I grew up about 30 minutes from Frankie’s, the venue which played host to the Nu Metal Sucks show in Toledo, OH on May 14th. I have to admit, being a local and knowing how small of a venue they’re working with (around 300 capacity, according to the door guy, who is the owner’s right hand man), I was skeptical about how well the show would go off. When the announcement came earlier in the week that the show had sold out, I was pleasantly surprised. Being that my home club night The Ination runs shows at Frankie’s regularly these days, I know the place like the back of my hand, and while this is very much a convergence which sees me smack-dab in the middle, it still feels unreal that it happened at all.
Then again, they pulled off a surprise Phoebe Bridgers show on the day of my birthday, just ten days after the show I’m writing about here. Say what you will about the Midwest, but we get shit done, and even we wonder how it happened.
My surprise continued as I waited for doors, seeing folks arriving at the venue. Given that the core three bands – Spineshank, (hed)pe, and Primer 55 – are legacy acts, I inferred that the crowd would skew a bit older. Granted, I turned 30 earlier this week, so I am riding a fine line between the old guard and the new (but not the nu, as we clearly know which side I’m on there). For every middle-aged dad and/or couple I saw, there were folks closer to my age and younger who were there to enjoy the show. I remember picking up Spineshank’s The Height of Callousness at a flea market in my hometown, after first hearing “New Disease” as a teenager, back when the Roadrunner Records website had a free download for every band on their roster, past and present.
As such, this all felt like a fever dream. It’s like a young kid dreaming of a big badass rock show happening in their own backyard, like something out of a commercial or a movie. As mentioned previously, this was far from my first show at Frankies, but something about this all felt different. Toledo is the kind of place that gets a couple of big concerts every year, as well as the annual WWE or AEW show at the Huntington Center. We’re not Cleveland, Columbus, or Cincinnati, so getting a Grammy-nominated band with instant name recognition to boot in our area is not something to sneeze at, even with the reputation Frankies has cultivated over the years.
In so many words, teenage me was losing their shit, while present-day, nearly 30 year old me was wondering how my knees were going to hold up for the night. Sunrise, sunset.
The Infinity Process, the local opener, did well getting the crowd going. Yes, their sound is a bit more polished, a bit more straight-laced than the rest of the bill, but it worked. Had they been on the radio at the same time as the other bands on tap, they wouldn’t have sounded out of place. What impressed me was how their guitarist Jason Tingley handled a slight faux pas with his guitar cable. Granted, I was second row from the stage and could see every-damn-thing, but he handled it swiftly and without flinching, even giving a cheeky smile as he plugged his guitar back in.
After their set, I spoke with Jason and asked what it meant for him to be able to play this show. He talked about seeing Primer 55 way back when, emphasizing the full-circle moment that he was experiencing, and in his own backyard, no less.
After them was Tidals, who were absolutely looking to get a pit going, and did so by their second song. Their sound is somewhere in the modern melodic hardcore end of nu, and made the relatively small venue sound huge. They whipped Frankie’s into a frenzy in no time, helping to further set the mood for what was to come. Gritty but welcoming, their set was something to behold, and made me want to explore more.
First 55’s set was something else entirely. I’ve been to festivals like Warped Tour and arena shows, and I’ve not felt the energy and electricity in the room quite like I did during this set. The pit seemed to keep going the whole time through, with people getting bowled over and pushed around whether they wanted to be or not. I tend to position myself on the edge of the pit, as being of a certain stature, I can play enforcer rather easily. That said, I still had bruises and a sore foot, but considering what happened the last time Primer 55 were in town, that’s getting off easy.
After the set, I spoke with Bobby Burns, the guitarist and backbone for the band. The last time they played Toledo, they got a song and a half in before things got too out of hand to continue. The authorities got involved and broke things up, then took the band to the edge of the city and asked them not to return after all was said and done. Obviously, a lot has changed in a quarter of a century, but to say that things got loose on this night is putting it gently, even though it didn’t get crazy enough to warrant a police presence.
Pivoting to the future, I inquired about when we might hear new music from Primer. He assured me that the band have been working on new material, but he wants to make sure it’s ready before putting it out. He actively wants to push back against the absolute glut of content taking over social media feeds, opting instead to put out something accomplished the band can feel confident rather than chasing the mercurial demands of the masses. I was reminded of a similar ethos from bands like Pantera, who famously never had B-sides or throwaway songs, or Lamb of God, who recently made headlines for insisting that they only make music for five people: the members themselves. It is in this staying true to oneself that metal has always prevailed, regardless of which subgenre or label it has been under, and the night’s sold-out status is positive proof of that formula being a winning one.
(hed)pe is the band on the bill I was least familiar with, all told, but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the show. Where Primer 55 was the hype, the frenzy, (hed)pe played the role of cooling the crowd down some. They gave it everything and had no issue getting the crowd going, but their reggae breaks and dub moments helped to break up the vibes. While this is a nu metal show, a bill sometimes needs a “let me up” moment, and we got that here.
Spineshank closed out the night with the entirety of The Height of Callousnessand it was a full-circle moment for me personally. Getting to see songs like “New Disease” and “Beginning of the End” live was everything I hoped for, and the fact that it happened just thirty-odd minutes from home was a dream come true. I was watching with my friend Paul, aka DJ Havok, who had seen the band way back when, and was happier than ever when they dusted off a song from their debut album to close out their set and the night.
What this show did was restore my faith in my neck of the woods. Coming from northwest Ohio, we only have so many claims to fame, and even fewer big things going on. When I recovered from my health issues post-COVID, I made a promise to myself to get back out there and see more live shows, and while these are all accomplished and tenured bands, selling out a venue as venerated as Frankie’s in this day and age is no mean feat, and the Glass City showed the fuck up for this. Old friends, new friends, fans younger than the songs being played and celebrated, everything in between, it all came together to make for an incredible night in Toledo.
