Screaming For Change

I know it's been a while and there are like 3 shows I didn't talk about. SFU Showcase, some Wilbraham house show, and the Step Forward/Rampage show at Rad Skate Park. I'll do those a bit later because I just got back from Vermont last night and it was one of the most awesome weekends I've had this year. It was the 2nd Screaming For Change fest in Bristol, VT. My band Alert played it last year, but this year we couldn't get it together, but me and Mike decided to go anyway.

We left Saturday morning. Kara came from Worcester to get me and then we headed out to Westfield to get Mike. We get Mike and before leaving we all buy our tickets to the DYS reunion that's happening in late August. Then we head out to Evolution cafe for some overpriced, yet delicious vegan food and then head to Vermont. I fall asleep most of the way as usual and we finally arrive. We get there around 4ish and we miss some bands already including Sacred Love and Crucial Times, which I am kinda bummed about. But we meet up with tons of friends there. Dan and Justin Gonyea, Kimberly, Karl and the Montreal Crew, and tons of others. So we hang out and watch some bands, skate and do all sorts of stuff. The venue is at a place called the Hub which is like a community center kind of deal. Right next to it is a skatepark so tons of kids were skating and BMXing which was cool. We hang out all day and eventually Bane arrives because they are headlining day 1. They play an awesome set and even play In Pieces after I yell it out a could of times. After they play everyone hangs out in front of the huge bonfire. Outlast finally shows up after having a ton of van problems on the way up. I decide to sleep outside in my sleeping bag end end up being attacked by mosquitoes but fall asleep anyway.

The next day I wake up around 8 because the sun is beaming and preventing me from going back to sleep. The Vermont dudes, the Gonyeas, and I decide to walk down the street for breakfast and we go to this cafe and I get some bagel breakfast sandwich with some nasty ass tempeh but it was a meal so I didn't complain too much. After that we all head out to that water spot everyone's been talking about. It's a sweet water hole spot with some cliffs and a waterfall. The water was way too cold for me though so I didn't jump off of anything, but it was still a good time. Pretty much everyone from the fest was there. After that we head back, get some Moxie and hang out a bit more. Then bands start to play. I didn't watch a lot of bands this day but some honorable mentions were No Love Lost, Coughing Fit, Outlast, The Effort, and My Revenge! All great bands. My Revenge's set was ridiculous and it included Spencer wearing two electric fans around himself (one ended up being smashed and destroyed), the throwing of couches, couch seats, and a blow up alligator. There were also throwing of water bottles, coat stands, and just utter chaos. It was awesome and I haven't had that much fun in a long time! After that set we said our goodbyes and headed home. I am bummed the weekend went this fast, but next year will be just as awesome, if not more.

Awesome weekend 2010

So the next day after the Anchors Up show, Mike, Kyle, and I decided to drive down to Force Fed’s last show in MA because we had a show in Brooklyn the next day and it wasn’t too far away from that. We all meet at Kara’s house around noon and pack up and head out. We stopped at Shandal’s in CT along the way for some tasty vegan Jamaican cuisine and it ruled, though as usual Kyle wasn’t into it. Or he was afraid to try the stuff, it seemed. But anyway after that we journey to Quakertown, PA and show up right before the first band plays. The show was pretty much a Chicago/Kansas City takeover with Force Fed and a recently added Time’s Up, since Poison Planet had to drop the show. My friend Garrett was roadieing for Sorry Excuse so it was a pleasant surprise to see him there.

The first band that place was the dudes in Force Fed’s new band, whose name slipped my mind. They were pretty cool though.

Next band was Razor Fade. They were awesome, fast, pissed, and covered Inside Out. Everything I love about a band!

After that was Kicked In and they sounded like a Lockin Out style band and opened with Intro Bust which ruled. I hope to see this band again soon in the future.

Next was Sorry Excuse and they were probably my favorite band of the night. They opened with a Stop & Think song and the singer wore a hockey mask for most of the set. Kids went off and I scored a demo tape, 7”, and t-shirt. Yes, superfan right here!

After that was Time’s Up and they were a local youth crew style band and they were really cool. Like the Anchors Up show the day before, there were a ton of super young kids at this show… a lot more than Anchors Up and it fucking ruled. They all sang along and moved to Time’s Up and that was cool. Time’s Up also ended with a Floorpunch cover, which I couldn’t help but sing along to.

Next was the Rival Mob. They killed it as usual, though Brendan broke his hand which sucked.

Lastly was Force Fed and this band fucking killed it. I’ve seen them before but not many people moved around or anything, but this was different. Kids were going nuts, especially to the DYS and Judge covers they did. Awesome fucking night.

After the show we stood outside talking to a bunch of people from the bands and my friend Joey who came out to the show. After that we went to some Diner and all ate, then Alert crew stayed at this dude Justin’s house who was awesome enough to put us up. I guess he’s in that band Stick Together, who’s tape I got from Joey. So we went to bed and got up around 9:30/10 am the next day.

After thanking Justin and his family for letting us crash in their basement, we headed out to Manhattan to hang out. We took a scenic route too and saw lots of trees and shit, which was cool because once we got into NYC it wouldn’t be that way. Eventually we got into the city, moshing to Anton Rough in the car a few times, and we headed to Red Bamboo. None of us had been there except Kara and Brendan, so me and Puffer were pretty stoked. Literally everything on the menu looked appealing so we kind of just randomly picked something and I got something called Creole Soul Chicken and it was pretty good. I also had a piece of Kyle’s chocolate chip cheesecake which ruled. After that we headed to Generations record store where I bought two Paintbox LPs. After that we walked around a bit then decided to head to the venue. On the way Mike was looking for some secret skate spot under the Brooklyn Bridge and we almost didn’t find it as we drove over the bridge like 3 times and finally found it, but it was time to go to the venue so we went there instead. We got there and met up with the Outlast dudes, then Razor Fade, then Caught In A Crowd. Bloodtype showed up a bit later.

Outlast went on first and it appeared Dave was stuck in London as his flight got delayed so Kyle The Mosher Delaney took up the mic for Outlast and did a fairly good job. I sang along to the songs I knew and it was a fun set.

Next was Bloodtype who had just showed up. Band ripped though through the entire night the crowd seemed kinda dead. Bloodtype played early 80s fast ass hardcore and I loved it but no one did anything. They covered Black Flag, too.

