Kevin Bronson on August 21st, 2015

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There was plenty of head-bashing Thursday night at the Echo, where Toronto trio METZ, warming up (as if they need to) for their weekend appearance at FYF Fest, headlined. But there was also some head-bowing. Opening band Obliterations dedicated their set to the late Sammy Winston, the musician/writer/Echo doorman who died in early July while saving his roommates in a house fire. Obliterations asked that the venue’s lights be turned off during their performance, which gave an intense emotional vibe to their set.

Retox followed, inciting a vicious mosh pit that would go the rest of the night. Vocalist Justin Pearson railed against police violence near the end of Retox’s set, which led in to an overheated, typically frenetic outing by METZ, whose latest album “//” came out in May via Sub Pop. Neither the crowd more the band showed any fatigue from the temperature, though; it was one of those good sweats.

Photos by David Benjamin