Photo Gallery: The Distillers and Starcrawler at Metro

Brassneck | May 26, 2019

In 2000, The Distillers released their self-titled debut album on indie label Hellcat. It was a decimating blast of hardcore punk delivered with throaty urgency by Australian lead singer Brody Dalle. Their sophomore effort Sing Sing Death House also saw the light of day that same year. Dalle quickly achieved iconic status as one of the few women in a male-heavy genre by doing it better and harder than the bro’s. By 2003, the majors came calling, releasing Coral Fang.

By 2005, it was over. In between then and the present, there were solo sojourns and side project, none of which burned as brightly as those first three records. In a career that emulated the t-shirt she wore on stage this past week (which read “Too fast to live/Too young to die”) at Metro, The Distillers certainly seem poised for a comeback. The show was an almost immediate sell out, even in the absence of little to no promotion.

And those who waited so patiently all those years were rewarded with an absolutely electric performance from Dalle’s newly repurposed crew. Concertgoers multitasked, moshing while barking out very syllable Dalle chewed on. The interim years simply melted away and it begged the question: Was 2000 the year Punk broke and did only a handful of the faithful notice? The Distillers’ performance was arguably an inferred “yes!”

LA Sabbath/punks Starcrawler opened with the powered by stunning, angular vocalist Arrow de Wilde.

Words and photos by Curt Baran