Next was my boyz in Caught In A Crowd. This was their first out of state show and they sounded ill. I loved the new songs, especially the first song they played. Stoked to play more shows with those dudes in the future!

Then we played and my bass broke which sucked so I used Colin In A Crowd’s bass. Like I said before Brendan broke his hand and iced it the night before so he was kinda nervous going into this. We played the usual set and it turned out way better than we all expected. I couldn’t really hear the bass so I hope I didn’t fuck it up (I’m constantly worried about fucking shit up) but I guess I didn’t. We did like 3 covers haha.

Brendan had to get to the bus station for 11 and Puffer had work at 6:30am so we had to miss Razor Fade, which was a bummer because I really REALLY like that band, but shit happens and we saw them the night before anyway. They opened with Fed Up by Judge so I quijcly ran in to sing along, then peaced.

We drove back to MA, stopping at Mamoun’s in CT along the way. When we got there the waitress goes, “So what edge band is that?” referring to Mike’s Chain Of Strength shit. We tell her and she goes “Oh I never heard them.” She continues to tell us she saw Youth Of Today, Judge, Underdog, Sick Of It All, and Wide Awake back in the day. Keep in mind she does not look very old at all. Maybe 25-30 range. That ruled.

We get to Kara’s and spend the night. Wake up and head home. BOOM! What a wonderful weekend!

Think Again show

So Friday May 22^nd Anchors Up had a pretty sweet show I wanted to attend. Think Again, Stand By Me, Road Rage, Unrestrained, Stereo State, and Crucial Times. I really wanted to go so I asked my friend Andrew and he was good friends with the dudes from Stand By Me so I got him to go and bring me. We get there and Crucial Times had already played which was a bummer cause those dudes are cool. Stand By Me was playing and they ended with a Gorilla Biscuits cover which was unexpected, but cool. Next was Bastardswine because they got added when Stereo State dropped/couldn’t play. Bastardswine is cool though because they sound like Crossed Out and I like that. I wonder if their name is Bastard Swine or Bastard’s wine though. Anyway the next band after that was Road Rage who were fast and fun as usual. Then was Unrestrained. This band was really fucking good and the vocalist was crazy jumping all over the place but he had a lot of cool things to talk about in between songs. I guess this band was doing a bicycle tour so they rode bikes from Vermont to the show and used all money from merch or “gas” money to donate to help people in Haiti and other places which was really cool. Last was Think Again and man that band got so good since the first time I saw them. I’d also like to point out that there were a bunch of younger kids there and I loved it. It’s good to see new kids coming to shows supporting bands and these kids seem to always be at shows there no matter what.

So after the show we all talked outside about things and then Andrew and I headed to taco bell to meet up with Shaun, Dan, and the singer of Unrestrained. We all go there and order food (which was also hilarious since Shaun’s car got into somewhat of an argument with the lady at the window) and we eat and talk about a bunch of stuff. Then Andrew and I head out back to Western Mass and that was that. Fun times!

Luigi's Mansion

So Western Mass finally has a new venue in Hadley, MA called Luigi’s Mansion. The first show was a couple Saturdays ago and seeing that I only worked 8-4 that day, Trey and I decided to check it out. The line up was Sobriety High, No Love Lost, Colony, Revenge, and one other band whose name I forgot (my bad). I kinda missed the first band and got in when No Love Lost had just started. Cool dudes. Alert played with them before and I talk to their guitarist, Bill, kinda often so it was cool to see these dudes in Western Mass again. They sounded cool and I ended up copping a shirt. Next was the band whose name I forgot. They sounded really good though and I was into it. That’s all I really remember. Next was Colony and man that band was intense. I guess they just got signed to FDR which is good for them. Seriously this band was intense.. the singer was crawling and rolling all over the place and the music was fast, heavy, and chaotic. Last but not least was Revenge and as usual they killed it, though not a lot of kids were there.

That was pretty much it. Hopefully this venue lasts a while because it seriously is a nice venue.

SNAPCASE

I know it's been a while but I guess you could say I've been a bit busy being done with school and everything. Well this post is gonna be about a Snapcase/Sick Of It All show I went to like 2 weeks ago. My friend Brian drove us since everyone else that was supposed to go bailed. We almost didn't go though because the show had sold out and I bought a ticket in advance, but Brian didn't... or he did but for some reason the payment didn't go through.

Well anyway he came to Western Mass and got me around 11 or so if I remember right and we headed to Buffalo. The GPS said 6 1/2 hours which wasn't too bad. Eventually we got there, stopping here and there for fuel and snacks. We decided to hit up this vegan restaurant that looked appealing when we googled it. We walk in and it just so happens Craig Ahead and Sick Of It All's drummer are eating with what looks like Craig's son. Kinda awkward but whatever. We both order overpriced lasagna and it wasn't very good at all. Then we ordered some dry ass nasty chocolate cake. Worst restaurant ever. We leave pretty disappointed. One cool thing, however, was that they give you a piece of paper to draw on while waiting for food.

So we head to the show and meet up with some girl who sold Brian her ticket insuring him a way in. We walk into the venue and it's pretty packed already with Snapcase's and Sick Of It All's merch table being flooded. We buy Snapcase merch and put it in the coat check which was like 6 bucks altogether. My friend Eric shows up. We'd be staying at his house later on. Then the bands started to play.

Walter Shcnejenienifnls (I can't spell his last name) of Gorilla Biscuits and a ton of other bands did an acoustic thing. It was pretty cool I though and he even covered Sick Of It All and Gorilla Biscuits, among others.

Next was Cancer Bats. Brian and I decided to chat it up with my German friend, Tim Sheer during their entire set since it wasn't appealing at all. They covered Beastie Boys we noticed but that wasn't very good either.

Next was Sick Of It All. Keep in mind that this band is probably one of if not my favorite NYHC band and I haven’t seen them before. I was extremely pumped, despite the barriers and security in front of the stage. I was finally gonna see Sick Of It All! So they start playing and kids go off. Their singer is easily one of the best current frontmen. He seemed so stoked on everything and the band as a whole sounded awesome. A lot of push pitting and singing along which was cool I guess. The only bummer was that they only played 3 songs from Blood, Sweat And No Tears which was It’s Clobberin’ Time, Friends Like You and My Life. I mean they’ve been a band for a long ass time and have many albums so its understandable, but that album is my favorite.

