The only thing that could overshadow the insanely stacked line-up put together by AdHoc was the venue itself. Hand & Detail Car Wash Center hosted the unofficial showcase and it did a pretty good job. The showcase sold out of tickets a few days before, but the space looked big enough to hold a good 600. Sound was the biggest concern but everything sounded good, with the minor exception of the muddied vocals from all of the bands. Here’s to more shows there soon?

Basement-stormers Sheer Mag was second on the bill, which tells you how STACKED this bill was. What started as a homework project for a class at SUNY Purchase, the Philly-based five-piece corrals the stinging licks of classic rock (Thin Lizzy) and shoves it together with pop tropes that makes for some tenaciously catchy hooks and grooves. The band played all of the tracks from their two 7″ releases while throwing in some new ones, hopefully recorded right after their late-Fall European tour.

Just like last year’s CMJ, Protomartyr had their schedule full and played as many shows as they could. While they could easily sell out a two-night stint at MHOW, the car wash was probably the biggest venue they played all week, with others being Rough Trade NYC, Santos Party House, and the Knitting Factory. Despite the abbreviated set, the band were able to squeeze in a lot of tracks, mostly from their recent (and excellent) The Agent Intellect, including an intense rendition of “Clandestine Time” and the fan favorites from Under Color of Official Right like “Ain’t So Simple”, and “Scum, Rise!”.

UPDATE (10/23/15): NYCTaper was there and recorded the set:

https://soundcloud.com/acidjacknyc/sets/protomartyr-live-at-ad-hoc-car-wash-brooklyn-2015

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