TOLEDO – ’90s post-punk revival band, Goalpost, was sealed in by a throng of fans at The Switchboard, 912 Monroe St., on Wednesday evening, for those seeking a dreamy, nostalgic performance.
“I was expecting to turn the page on the set,” said lead singer and songwriter for the band, Matthew Cashin, after their last set was interrupted by a shooting during the Old West End Festival that left 12 people injured, including friends and family of the band.
The headliner, Bellyache, performed their bass-heavy metal with a screamo vocalist, and sandwiched Goalpost in-between the opener, Falling From Grace, a late 2000s band revived this year.
Goalpost’s heavy shoegaze influence mixed up the set list, as the two bands on either side of Goalpost brought heavier metal sounds.
But in general, Goalpost was releasing heavier things.
“We didn’t wanna dwell on what happened,” said the band’s lead guitarist, Ethan Fahle. “I think we all feel better after playing this set again.”
Just a few days on from the Old West End Festival, the band wanted to keep with their scheduled performance.
“Everybody kinda’ agreed…just keep going,” Fahle said.
And while, admittedly, there were challenges to pushing on through, each band member said they felt good about their performance, which started with Cashin telling the crowd the proceeds from the cover charge would go towards band expenses, like “Taco Bell.”
Spurious bats on the drums from Daniel Price formed the snappy energy, cutting through the scratchy wall of sound and soft vocals provided by the rest of the band.
Before downing a beer after the show, Price jokingly said, “We’re beating off the rage,” while Alex Price, the bassist, preferred to keep her thoughts on the show private.
Enthusiastic praise saturated the air around the band, who played a similar set to the festival one, minus an unreleased song, “Hornet Sting,” that was interrupted the last time they played it.
Fahle commented that the turnout was especially good for a weekday, and said, “I think that’s the real important thing – the community part of it.”
“It’s really not supposed to be about us,” he said and highlighted Bellyache, Falling From Grace and the concert goers for showing up after the events of the weekend.