Snapcase... oh Snapcase. This band killed it so much that I really wanna see them again. They kind of had a “rock star” attitude, though which was kind of weird. They opened with all the lights off and “We Will Rock You” playing in the background, which everyone stomped and clapped to. The spotlights hit and each member came out and everyone applauded. Overall it was awesome though. They sounded really tight and the vocalist sounded very good. They played a bunch of songs from different albums, though I was looking forward to my favorite records which were Lookinglasself, Steps EP, and Progression Through Unlearning and they actually played some material from all of these which ruled. Such an amazing band and the crowd was real cool too. No macho bullshit yet people were still aggressive and everyone had fun.

So after that Brian and I headed to Eric’s to go to bed. We got there and his apartment was pretty cool. He had a bunch of records sitting on the table which was cool and the first thing I noticed. Also he had a bunch of framed hardcore posters, covers, and art on the wall which ruled. We stood up talkiing about random hardcore things before finally falling asleep. The next morning we woke up, talked a bit more, said our goodbyes, and headed back to Massachusetts. What a fun day!

Boston weekend

So I admit I've been slacking with the posts, so here's a huge cluster.

My friend Bobby decided throw a pretty awesome show at his school, Tuft's, and it would be the last for a while since he's graduating from there this spring and he was practically the only one booking shows there. Well anyway, the line up was Step Forward, Rampage, Lion Of Judah, Give, Hostage Calm, and A Better Hope Foundation.

I had found out a little before hand that Texas thrash punks ANS would be playing Boston the friday/the day before so I thought I would attend that and make a weekend event out of the whole thing.

I took the peter pan bus into the city and got there around 7ish I believe and as usual none of the bands were ready. I decided to go into this mall thing and bought some food and ended up buying a Trap Them 7" from Newberry Comics and some manga from this anime/Japanese store nearby. Yes, I am a nerd.

So I get back to the venue and meet up with Bobby, Zach, and met this new dude named Jake. We all hung out and ended up leaving again to that mall area I had attended earlier. After that we went back to the venue and hung out outside with Claire and her friend who popped up until ANS went on. They were awesome in a sloppy kind of way and there was a fight during their set which I found hilarious especially because the fight started when some kids didn't approve of the way a kid was dancing. He wasn't being an asshole or anything he was just running from side to side into people and I guess in order to be there you can't do that? It was stupid. Otherwise the only other bands I saw was Bastardswine who were awesome and this band Fuckheads who also ruled a lot. Fun times.

I ended up staying at Bobby's for the night so we took the subway back and talked about Lockin Out and X-Men which ruled. Got to his house and re-met some of his roomates then called it a night.

The next day his roomates were throwing an all day party event in the backyard since they were all graduating soon. Tons of people I didn't know showed up and we all mingled (sorta) and then Bobby's friend Tim showed up who turned out to be a cool dude. Eventually a ton of us were there. Me, Bobby, Shaun, Chelsea, Zach, Jake, Tim and we all were hanging. Then we found out Bobby needed a PA and it was locked in some room no one had access to. Me, Bobby, and Shaun went on a mission to find it, eventually meeting up with Shana along the way and after all our efforts (mostly Shana and Bobby's) we didn't find one. We settled with using Bobby's roomate's guitar amp for an amp.

So we get back to the house and hang out some more. Bobby cuts a very bad X into the back of Jake's hair. Bobby and Shana leave to set up the show while everyone tries to give a Jake a complete buzzcut. Puffer, Kara, I think Kristin and this dude from NJ named Greg. Everyone decided they needed some clippers to cut Jake's hair because the one in the house ran out of power. So we all head out, meeting up with Marc along the way. So many people now that I think about it. I'm kind of tired so I'll speed it up. We bought clippers, went to Spike's went to some stores and eventually ended up at the venue. Tons of people were there and tons of friends. A Better Hope Foundation took a million years to get there so I'll review each band by who played first.

Hostage Calm was really cool. The PA wasn't the best in the world obviously so it muffled them a bit, but the new stuff was sweet. I wish they'd play Audible though!

Give ruled as well. Such a great band and everyone seemed into them.

Lion Of Judah was awesome as usual. Fun dancey parts.

A Better Hope Foundation I was outside and didn't really pat attention.

Step Forward ruled as usual.

Rampage only got to play a few songs because the show went way past midnight and the police showed up and shut the place down. It was a bummer, but they are playing again soon so it's whatever.

Another highlight which was kinda asshole-ish was a projector behind the bands that was initially there to show the Celtics game (who lost by the way because they suck) but after the game many hilarious youtube videos were shown on there and I couldn't stop laughing.

Saturday night we hung out in Bobby's house for a while and eventually went to bed. Marc stayed over too. In the morning we went to Cambridge since Boston's water had been contaminated and Cambridge was fine. There was some huge fair deal going on and we ate some Indian food and Bobby bought some sneakers. We went to the tea shop where Doug Free works and got some bubble tea. I needed to head back to western mass because of a show happening at Holyoke. Set Your Goals, Comeback Kid, Title Fight, Make Do And Mend, and A Loss For Words. I was gonna take the bus but while I was on the laptop in the tea shop my friend Jake Miller facebook messaged me and I asked if he was in Boston. He said yes and that he thought about going to the show so I told him he should go and bring me. He agreed and I was stoked.

I parted with Bobby and Marc and headed to a McDonalds to meet with Jake. We met up and headed to the show which was packed. I got ice cream before heading in to see A Loss For Words. They were pretty good for what they do. There were so many people there I hadn't seen in a while and some Boston heads like Sweet Pete and Brian Murphy came out. It was cool.

I missed Make Do A Mend but heard their intro of Trial's Reflections but stayed outside.

Title Fight was great. I recently finally got their music and now listen to it quite often. Cool band and the singer is a really nice dude.

Comeback Kid was cool though I don't know a lot of their stuff. They played All In A Year and Wake The Dead so I was pumped.

I was outside talking to my friend Nick "VOD" Eckstein about hardcore and shit for most of Set Y0ur Goals. Then I headed in to hear the 2 songs I know/like by then and got a crowd surf in.

After that I headed home.

Not very detailed but I'm tired of typing. Peace!

