After all the bands on Friday a lot of it started to blur together apart from the bands I particularly wanted to see.
The first of these was Mammoth Grinder who are half of Hatred Surge and another guy on drums playing grindy metalic stuff really fucking well. After that was Deep Sleep who although didn't really fit really sound wise with most of the other bands playing were really great. Also chatted to them for a while as they'd played with The Shitty Limits and one of them put out the Beware The Limits CD in the states.
They'd sorted out In's and Outs for this day so I shot out to grab food and got back to see Hatred Surge finally after hearing tons of good shit about them and having a bunch of their records and they more than lived up to it. Only down side was there was another fight during their set although I haven't got a clue why.
I then missed a bunch of bands as I was chatting to guys from Deep Sleep, watching their merch and trying to flog a bunch of 7"s I had with me. I know Brace War played then and a bunch of others but nothing I could really care about. Ceremony played a second set on the small stage whilst I was sitting at the merch table so it was right on the other side of a perspect plastic window and it was going so nuts that at several times I thought the window was going to bust through and I'd have 20 odd kids and a window on top of me. I also totally forgot that they cover Pressure's On by Red C which is, baring SOA's tracks and maybe Void, the highlight of the Flex Your Head comp for me. I also got a chance to talk to the singer of Deep Sleep about how great Pillsbury Hardcore are and found he had a live tape of 80 tracks of theirs (including a ton of covers) that I'd never heard before. I also bumped into a guy from Newcastle who knew Barlow and who's band (Wraith or Writhe, I get the two confused all the time sorry) had done a long weekend with Hang The Bastard and played the Rot In Hell release gig I drove part of HTB to.
The next band I watched was Despise You who I've been wanting to see for years and in fact came close to seeing them about 2 years ago when I was in Cali and they were playing 2 days after I flew out but despite my frantic efforts to change flights it failed and I missed it. They were fucking great and well worth the wait and played everything I wanted to hear.
The next band I was was Cold World, not a band I ever listen to on record or actually own any of but they were pretty entertaining live in London a couple of years back. It was pretty good watching them just because of the crowd response. Part way through the set however some kid must have taken a really bad head shot as he legged it out and collapsed in the corner in the fetal position clutching his head. All security did was make him move a few feet away from the stage power transformer and then walk away so I legged it to get him a bottle of water. When I got back he was on his feet and walking heading to the back/outside but I didn't see him again to see if he was better (I later found out from a message from him on a message board he wasn't too badly hurt in the end just had a ban migraine for about 12 hours luckily).
After this it was Mind Eraser as the second to last band of the night and I'd heard they were great live and they definatly lived up to it, starting with a cover of Systems Overloaded and getting better from there. What was strange though was the crowd reaction to it. I expected the people who watched Despise You to be into it but it was seeing the sheer amount of "bro moshers" standing looking bored and uninterested during the stuff with odd time signatures, the blasts and the dirgy parts then going off with windmills and kicks to the moshy bits.
Finally it was Floorpunch who were great and played all I wanted to hear, so good I even broke my no stage diving rule twice in 1 weekend. Nothing more I can add to how good it was. I did although have to ask someone if my nose was straight after one song as I was pretty sure I'd broken it but as it was straight and no blood was gushing out I guess the noise could have been someone else's or something.
Sunday, 9 August 2009
Friday, 7 August 2009
Day 3 Friday
After breakfast I started chatting to some people from Ohio trying to blag a car ride too and from the venue but i turned out they didn't have a car so instead hung out with them and got a bus together to the fest. As we got there way too early we walked into the nearest hotel we saw and hung around its pool.
After standing around in line for well over an hour to get in and after joking about how shit it would be to have no re-entry we got in and found it was no re-entry....
The frist band up I had no clue what they were called only that it started with an X and they were shit. The layout was a big stage and a smaller one each alternating so there was no down time but also no overlaps would have worked great in practice but the PA on the smaller stage was shocking.
