Writer/Photographer: Brett Porter

Iüdica hosted its first annual Halloween rager this past Saturday, and long story short, it was amazing. The music itself began around 9, with Iüdica’s lead guitarist Thom Grover playing some solo stuff, including a sweet cover of Nirvana’s “Pennyroyal Tea.” Following that was an unnamed project consisting of Chris Walker’s (Iüdica) side project, and let me tell you, they only had three songs, but those mofos were bangers in every sense of the world. I wasn’t expecting to hear metal at this show, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Fast forward through a couple underwhelming solo acts, and we get to Ugly Muppets. In what may go down as the worst first impression in human history, Josh Martin of the band had ashed a cigarette in a tall boy I had just cracked… I promised him that would have no impact on the review but I regret promising him that, because that is three dollars and twenty five cents I’ll never get back. They weren’t bad though, not by the slightest bit of the imagination. They definitely had some sweet jams in there, and their bass player really knew how to slap-a-da-bass.

Iüdica. The closing act. It’s midnight. Almost everyone is drunk, band members included. This was the perfect recipe for a shit show, but miraculously, it didn’t happen. The band played an incredible lineup, including a cover of “Degausser” that makes Brand New sound like Used Goods. The most interesting thing about this band is that between Brian Michael, Chris Walker, and Thom Grover, there is such an interesting dynamic to their vocals, because you have three people fully capable of singing lead at any given point. Did I mention Thom can scream like some of the best in the biz? It’s hard to pick out a song that they did best, but if anyone had to listen to one and only one of their songs, I’d recommend “Lipstick, Black Dress/Prostitutes.”

All in all, this was the first of hopefully many more parties at the Iüdica house, and I was beyond thrilled with the turnout, and everyone who showed up had a great time.