XTRMST Premiere Show at The Roxy
XTRMST is so much more than a reskinned version of AFI. The two bands may share members Davey Havok on vocals and Jade Puget on guitar, but XTRMST spirals off in a completely different direction. The band takes everything old school AFI fans grew to love and combines it with a much more intense style full of raw energy and references to straight-edge culture. Since forming in early 2014 XTRMST has continued to take on momentum and pick up dedicated fans. After thoroughly enjoying the aggressive, raw, and almost extinct hardcore style XTRMST threw into their self-titled album, By the Barricade was on site for the band’s first-ever performance in Hollywood, California. The sold out show drew a crowd of fans clad in black and adorned with straight edge symbols that began lining up in front of The Roxy Theatre early that morning.
Oakland natives Living Eyes were first on the bill and kept the tempo way above the norm for their entire set. The band showered the crowd with a fury of chords and beats at breakneck speeds but did not see much engagement. As members ran back and forth onstage and jumped around people began to bang their heads but pits were almost nonexistent.
The next band to hit the stage was Seattle’s own Heiress, but almost as soon as their set began lead singer John Pettibone jumped into the crowd along with his fantastic beard prompting fans to get involved. As he screamed vocals on top of contemporary style tracks the night’s first crowd surfer appeared.
About an hour later XTRMST took the stage and were met with hundreds of enthusiastic fans. The curtain rose The Roxy was blasted with a barrage of bright lights as XTRMST burst into “Conformist”. All of the self-titled albums’ 14 tracks made it onto the night’s setlist, but the band still had a few tricks up their sleeve. Capitalizing on straight edge icons Minor Threat, XTRMST plugged covers of “Straight Edge”, “In My Eyes” into their set, and asked DJ Steve Aoki to accompany them on stage for their cover of “Filler”.
As Davy Havok moved across the stage throughout the show he rarely moved behind the monitors. Instead he pressed himself against the crowd and took full advantage of the barricade-less knee-high stage. The set may have lasted less than an hour, but was met with a sea of crowd surfers and a chorus of fans echoing each and every lyric. Fans of bands like Black Flag, Minor Threat, and The Circle Jerks are bound to find plenty to love with EXTRMST. If seeing crowd surfers sing backup vocals on top cheering fans sounds like fun, EXTRMST should be on your radar.
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