The first band on the smaller stage was Nails and as I suck at describing stuff was just quality. Following them was a series of Texas bands, Power Trip, Crucified and possibly on more who were all pretty good. On the main stage was No Tolerance playing fast, hard straight edge stuff with a YOT and AF cover to boot. Some other band went on who I can't remember, it was about the that I went to check out was food was going and found out literally the only stuff to eat was meat so went hungry.
The next band on the main stage was Get The Most starting with a YOT cover and continuing with well done youth crew. The Carrier played but it was just bland from what I remember so didn't bother watching them. The same went for Alpha and Omega who where alright but nothing special at all. Up next was Mother Of Mercy who I've got 7"s of but never really listened too (apparently the lp's the one to go for anyways) so was kinda surprised by how good it was. Following was Dry Rot who really suffered from the shit PA but were still fucking great and fully pulled off the nuts front man thing without looking contrived at all. On the main stage then was Knife Fight who were the main band for me that day and one of the reasons I decided to include this on the trip. They played everything I wanted to bear bar the Nihilists cover but covered YDI and Discharge which more than made up for it. I even broke my self imposed stage dive ban (I injure myself badly to often doing stupid shit) during Hypocrit. Straight after KF played I also scored their first 7" and the Oath 7" on green for $5 each.
The Mongoloids followed and I'd never heard them until I saw them in London recently and was pleasantly surprised. The reaction for them was nuts, giant circle pits and a ton of stage dives. Iron Age went up next and I don't really get how this band is quite so big, I've never really bothered to listen to them beyond maybe 1 or 2 tracks but it just sounded like hardcore trying to be metal but not going far enough and aimed at people who want to say they like metal but don't really. But ton's of kids were going off to it so they must be doing something right I guess. Also during their set a fight broke out for some reason and I saw some guy leaping off the stage to punch some guy and the guy that got punched was then led out by security bleeding they also had a power cut during one song.
After that the whole lack of food thing was really taking it
s toll and as the remaining bands (Blacklisted, Ceremony, Trapped Under Ice and possibly one more were ones I'd either seen before or weren't that interested in me, Scott, Lukas and Ariel (the people from Ohio I'd met) went off to get some food and relax in the hotel hot tub until getting kicked out of
it by the staff cause it'd been closed for an hour.
After standing around in line for well over an hour to get in and after joking about how shit it would be to have no re-entry we got in and found it was no re-entry....
The frist band up I had no clue what they were called only that it started with an X and they were shit. The layout was a big stage and a smaller one each alternating so there was no down time but also no overlaps would have worked great in practice but the PA on the smaller stage was shocking.
The first band on the smaller stage was Nails and as I suck at describing stuff was just quality. Following them was a series of Texas bands, Power Trip, Crucified and possibly on more who were all pretty good. On the main stage was No Tolerance playing fast, hard straight edge stuff with a YOT and AF cover to boot. Some other band went on who I can't remember, it was about the that I went to check out was food was going and found out literally the only stuff to eat was meat so went hungry.
The next band on the main stage was Get The Most starting with a YOT cover and continuing with well done youth crew. The Carrier played but it was just bland from what I remember so didn't bother watching them. The same went for Alpha and Omega who where alright but nothing special at all. Up next was Mother Of Mercy who I've got 7"s of but never really listened too (apparently the lp's the one to go for anyways) so was kinda surprised by how good it was. Following was Dry Rot who really suffered from the shit PA but were still fucking great and fully pulled off the nuts front man thing without looking contrived at all. On the main stage then was Knife Fight who were the main band for me that day and one of the reasons I decided to include this on the trip. They played everything I wanted to bear bar the Nihilists cover but covered YDI and Discharge which more than made up for it. I even broke my self imposed stage dive ban (I injure myself badly to often doing stupid shit) during Hypocrit. Straight after KF played I also scored their first 7" and the Oath 7" on green for $5 each.