Downpour

Even though this happened like last last Sunday I forgot to update. My other band Soul Train was supposed to play this show at Anchors Up but because they thought it was supposed to be the week before, we had to cancel because Dremus (our guitar player) had to go to this cancer benefit or something.

Anyway, the bill was originally Soul Train, Downpour, Road Rage, Roadrunner, and the Control. I'm pretty good friends with the drummer of Downpour, Jake and he offered to come to western Mass to pick me up and I had nothing to do so I was all for it. So he picked me up and me, him, and my friend Justin from CT all headed out. We went to Boston first to pick up Jake's other friend, Aaron and his girlfriend whose name I forgot (it might have been Ashley). We head to the show and find out Roadrunner or whatever dropped. I go right into the record store and buy a few 7"s and a Fucked Up live reel because they were 15 bucks. I think the 7"s were No For An Answer - You Laugh and I actually forgot the rest, haha.

Anyway for the band review.

First band, I'm assuming was the Control. Wasn't into it at all. Really bad chugga chugga.

Next band was Bastard Swine, who showed up unexpectingly. I was stoked because I've seen them before. They have like 3 or 4 songs and they aren't perfected but it's fast and sweet and I am into it. It's like Crossed Out kind of and that's good enough for me.

Then was Downpour and they are cool, but the highlight for me was them covering Strife - Blistered and them handing me the mic towards the end of the song. It ruled.

Roadrage also ruled. They were fast and there were even a couple circle pits.

Now for the aftershow. We left and headed to Boston to Aaron's apartment. He was invited over some dude's house for a get together and me, Jake, and Justin tagged along, getting pizza along the way. We get in and everyone is high or something and we just hang out for a few hours I guess. Aaron and his girlfriend get really drunk, like most of the people there and eventually we all leave. It's like 2am I think and Aaron grabs a fire extinguisher from the apartment and starts spraying it outside and I guess it gets on his girlfriend, who is also super drunk. So we're walking, me, Jake, Justin, Aaron, and this other dude I forgot who was also drunk, and Aaron's girlfriend goes "HEY AARON!" He turns around and BOOM she blasts him with the fire extinguisher right in the face at close range. We all run from the cloud and the drunk dudes start vomitting and shit. After that everyone was pissed. We went to Aaron's for a few then headed home. That's it in a nutshell! Fun times.

React! Records showcase weekend day 3

So this is the final entry for the React! Records showcase. It was a great time so here's what went down on Saturday...

Woke up and headed out with Colt for early taco bell, then his nice ass dad's house, though no one was home. Then we headed out to Mike Resolve's again to meet with them. He hung out a little bit and decided to go to the show early since today was special. The first 70 people inside would receive some super rare 7" so we got there probably 2 hour earlier. The euro crew were already there (Chris, Rune, Malthe, and some others I forgot) skateboarding so we all meet up and hang. Colt brought a chessboard and being the super chess king that I am, I beat him in it. It's then people start to show up so we get in line real quick. I beat Kyle Cherry in a quick game then people really start to roll in. Spencer and Mikey of Vermont x Crew show up and we all talk about random stuff and time goes by kinda fast. Then the dude comes out and hands everyone numbers to assure we get the special prize without people cheating and cutting in line. I'm number 17. Finally it's time to go in and it turns out the 7" is a super version of TFS - Connection (though no one knew it was Connection at the time). The cover was just black with TFS CREW on the front like the t-shirt (coincidentally the only T-shirt besides the one I was wearing that survived my fire tragedy). The labels also said TFS CREW. So now I'll let you know what I bought and reviews of each band. First note that I THOUGHT I lost my phone during the first band and was bummed because of it most of the day, but later found out that it was in Colt's trunk the whole time. Yeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhhh I'm an idiot, but here we go.

I forgot to mention that I bought a Gone But Not Forgotten 7" day 1. Day 2 I got... a Keep It Clear shirt, Common Cause shirt, bought my friend a Mindset and On shirt, bought my other friend a Mindset shirt for his birthday, and I think that might have been it. I bought these very delicious vegan peanut butter frosting chocolate cupcakes.

Now for the bands..

Secret People I've never heard before but they ruled. They sounded oldschool as fuck and I was into it. They covered Side By Side, too. They honestly were probably one of my favorite bands of the night and I'm looking forward to seeing them on the east coast when they come over. Check them out if you have the time because they rule.

Praise was next and this band features 3 members of Mindset, Andy from Champion and Colby from Reignition. They were pretty damn sweet and was definitely a fun band. I didn't move around or anything because I was still kinda mad about the whole phone situation but this band was awesome and it'd be cool to see them again soon.

Not Sorry is such a fucking great band. Intense music and vocals and heavier than the average youth crew band. Kids were into it and even though I was still mad about the phone, I couldn't help but sing along from the sidelines. This band also needs to come back east soon.

Nails was next and holy fuck was this band great. It was a 3 piece with Todd Jones on both vocals and guitar and the intensity of this band was like no other. I swear the drummer looked like he hadn't slept for months and his facial expression was the same throughout the entire set. Something like "I'm a fucking zombie demon who never rests and if you come near me I'll fucking smash your head open and devour its contents." Wouldn't fuck with that dude. The bassist was insane too and seemed in his own little world. Todd was insane too. This band was hard as nails, pun intended. It was heavy as fuck with japanese hardcore-esque fast parts. I was really really into it and hope they hit up the east soon.

Common Cause was simply incredible. I didn't expect the reaction they got though. It was real cool to see everyone going nuts to this band. They sounded fucking great and I remember this one song had this really groovy, bouncy breakdown. I don't know the likelihood of ever seeing this band again, but I'm glad I did.

Keep It Clear was sweet as well. I've wanted to see this band for a long time and they did not disappoint, though not as many kids were into it as I'd imagined. They covered Blind Justice by Agnostic Front which to be honest took me a while to get but I sang along to the main part. It was cool.

Next was On. To be honest I never got too into this band on vinyl and was hoping seeing them live would change that a bit. Still, it didn't, but kids were still into it and the best part was when they did 3 Bad Brains covers in a row. Big Takeover, Sailin On, and Right Brigade. The place EXPLODED.

