the year is 2015. in a fit of hubris i have signed up to go to a four-band show. by myself. on a monday. the show was at irving plaza, probably my least favorite concert venue in nyc. doors were at 6:30, first band at 7, and thanks to technical problems at the venue, i don't think i got out of there until almost midnight.
but the lineup! the lineup made it all worth it. between and buried and me headlined, with intronaut and enslaved as support. enslaved was kind of a weird addition to the tour, but who cares, they're enslaved. and as opener was a band called native construct, featuring a bunch of kids who all looked like they could still be in college. but in that moment, they were at the foot of a certain meteoric rise - they had the metal blade contract, stage presence complete with matching lighting, tour with massive headliners, and the songwriting chops to back it all up. this is the album they were touring with:
in 2019, native construct broke up. they never released a second album.
it is now 2023, and i'm scrolling through the prog report, as you do, and i see a casual mention of something surprising: poh hock, one of the guitarists in native construct, put out a solo ep (with contribution from robert edens, the vocalist from native construct, on one of the tracks). and while it isn't really more native construct, it's very good, and i'm honestly glad to see at least some of these dudes are still out there doing their thing. check it out: