickery (vocals/guitar), Steve Anthony (guitar), Matt Barthelmes (bass), and Zach Hudock (drums) just released their eponymous EP last fall. 

The 5-song sludgefest was much appreciated by Erie Reader managing editor and music reviewer Nick Warren, who plays (bass) in Ladders alongside bandmates Rob Seaman (vocals/rhythm guitar), Jon Molnar (lead guitar), and Todd Cline (drums). Ladders' sonics are a little less foggy and much less lumbering, with a decidedly punkier Constitution. 

Also receiving high praises from Reader reviewers last year was the band that rounds out the bill, Edinboro's LUCiD. Youthful in terms of both age and energy, the group empties the stylistic Cabinet on their debut record K!TCHEN GROOVES — at turns surfy ("The Sand & The Syrup"), synthy ("HOMiCiDE"), southerly ("Collard Greens"), and punky ("A.C.A.B"). In his write up for K!TCHEN GROOVES in the "Top Albums from Erie Artists in 2021," Warren described the band's sound as "so varied you might find yourself checking to make sure shuffle isn't on."

Although our country's leadership has sometimes been a mixed deck, you can always reshuffle the odds in your favor when it comes to personal choice. As the Commander-in-Chief of your weekend plans, supporting local music always makes for a prudent executive decision.

7 p.m. // Lavery Brewing Company, 128 W. 12th St. // $5 // facebook.com