Then Mindset took the stage. I wasn't sure how the west coast was gonna react (pun intended) to this band because I've seen them probably close to a dozen times already on the east coast and they just get better and better. Ev started with a pretty intense speech and kids were already pushing from side to side and stagediving so I knew this set was going to be nuts, and it was. They also covered Antidote's Something Must Be Done and Stephen TFS took the mic for it. They had the best set of the fest after 7 Seconds.

7 Seconds... the band that started it all in terms of youth crew, even before Youth Of Today really. It was breath-taking to see this band, especially since Kevin sounds EXACTLY the same as if it were like 82 or something. It was insane! All those weird punk kids went nuts, 'asshole' hardcore kids went nuts, everyone went nuts with sing a longs and stage dives and it was great. They only song they didn't play that I wanted them to was Clenched Fists, Black Eyes, but whatever it still ruled. Kevin was a great front man and he was really concerned about the safety of the kids in the pit which was cool. Whenever someone would get piled on he'd be like "Make sure that person gets up!" even mid-song he'd say it. Really cool dude.

Post-show wrap up:

After the show we took a few pictures and I said goodbyes to all my friends, old and new and we headed to a pizza place where all the Sacramento dude and Kevin Seconds were. It was cool to meet him though I didn't say a lot. We all ate and talked and eventually broke up and everyone went home. Colt almost fell asleep but we made it okay. Then bed.

The next day we were just trying to find stuff to do since the fest/showcase was over. We ended up going to Plead The Fifth's practice spot for a few hours where I discovered my ability to be almost good at drums which was cool. Eventually we left there, picked up Gutto and went to In-And-Out Burger which was cool. Then we went to a bowling alley with an arcade. I played DDR, being the nerd that I am, and then we played Time Crisis 4 and got pretty damn far. After that we decided to call it a night. I said my goodbye to Alex then went to Colt's for bed. In the morning he brought me to the airport and 6 hours later I get home and go to bed. That's about it folks.

React! Records showcase was the shit and I can't wait to go next year.

Peace!

React! Records showcase weekend day 2

Day two was pretty fucking awesome. Colt and I first went and got some food at taco bell, then headed out to Davis, CA to meet up with Mike Resolve and 'Arkansas' crew who were staying with him, Kyle, Jimmie, and Blake. So we get there and hang for a few minutes and then head out to Berkeley which was only around an hour from Davis so it wasn't too, too bad. We get to the venue and we're pretty damn early so we all take one car and head to get vegan pizza nearby. The pizza place was pretty cool, but I've had better. Then we all head to a record store called Amoeba. It was 4 of us in a back seat which is pretty illegal and we started yelling out compliments towards innocent bystanders. "HEY I LIKE YOUR PONYTAIL! HEY YOUR SHOES ARE REALLY NICE! HEY YOUR SHORTS ARE FUCKING AWESOME! HEY NICE OXYGEN MASK!" You know shit like that then suddenly a police officer on a bike pulls up next to us with his hand on his gun holster and he's like "PULL OVER!" We pull over and it turns out he's just pissed about the 4 people in the back seat thing. He ended up being really cool and didn't give anyone a ticket. Me and Colt got out and headed to the record store which was only a few blocks away. The record store was pretty sweet though a bit expensive. We met up with Mike, Kyle, Jimmie, and Blake a few moments after and we all rape the hardcore/punk section. I ended up getting a Resist LP for like 6 bucks and then 7"s from Right Idea, Asshole Parade, Mad Minds and one other I can't remember right now. We decided then to head back to the venue but we didn't wanna risk getting pulled over again so Colt volunteered to trunk it.

Fast forward we get to the venue and there's a line, though not too big. I see some familiar faces immediately like Mike Driggs, C-Murda, and Dylan Press and start talking to them. Then I head to Walgreens real quick and come back and chill in line for a little while before we're all allowed in. I walk into Gilman St and it looks DIY as fuck. After all, it is a historical venue for HC, and it really was awesome as hell! I decide to get the merch situation out of the way so I buy my shit and see some more familiar faces and React boarders like Chris (ChrisxToday) Mahon, Irish pride! So now I'll just give a review of the bands that night and a list of shit I bought. I'll start with the material things. I bought the Get The Most record release LP which was out of... 177 or something like that. I also bought a Get The Most shirt, Damages 7", got a Mourningside 7" for free, bought a It's Okay Not To Drink reprint shirt, Don't Need Drugs reprint shirt, and I think that was it for day one. Now for the bands:

Damages played first and boy was I into this band. Some definitely revolution summer shit going on right here and I loved it. They even did an Embrace cover which ruled. I liked them so much I was enticed to buy a record from them. Seriously, awesome band.

Circles was next and they had a similar feel with the revolution summer thing, though I thought Damages was definitely better. With Circles I liked some songs as the riffs were catchy as hell but some songs were boring to me and I found myself yawning a lot (which I do in general when I just stand in one spot for a long period of time). Sometimes I just have to be in the mood to listen to these kinds of bands, though with Damages I was just into it the whole time.

Gone But Not Forgotten had to drop due to a family emergency which was a bummer, but totally understandable.

True Colors, as usual, was astounding. That band has so much energy it's ridiculous. This was my 4th time seeing them on this tour and 5th time seeing them ever and boy were they great. They opened with Slow Down by Youth Of Today and the place exploded. They did the set they always did except they played a song from the Perspective 7" which was pretty sweet. They covered Straight Ahead and Warzone too which kids were into. Bummer this band is breaking up, but I'm glad to meet those guys and see them as much as I did.

Next was Punch! but I kinda missed them I forget why. I think I heard them from outside and it sounded cool but now I regret missing them for real.

Get The Most was fucking awesome. Seriously one of my favorite current bands in hardcore and this was my 3rd time seeing them and it was fucking great! They played all the songs I love so much, some killer new songs, and played Vitality by Beyond which was fucking unexpected and awesome!

Betrayed headlined and they were pretty damn sweet. I was really digging the new songs they played, especially the song Above The Influence, Against The Grain. I love they intensity they show as an edge band with that style. Kids were flipping and diving and were into it, though not as much as I would expect from the west coast.

Overall day 1 was a fucking blast. There were an absurd amount of people with nice hair. I mean it was pretty ridiculous but if dudes wanna have nice hair, they can have nice hair. There were also some pretty awesome punk kids circle pitting a lot and getting pissed at the 'hardcore kids' who were pushing side to side and karate moshing. Can you blame them? It was funny though. Then we headed back to Colts and called it a night! Stayed tuned for day 3...