The Mongoloids followed and I'd never heard them until I saw them in London recently and was pleasantly surprised. The reaction for them was nuts, giant circle pits and a ton of stage dives. Iron Age went up next and I don't really get how this band is quite so big, I've never really bothered to listen to them beyond maybe 1 or 2 tracks but it just sounded like hardcore trying to be metal but not going far enough and aimed at people who want to say they like metal but don't really. But ton's of kids were going off to it so they must be doing something right I guess. Also during their set a fight broke out for some reason and I saw some guy leaping off the stage to punch some guy and the guy that got punched was then led out by security bleeding they also had a power cut during one song.
After that the whole lack of food thing was really taking it
s toll and as the remaining bands (Blacklisted, Ceremony, Trapped Under Ice and possibly one more were ones I'd either seen before or weren't that interested in me, Scott, Lukas and Ariel (the people from Ohio I'd met) went off to get some food and relax in the hotel hot tub until getting kicked out of
it by the staff cause it'd been closed for an hour.
Day 2 Thursday
After saying bye to Yosef and being loaded up with a ton of stupidly expensive dark chocolate he'd come into possession of and vegan muffins for the trip I got to his house to pick up my pack only to find I was locked out and his roommate gone with 30 mins until I had to leave for the airport. Luckly Martie was around the corner and had a key.
As soon as I walked into SFO I bumped into Larry waiting for his mate to go get lunch. Once checking in for my flight to sound and fury the guy behind the counter advised me to make sure the ladies "hear your accent".
Once I got to LAX then the fun started. The cheap express link I had be told about didn't actually exist so I could either pay for a taxi to do a hour and a half drive blowing at least two days budget, or see if a train was going. So I phoned up Amtrak and reserved a $20 ticket leaving at 7pm. As it was 5.30 I thought that was plenty of time but as I put the phone down the bust to the station left. The next one got stuck in LA traffic and go me their at 7.10pm . luckily there was a bus at 9.10pm so I got a ticket. when wondering around the station some guy gave me a knowing nod and a smile, assuming it was the "your wearing a hardcore shirt" nob I nodded back then noticed he was covered in Nazi prison tats and I'm thinking he might have misunderstood my SSD shirt. I managed to befriend a homeless guy who stopped and saluted street cleaners and recommended me a quality cheap Mexican place. I then killed the rest of the time reading in a small garden off the side of union station reading and watching a wild raccoon play in a tree before getting the bus to Oxnard.
As soon as I walked into SFO I bumped into Larry waiting for his mate to go get lunch. Once checking in for my flight to sound and fury the guy behind the counter advised me to make sure the ladies "hear your accent".
Once I got to LAX then the fun started. The cheap express link I had be told about didn't actually exist so I could either pay for a taxi to do a hour and a half drive blowing at least two days budget, or see if a train was going. So I phoned up Amtrak and reserved a $20 ticket leaving at 7pm. As it was 5.30 I thought that was plenty of time but as I put the phone down the bust to the station left. The next one got stuck in LA traffic and go me their at 7.10pm . luckily there was a bus at 9.10pm so I got a ticket. when wondering around the station some guy gave me a knowing nod and a smile, assuming it was the "your wearing a hardcore shirt" nob I nodded back then noticed he was covered in Nazi prison tats and I'm thinking he might have misunderstood my SSD shirt. I managed to befriend a homeless guy who stopped and saluted street cleaners and recommended me a quality cheap Mexican place. I then killed the rest of the time reading in a small garden off the side of union station reading and watching a wild raccoon play in a tree before getting the bus to Oxnard.
Day 1 Wednesday
Having planned to have an aisle seat I ended up being shoved in the back corner with a window against a bulk head so the seat wouldn't even go back. Having looked up towards the end of the flight from watching Hugh Lourie patch up someones head on house I saw some teenagers forehead explode and blood piss down his face and the stewards trying to find a doctor on the plane, having found one to look after him the kid had to stay laying on the floor landing and if I have had the aisle seat he would have been right at my feet.
