Viet Cong w/ Grave Babies
Neumos, Seattle, WA
10.16.15
The Canadian band Viet Cong has been around for about 3 years now and has seen more than moderate success, especially in the last year and a half. A night of straightforward post-punk at my favorite music venue was nearly derailed, however, as they have been entangled in a social media battle with the Vietnamese-American community over their name. Upon arriving at Neumos, I walked smack-dab into a protest of the band for their offensive name and of the venue for hosting the band. There was about 20 people total, ranging from their early twenties to late sixties. The band has openly apologized online and at various stops, but word is they can’t change their name yet due to legal issues. The good news is that the band absolutely kills it musically, no matter what their name is. From the first chords of the first song to the last warbles of reverb as they ended their set, the music never disappointed. The venue was nearly sold out, and the crowd showed the band lots of love, always cheering for more. Grave Babies, an ever-popular local band, opened for Viet Cong, which was a perfect musical aperitif for what the night had in store. If you get a chance to see Viet Cong live, no matter what name they may be using, I highly recommend you go and rock out.
Review and photos by Daniel Hager
Viet Cong