React! Records showcase weekend day 1

So when I got my taxes around Feburary I decided that I wanted to attend the React! Records showcase that would be held in Berekely, California on April 9th and 10th. I figured I really liked most of the bands playing and that this would probably be my only chance to see some of the NW bands I'm so fond of. So with my taxes I bought my round-trip plane ticket, which came to about 390 and that was that. Fast forward some months and here I am laying down at my friend Colt's house in Sacramento.

Ieft thursday afternoon, missing my biology lab entirely. I'm most likely gonna fail from the classes which would suck, but who knows I might still have a chance. I left from Bradley International at like 12:40 ish and met up with my friend Dylan there because for some reason we were on the same airline, at the same airport and left at around the same time, but he wasn't flying into Sacramento so we had different flights.

My plane went to Atlanta first and because of some shitty storm I was suck there until around 8:30pm and ended up plsying this computer game to pass the time. So after leaving I ended up getting into Sacramento around 10:30pm because of the time difference. In actuality it took like 5 and a half hours. I was met there by the dudes I'd be staying with, Alex and Colt. They are in a badass band called Plead The Fifth. I ended up attending their band practice that night which was pretty sweet. Then we got burritos at some place that to me wasn't that good, but whatever. Then went to a tattoo shop and met some dudes then Gutto's (Alex) place and met some more dudes then finally Colt's and went to bed.

Bad Days reunion/last show

So my other band, Soul Train, got asked to open for a show in Westfield that happened last night and I completely forgot to get it off from work but due to some last minute contacting, I got someone to cover my shift. The line up of the show was Chuck Brunswick, Boys Club, Stereo State, Bad Days, Rustbelt Lights, Daybreaker, and Soul Train. Honestly I didn't really want to play it just because I don't really like playing shows with Soul Train to begin with for many reasons that I will provide some other day, but we played and I wasn't really into it as usual and neither was anyone else. But anyway Daybreaker was next and they were pretty fucking incredible and sounded like Weezer and did a Weezer cover. I missed the next band because I went to get pizza and it took a zillion years. I got back for Bad Days whose set was a lot more tame than I'd have imagined. Stereo State played and they were hilarious and ended their set with a Kid Dynamite cover which I was stoked on. Boys Club was okay, but not my thing and Chuck Brunswick was cool though at this point there were like no one there. That's all I really have since this show wasn't very appealing to me at all. Peace!

Death Threat Show / Providence Basement Show

So I almost forgot about this whole journal deal so now I'm gonna recap on it a bit. Last wednesday was Jamie Riddle's birthday. He drums for Death Threat and the show line up was originally Death Threat, Living Hell, Shoot To Kill, Revenge, Can't Heal, Reckless, and Vexed. Living Hell ended up cancelling because some members couldn't make it or something. I attended this show with my friend Jake Miller and Steve Pokal. It was a Waterfront show and it was a wednesday so half of me figured a lot of kids wouldn't show, but it was Death Threat and Revenge and I thought a lot of people from out of town would go. It was a decent turnout anyway. A main draw for me was seeing my friends in Vexed since they are from Cape Cod and my other band did a weekend with those dudes a couple months back. I had to come support. They played, though not a lot of people were there at the time, and they fucking killed it. Seriously, they were tight as hell and the songs were great and they even dedicated a Strife cover to me which ruled. Reckless was next and they were cool. Can't Heal I wasn't into like at all. Revenge was next and as usual they killed it. They even covered Burn - Shall Be Judged which was cool, though that is a vegetarian song - oh well. Shoot To Kill were great as well and Death Threat was sweet. In terms of heavier hardcore, I don't get that involved where I move around or anything, but it's cool stuff. I prefer 90s kinda metal -influenced vegan animal/civil rights shit you know like Strife, Green Rage, Torn Apart, Snapcase, Earth Crisis, etc stuff like that, but I also like thrash influenced shit and somewhat heavy NYHC stuff. Too many damn categories... but the show overall was long as hell, but ultimately fun. Good times.

Fast forward to saturday aka Awesome Providence Weekend 2010. In the morning I got my backpack together and headed to the bus terminal to take the Peter Pan bus into Providence. I got in around 1:30 ish and my friend Cooper from the Cape (Cod) met me there. We went on this street that was a strip of stores/restaurants called Thayer Street and walked down a bit then ended up going to Providence Place where we met his friend whose name I forgot already, but then headed back to Thayer to get Cooper some shorts and to get some pizza from Nice Slice. Nice Slice was a pizza place with a lot of cool vegan options. They even have a pizza called the Earth Crisis which was awesome. There we met up with Ian Adams who drove from NJ, Tim, Jon Cen, and some other cool dudes I ended up meeting. We ate there and then went to the park for a couple hours because the weather was so damn good. There my friend Felicia and Charlie met up with us and we hung out for another 30 minutes or so before heading back to Nice Slice. There I met up with Mike Puffer, Kara, Chelsea, Shawn, Bobby, Shana, and these other two kids whose name I forgot my bad. We ate some pizza then broke up with Mike and Kara and went to some Cafe. Then after that me and Cooper went back to Nice Slice (again) and saw Craig and Dan from Waste Management. Talked to them for some minutes then headed to the show. On the way we almost died because Cooper's GPS told us to turn down a one way and we did and there were a lot of cars coming towards us.

We got to the show and it was a cool environment. A lot of people were hanging out outside and there were a lot of familiar faces. Too many people I can't even begin to name but it was a great time and I'll go through my reviews of the bands and their sets.

