I was at the ill fated Psycho Las Vegas fest in 2023 when news of Oranssi Pazuzu’s canceled appearance hit. I remember the volume of a friend’s dismay turning many heads in the crowded casino. Hearts were broke. I was excited but a little wary when I heard they were scheduled to tour the US for the first time in 7 years. Life felt like a big scattered party when they arrived in Seattle, all the way from Finland, to play Northwest Terror Fest. Friends and strangers throughout the continent gleefully talked amongst ourselves about which dates we would go to. I thought for sure I would have to take a plane or drive to Canada to see them if they were going to tour around their Maryland Death fest appearance but was very pleased to see they were going to play at The Bottleneck which is only a 5 hour drive from me. I hitched a ride with two of The Vampire Police in their self driving white seated space ship with the glass roof and electric engine. Was great not to travel alone for a change and with some of my favorite company too! I got to watch all sorts of beautiful spring flowers, hills and waving grasses go by as we drove through Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas.
The Bottleneck is located in a vibrant and attractive downtown area in Lawrence Kansas. They have been independently owned since 1985 which is quite a feat. According to Google the max capacity is 350 people, small venues are my very favorite so I was double excited for the show. The line went by fast once the doors were open, I enjoyed talking to the locals and got the opportunity to get several people to save Thantifaxath albums to whatever music services they had on their phones (I was wearing a particularly sick shirt of theirs) PBR in the venue was less than five bucks and their hero of a bartender always knew when I needed another on sight. There were several booths and bleachers bordering the floor area as well as some elevated seating with what looked like perfect views of the stage. I was told they were first come first serve and filled up fast but this was a show I wanted to be all the way up front for. The bathroom had saloon doors and were about as perilous as the old Wild West which was fitting.
It was a two band show and first up was Western American black metal band Wayfarer. I love a unique theme, especially in black metal. The bass was almost as loud as the guitars and you know how much I like that, or do you? Well you do now! Everyone on stage, including the drummer, had on cool boots. One guy was even wearing a Cool Hat. I really enjoyed their set as did everyone around me. The sound guy was playing Clipping while Wayfarer tore down which had me about to bounce off the walls because I LOVE Clipping and you don’t hear them in the wild all that often.
As the sinister and hallucinatory black metal band Oranssi Pazuzu was setting up there was a great buzz in the air, it had been a long 7 years plus a lot of us had never gotten to see them at all. They opened with that song that goes DT….DT.. DT.. DT DT DTDTDT DT DTDTDDTLDTLDTLTLDTLTDLTDLTT and then that dirge with the drums kicks in! It was so fuckin’ cool, Bioalkemisti is the name of it. They had great stage presence and a lot of energy for just having driven all the way from Denver that day. Also they sounded incredible, one of their guitarists opted to dance around barefoot which I thought was fun, I think he needed all his toes to maneuver the vast amount of pedals and buttons and things they had set up… but also I too would rather not wear shoes most of the time, go team! I was thrilled to hear them play my favorite song. It starts out as dramatic dance music that swells into an evil cacophony, slowly disintegrates into SNES RPG glittery cave level music and then blows away into space. The name of that one is Kuulen ääiä maan alta, if you ever spot me wearing Oranssi Pazuzu merch and ask me to name 3 songs I will just start crying. All of their songs and albums are interesting and unique, very very good band. Finally getting to see them was worth all the waiting and traveling, They played for over an hour and a half too! At one point far into the set all the PBR caught up to me and it felt like my bladder was about ready to claw its way out so I had to leave my spot at the front of the stage. Even standing in the back or perched on the bleachers you could still see pretty well and the sound was great. I look forward to the next show that brings me out to the Bottleneck, overall a 10/10 experience.
MID SOUTH 