Live review: Life Of Agony / Sick Of It All live at The Pyramid Scheme

Grand Rapids, MI – 15 Aug 2023

The Life Of Agony and Sick Of It All pairing works surprisingly well, and is a good reminder that old guys and gals can still kick some ass.

Other than geography and each having a brief flirtation with commercial success in the ‘90s, it’s hard to imagine that these two bands have much in common. Sick Of It All are New York hardcore standard bearers, while Life Of Agony play a gloomy sort of alt-metal. There must be some kind of bond, as the two bands have spent a fair amount of time the last couple of years traveling across the country together. 

The ongoing tour finally made it out my way on Tuesday, August 15th, at the Pyramid Scheme in downtown Grand Rapids. I’d seen Sick Of It All quite a few times over the years, including fairly recently, but they were still the big draw for me. I was certainly curious to see Life Of Agony, who I’d seen a few times in the ‘90s but not since. The show started really early, so I missed both openers. Chicago’s Hold My Own, and especially locals Sissy Boys, got rave reviews. 

It was only a little after 8 pm when Sick Of It All hit the stage. Their backdrop was the cover of their last LP, 2018’s excellent Wake The Sleeping Dragon!. That’s one thing that separates SOIA from many of their NYHC peers – they never stopped making good records. Still, they mostly relied on the classics. “Injustice System”, “Clobberin’ Time”. “World Full of Hate” and “My Life”, “Step Down” and “Scratch the Surface” were all well received. I always enjoy watching guitarist Pete Koller, who still hops around the stage like a hyperactive teenager. 

Singer Lou Koller was recovering from a recent cold, and was not in the best voice. This may have led to a slightly shorter (40 minutes) set. It also led to one of the show’s highlights. When Lou asked for a volunteer to sing “Rat Pack”, a kid who couldn’t have been more than about 10 came up and slayed it. We were all left in awe! I was also in awe of the way the kids dance nowadays. (I don’t get to a ton of HC shows.) It looks like they’re fighting invisible ninjas! What are all these kicks and cartwheels? Anyway, Sick Of It All were great as usual. 

Life Of Agony have been on the road celebrating the 30th anniversary of their debut album, River Runs Red. They started off by playing that record from beginning to end. I was surprised to recognize a couple of songs from that album beyond the title track. “This Time”, “Underground” and “Method of Groove” were all familiar. I had seen the “classic” lineup in the ‘90s, and also the Whitfield Crane (Ugly Kid Joe) fronted version. (LOA have gone through a few drummers over the years.) This version features original members: singer Mina Caputo, guitarist Johnny Z and bassist Alan Robert. New drummer Veronica Bellino didn’t miss a beat. 

The crowd was decent sized for a Tuesday night, and remained fairly boisterous throughout Life Of Agony’s 70 minute set. They followed up River Runs Red with a few more favorites. Among them were the newer “Scars” and the fan favorite “Lost at 22”. They ended the night with the minor radio hit “Weeds”, from their 1997 LP Soul Searching Sun. I may have come to see the other guys, but I also ended up fairly impressed with the reinvigorated Life Of Agony. 

Confessions of a merch whore: It was mostly T-shirts and sweatshirts, which I have too many of already. Only Hold My Own had any vinyl, a split seven inch. I may live to regret not grabbing one of those, but like I said, I didn’t see them.