First band was Tabernackle, and earlier in the park and at Nice Slice I hung out with their drummer, Jeff, who turned out to be a cool dude. Tabernackle was pretty awesome and gave me a 90s kinda vibe. One that I like a lot and kinda reminded me of early Trial a little bit. They also covered Project X - Straight Edge Revenge which is a cover that's done a lot, but I always lose my shit to. Wolf Whistle and Free Spirit both had to drop and the members of Neon Bitches weren't all there so Waste Management was next and their set was pretty fucking awesome. A lot of cramped moshing and singing along. Very fun times. Next up was fucking RAMPAGE and I haven't seen them before up until this point and I had been listening to the LP and the 7" a lot the week before so I was amped. They were fucking great and kids went apeshit. It was also discovered that they would start playing more shows and only didn't play more shows because no one asked them to play. Haha. Rival Mob went on after and as usual they killed it. Brendan even crowd surfed (mind you the ceiling of the basement was inches above my head and I'm 6' 4) He also ended up chewing on the insulation that was on the ceiling. Fun fucking times. The aftershow we all hung out outside for a bit and talked about this and that and said our goodbyes to a lot of people. I was gonna head to Worcester with Puffer and Kara so we all went to Nice Slice one last time for some hangouts. Almost saw a chick fight but didn't, which was a bummer. Then we headed to Worcester and went to bed. The next morning was Easter and I just went home. Overall the weekend ruled. I love hardcore and all my friends. Sounds cheesey as fuck, but it couldn't be more true.

United Blood Day 2/Heading to Baltimore

Day 2 of United Blood was pretty fucking awesome. We woke up around 8am or so and a bunch of the dudes from Buffalo went to the pool/hot tub. I decided to show instead. After they came back we decided to head with them to Wawa while Eric and his friend, whose name I just forgot because I tend to forget names real fast but I think it was Alex, stayed in the hotel. At Wawa I got this amazing veggie hoagie and a half gallon of the infamous Wawa iced tea. So we all ate and shit and went to Whole Foods after since a few of the Buffalo dudes have never been to Whole Foods. It was cool there and we went to Trader Joes after since they've never been there either. After some horsing around in there and buying a few goodies we briefly stopped at Petco in hopes to see some cool dogs but there were none but greyhounds so we went back to the hotel. We dropped off our shit and headed to the show. Got to the venue and copped some sweet gear, including some from Flooprunch who had stuff set up for some reason though they didn't play that night. I missed Concrete Reality which was a bummer because I recently met one of the members and I wanted to check them out. Next I think was Harms Way and I missed them because I'm not a super huge fan. The order of the rest of the bands are a bit hazy to me so I'll just talk about the bands I remember seeing and liking. Free Spirit killed it. This was the first time I've seen them outside of Massachusetts so I wasn't sure how wild it would get, but it was easily the best time I've seen them. They covered Slow Down by Youth Of Today and a Rampage cover. They also played the new songs from the upcoming 7" and kids went ballistic. Another honorable set was Fire & Ice. I have their 7" and I was really into it as it reminded me a lot of Leeway. It just so happened that they began their set with GI Joe Headstomp exactly how Sick Of It All did it in their early live shows and I lost it. Fire & Ice all around was pretty impressive to me. The Rival Mob completely killed it as well as it was on of the best Mob set's I've seen. Steel Nation was pretty cool. Mind Eraser sounded evil and it was awesome. Wasted Time also killed it. I went to get Falafel sometime after Mind Eraser and once again lost track of time and missed Foundation, which I was later really bummed about. Also missed Maximum Penalty who was someone I really wanted to see, but as it grew later I was just so tired I didn't want to move or do anything. We headed back to the venue to kinda watch Bracewar, then Blacklisted, then Cold World without Dan singing. Something happened with his kid and he couldn't make it so George from Blacklisted sang a couple songs and a bunch of other dudes sang and their set was ridiculous as hell. Then the moment came for Madball. This would be my first time seeing them and I had no idea what to expect and being the wimp that I am I was in the far back where I had a clear view of the stage and pit. After what seemed like forever they finally got set up to play and I could tell it was gonna be nuts. They started playing and kids went fucking chaotic. Lots of ninjas starting spinning and kicking, lots of pile ons, stage dives, headwalks, singalongs, you name it and it was going on. At one point they played some really old stuff like Get Out and I came out from under the shell and had to join in and it ruled. Then the show ended and we all went outside. I said my goodbyes to those I wouldn't see after that night. Then we went back to the hotel, this time with Dan of Future-Breed photography fame and watched videos of some kid called Tsim Fuckis and went to bed. The next morning the first batch of Buffalo kids whose names me and Easy tried to get down the entire weekend: Brian, Shaun, Arty, Mike left a bit early to Buffalo. We sat around the hotel talking about random hardcore stuff and left around 10. Now I'm on the road with Easy driving and Dan sleeping in the back seat. We're listening to Bound (singer of Kid Dynamite's old band 90s vegan hardcore) as we head to DC to eat at a vegan cafe/restaurant/bakery joint called Sticky Fingers, then the MIndset record release, which should prove to be an awesome show for sure.

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So we ended up going to Sticky Fingers and that place was pretty damn awesome. I bought some Clubwich or something which consisted of vegan bacon, ham, turkey with lettuce, tomato, and veganaise which ruled. I also got a cookie cupcake which was sweet. After that we drove to the show in Baltimore and found a nice parking spot. In the show I saw a bunch of familiar faces. Outlast dudes, my friend Ben from Deleware, Nate from New Jersey, and a bunch of others. Eventually the place got packed which was cool because that venue was probably one of the best venues around. So let's fast forward to the bands. Outlast played first and they ruled. I seriously love those dudes. Next band was Force Fed, another band I love. So fast, so pissed, but it seems there's never kids losing their shit, including me, but my excuse is that I usually need someone to ignite the chaos. I join in shortly after. Thought Crusade is yet another current band I fucking love. It appeared consisted of all my current favorites in hardcore, which is awesome. Rival Mob was after that and they fucking KILLED it. I enjoyed their set here way more than at United Blood. United Blood was chaotic, but I like smaller venues where it's more intimate and there's not a million kids in the way. Then was True Colors, who also had an amazing reaction, especially their ending cover of Straight Ahead where I broke my x swatch, unfortunately. It can easily be fixed so that's cool. Last band was Mindset. Best fucking time I've ever seen them. Place went completely nuts with stage dives, sing alongs, and intense pitting. A light was even broken. They also covered Living A Lie by Side By Side which made my night. All around the show ruled. I met some new people, saw a lot of old friends, saw pretty much every band I'm super into these days, and bought some cool stuff. After the show we decided to go get food instead of watching the 2nd show. We went to Brick Oven Pizza and met up with Bobby, Shana, Claire, Chris, Gaby, Nikki, Cendrowski, and some others. It ruled and we ended the night by almost getting kicked out of the place because they had a jukebox and actually had hardcore bands on it. I guess it was online based. So we played Can We Start Again by Bane, Something More Than Ink by Have Heart and ended it with Firestorm by Earth Crisis in which me, Cendrowski, and Chris Alaska, but Chris lost it and ended up moshing until he got outside. Then we all said our goodbyes and Mike started playing the Firestorm intro by beeping his horn and Chris moshed again, throwing his soda all over the place. Now we're driving back. Me, Puffer, Kara, and Dan and we're chatting it up in the car. Peace!