After the usual long wait to get my photo taken and finger prints scanned at customs I must have failed a question as I got sent to a secondary interview and security check in a deportation area staffed by guys who seemed to have been hired on the basis of having necks the width as their heads. After spending about 20 mins sitting and wondering if this was going to be my shortest trip to the sets yet it was time for my interview so I used the same method I normally use when dealing with American cops and bouncers and put spending most of my life living in the home counties to good use. I put on the most well spoken, soft Hugh Grant esq. voice I could and answered a series of annoying questions about what I was doing, what I do back home, what qualifications I hold, how I know the guy I was staying with for the first night and even what my dad did as a job before stamping my passport. I also had to reanswer the "how much cash do you have on you" part as it turns out the first interviewer hadn't worked out that when I said $50 in my pocket and plenty more in my bank account that you can withdraw money from a bank account with debit card.
After that the final Houston to San Fran leg was relatively painless minus a baby right in front of my seat who altinated between crying and playing games with me and this time the window seat paid off with a stunning view.
Once I arrived I managed to borrow a phone off a stranger to track down Yosef and met him at a Bart station to be presented with a record list of stuff he had on hold for me at 1234GO! records so I arranged for him to pick a few of them up for me but had to pass on several as I couldn't afford to drop $40 on the Devour pressing of 9 Shocks - Zen and the art..... but an $8 comp with Born Against as well as a few Voorhees 7"s to have as doubles in my collection made up for it.
After dinner with him, Erin, Brand and eventually Ryan E I headed back to Yosef's to spent the night and give him a present of various records and shirts I'd grabbed for him and he gave me a whole ton of stuff he was getting rid of including a ton of CD's to keep me going in Australia until my records made it over as well as a stack of cheesy euro straight edge 7"s that he knows love but most importantly the triple Unbroken lp he picked up for me. I also arrainged to buy Reality 2 and 3 comps as well as a few others and most importantly get first shot at his Gehenna - War of the.... CD that I have been after for a long long time. After that I crashed out.
After the usual long wait to get my photo taken and finger prints scanned at customs I must have failed a question as I got sent to a secondary interview and security check in a deportation area staffed by guys who seemed to have been hired on the basis of having necks the width as their heads. After spending about 20 mins sitting and wondering if this was going to be my shortest trip to the sets yet it was time for my interview so I used the same method I normally use when dealing with American cops and bouncers and put spending most of my life living in the home counties to good use. I put on the most well spoken, soft Hugh Grant esq. voice I could and answered a series of annoying questions about what I was doing, what I do back home, what qualifications I hold, how I know the guy I was staying with for the first night and even what my dad did as a job before stamping my passport. I also had to reanswer the "how much cash do you have on you" part as it turns out the first interviewer hadn't worked out that when I said $50 in my pocket and plenty more in my bank account that you can withdraw money from a bank account with debit card.
After that the final Houston to San Fran leg was relatively painless minus a baby right in front of my seat who altinated between crying and playing games with me and this time the window seat paid off with a stunning view.
Once I arrived I managed to borrow a phone off a stranger to track down Yosef and met him at a Bart station to be presented with a record list of stuff he had on hold for me at 1234GO! records so I arranged for him to pick a few of them up for me but had to pass on several as I couldn't afford to drop $40 on the Devour pressing of 9 Shocks - Zen and the art..... but an $8 comp with Born Against as well as a few Voorhees 7"s to have as doubles in my collection made up for it.
After dinner with him, Erin, Brand and eventually Ryan E I headed back to Yosef's to spent the night and give him a present of various records and shirts I'd grabbed for him and he gave me a whole ton of stuff he was getting rid of including a ton of CD's to keep me going in Australia until my records made it over as well as a stack of cheesy euro straight edge 7"s that he knows love but most importantly the triple Unbroken lp he picked up for me. I also arrainged to buy Reality 2 and 3 comps as well as a few others and most importantly get first shot at his Gehenna - War of the.... CD that I have been after for a long long time. After that I crashed out.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
