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Sabertooth 2023 PDX - Part 2

Sabertooth Portland 2023 – Part 2 (of 3)

Part 1 can be found here.

Back to the Crystal Ballroom stage for Rhododendron—a band I hadn’t heard of. My first thought was, “Why are these three kids playing on the big stage with proper lighting, ventilation, etc. when I just had to see Cloak on the tiny, hot stage in the dark and packed Lola’s Room?”

After listening a bit, I softened my disdain. They were good and have a very promising future. But still, shouldn’t Cloak and Rhododendron have been switched?

I headed down the stairs for Year of the Cobra, a band I could swear I’ve seen before, but I can’t remember where or when. I thought I had at least 10 minutes to spare, but they had already begun playing. From this point on, I think every band started before the advertised start times. Did they get changed and the website wasn’t updated? I don’t know.

Year of the Cobra is a wonderful two-piece band. Their set was intense, beautiful, and Amy’s shout out to the metal women in the audience (including Grayceon’s Jackie Perez Gratz) was the first time that the higher female percentage of this festival (that I mentioned in Part 1) hit me.

Portland funeral doom band Will was up next. Funeral doom can be enjoyable live with the proper intoxicants, but it can also bore me—especially when not in a live setting. The second half of a couple of Will’s songs were quite good—when the pace picked up and/or soloing occurred.

Will has been doing their thing, mostly opening for touring bands in Portland, for a while now, but I don’t think they have any albums. Again, I’m still asking the question why Cloak and Ghost Bath weren’t swapped on the bill with Rhododendron and Will?

Speaking of Ghost Bath, they were the final act in Lola’s Room. The place was packed and hotter than ever by this point in the evening. Ghost Bath only got through a couple of songs before the power went off. Rather than endure the heat and masses in the hopes that power to the instruments be restored, I retreated to the much cooler Crystal Ballroom for a rest and wait for the final three artists—UADA, Ludicra, and YOB.

Part 3