United Blood weekend

United Blood day 1 was pretty fun. We got there and there was already a line. I saw a bunch of people I knew which was cool and then stood in line. The only interesting thing about waiting in line was some drunk homeless guy calling someone (not sure if this person existed) a "faggot" and that he wanted to fight them. So fast forward we get inside and I decide to get the True Colors merchrun out of the way. We played with them the night before but I didn't really get anything then and wanted to get stuff people they over crowded with people (which didn't really happen) but I got this sweet basebell jacket among other things. Let me just say this now I do like a lot of current hardcore bands as there aren't many bands I don't like, but on the real I mostly went to United Blood to see True Colors as many times as possible on their tour and see a bunch of friends that I would only see at fests. With that said I didn't really watch Dry Spell much though from what I heard they sounded pretty damn sweet. Donnybrook really isn't my thing but some of their songs I was really feeling. Backtrack was fucking awesome and they are everything I imagine when it comes to current bands doing the NYHC thing. True Colors has an amazing reaction as there were a lot more kids here than Haverhill and I'm fucking stoked for them. Awesome set as usual and tons of kids were into it, stagediving, piling up and singing along. My friend Easy from Virginia, who was originally supposed to drive up to Haverhill for the show and drive back bringing me, also missed True Colors here because he got stuck in thick DC traffic. After True Colors me Brian, John, and Cendrowski headed to this falafel place and man was it delicious. We were there talking almost 3 hours and didn't even realizing it and we missed Swamp Thing, Naysayer, Alpha & Omega, Dead End Path's suprise set, and probably one band I'm forgetting. Oh well. I missed Title Fight's set too but it was because Mr. Taylor Steele of Four Wall Falling fame found me and me him and my friend Joey were talking outside about 80s hardcore which was pretty cool. I'm kinda forgetful of what happened but Easy finally arrived and he was bummed to miss True Colors. I ended up checking out the Triple B table to learn yet another Floorpunch show was gonna happen in June which I got stoked on.

So Paint It Black blew me away and I missed Death Threat. I'm not big into really crowded shows. After the show we followed Eric back to the hotel, which was farther away from the venue than we had imagined. It was also a pretty sweet hotel called Hillton and there were 8 of us in a room booked for 2. They ended up being really cool dudes so it was cool. The conversations they were having were pretty insane too. But anyway we went to sleep around 1:30 or so instead of going to Econolodge where everyone else I knew just so happened to be staying. And that ended day 1 of United Blood.

True Colors in Haverhill / On the road to United Blood

So since I've recently rediscovered my passion for writing again (or typing, rather) I've decided from this day forth to write a journal of my experiences in hardcore. Sure there are many things that happened in the past 3 years that were also important to me but I'd say it's better late than never. I don't know who would be reading this in the future, but this is just another outlet one could say. So here it goes.

Thursday night (yesterday) Mike and Kyle picked me up because we had a show at the venue Anchors Up in Haverhill, MA. The bill was The Rival Mob, True Colors, Alert, Street Sweeper and Caught In A Crowd. Wolf Whistle was supposed to play but something happened and they had to drop off. So we headed out, picking up our crusty friend, Nick Pajak, along the way. Fast forward we get to the show around 7pm ish and the show hadn't started, which I was glad about since I wanted to see all of the bands. So we got there and set up our shirts, which was a second batch of the yellow ink on black shirt that Jay Jacoby had stirred up for us since the first ones got burned in an unfortunate housefire. We also had probably half a dozen 7"s left so it was cool to actually have stuff at a show for once.

So then the first band, Caught In A Crowd played and they were fucking awesome. They were way tighter live than I expected (I always say that though I don't really know what I expect to begin with) but they killed it and did a Bold cover. I just missed the first song because I was outside briefly with a couple friends. A lot of kids from Cape Cod came out to support the show which was cool too.

Second band that played was Street Sweeper. They were heavier new york style which I'm all about, but their set was a bit sloppy. Regardless I was into it and would see them again for sure. I made sure to grab one of their demos.

Next was us, Alert. This show would be our first with our new drummer, Brendan, who actually sang in the Rival Mob. We've only practiced about 3 times and they weren't very consistent at all so I was a bit nervous about how things would turn out, even though he did learn the songs extremely fast when we did practice. We opened with Find Your Way and pretty much played the whole demo except for Stay Alert. We also covered Sick Of It All and Turning Point which had cool reactions. I guess we sounded good which was cool to hear.

After us was True Colors. Let me just say that True Colors is my favorite current band in hardcore and it was fucking awesome to not only see them, but play a show on their last US tour. They were ridiculously good and it should be cool seeing them 3 more times on their tour. They covered Straight Ahead, Warzone, and Youth Of Today and you can't go wrong with that!

Last was Boston's own Rival Mob. As usual, Brendan's stage banter was hilarious and their songs were awesome. Kids were into it, though I'm extremely excited to see how RIchmond is gonna be since I heard that when they played there with Free Spirit a little while ago it was absolutely insane.

So that was the show. Kids bought shit which was cool, and I got to talk to a lot of people I haven't seen in a while. I had with my a piece of luggage with some clothes and shit and my laptop because I'd be leaving to Richmond Virginia for United Blood fest that night. I rode along with my boy Brian who sings in Caught In A Crowd and this kid John, who is also cool. We actually entered Virginia not too long ago finally after driving through the night and stopping at a Jersey rest stop for 4 hours to sleep in the car. So that's about it. In the car now rocking out to Shelter's album Mantra as we draw closer to RIchmond. Today should turn out to be pretty awesome. Peace!

Change Of Direction

So I've decided since not a lot of people know about this blog, I'm going to turn this into a hardcore blog. I'm going to post about going to shows and playing shows and that overall experience of hanging out and seeing some awesome (and some horrible) bands. It's whatever, so for those few who will have discovered this blog or to the one person who follows it, enjoy!