^{photo by Jonathan Sharpe}

The Playlist had seen Des Ark at Hunter-Gatherer earlier this year — as well as in Charlotte at the Visulite Theatre — and, truthfully, this show was roughly the same caliber as Aimee Argote and company's last gig at the Main Street microbrew.

Which is to say that it was incredible.

Like the show back in March, Des Ark's set was potent and bashed out with reckless abandon, with Argote bouncing off the Hunter-Gatherer's walls — literally — and making forays into the crowd during the instrumental breaks. Seriously: How Argote does that without strangling someone with a microphone cable or knocking someone's teeth out with the headstock of that gorgeous black Rickenbacker is beyond me. Also beyond me: How Argote manages to stay upright while wrestling her guitar like one would wrestle a python, careening from point to point with disregard for personal safety. Most impressive: That Argote can do all that without missing a single note.

To say that Aimee Argote is a badass is simply selling her short. And not mentioning her bandmates — equally badass second guitarist Noah Howard and wickedly forceful and deadly accurate drummer Evan Rowe — would be selling them short.

The loud-quiet dynamic inherent in Des Ark's catalog — Argote performed solo for years after Loose Lips Sink Ships before reforming Des Ark as a trio — was on full display again. After ripping through impressive versions of "FTW, Y'all" and "No More Fighting Cats, OK," Argote picked up an acoustic guitar, stood on a chair and serenaded a few of her delicate acoustic numbers — with an impromptu duet breaking out during one of them — to an enrapt audience.

Of course, getting the antsy Hunter-Gatherer crowd wasn't so easy for the opening acts. Brooklyn's Ghastly City Sleep went mostly ignored, despite an at times awe-inspiring brand of Amnesiac-inspired electro rock. And then there was Virginia's Pygmy Lush. Though its rustic indie-folk was often brilliant, the crowd and band seemed to turn on each other mid-set, with the band's frontman going so far as to confront members of the audience for chatting during some of the band's quieter songs.

It might have all been an act, or it might have been sincere. Either way, it worked, mostly, but the damage was done, and the band performed the rest of its set with its back to the crowd. Still, its closing number, which devolved into a glorious, tidal monolith of feedback and noise akin to Sonic Youth's "The Diamond Sea" before exploding in a throng of thrashed instruments, was impressive, as was the band's set as a whole. We suppose we just wish they were in a better mood.

On any other night, The Playlist thinks, the crowd — mostly there to see Des Ark — would have been both more respectful and more involved, but given how late the night went — Des Ark didn't hit the stage until after 1 a.m. — any victories made by either opener were probably pyrrhic.

Still: It was easily one of the best shows of the year, musically.

^{Click on the slideshow below to see more photos by Jonathan Sharpe.}