Photo by Chloe Elizabeth from socketsrecords.com

Trying to decipher the Lightning Bolt setlist from Wednesday night’s DC9 show would be nearly impossible for all but their most dedicated fans. We know they played “Colossus” from last year’s Earthly Delights, because we heard Chippendale say as much during between-song banter, but I’m amazed that the crowd even figured out that much. Even hearing Chippendale say, “can I get more kick drum in my monitor?” sounded like some distorted order coming directly from Satan’s mouth due to the heavy vocoding on the microphone attached to his mouth. (To boot, the device was hidden under a mask that resembled a robber’s ski mask, if it was made of your grandmother’s old curtains.)

But, really, it didn’t matter. The inhuman speed of Chippendale’s drumming combined with those otherworldly vocal grunts and Brian Gibson’s quick yet heavy bass lines elicited the sort of visceral crowd reaction that rarely comes, even within the course of multiple years’ time.

Simply put: this was easily the best show I’ve ever seen at DC9.