First of all, thanks to traffic we got there 2 hours later that we had expected. We got in just as Civic Progress was starting. I may have been the excitement of finally getting to the fest and out of the car, but they sounded awesome; I picked up a demo. Luckily the lineup had shifted, and we didn't miss Wasted Time. The last time I saw them they blew me away, and the new 7" rips. They played awesome, and got a great reaction. Acid Reflux was next, and played great. I fell in love w/ their demo (which was repressed on No Way), and they played even better. Their songs are so stripped down and raw. We left to get some food, since we hadn't eaten since the morning. We found a burrito place around the corner, which had the worst burritos I've ever had in my life. It was more like a pizza w/ beans inside. We had to just listen to Social Circkle from outside. The club was interesting in that there were tons of windows and garage doors, so you could hear almost perfectly outside. Stayed outside regretting the burritos during Caustic Christ, who played a lot off the new LP (which I wasn't as fond of). Direct Control was next, and It's been almost a year since I saw them last. They played even better than they normally do, and did a good mix of old and new. They even played "Hardcore for Heroin," which I haven't seen them play in a long time. Career Suicide made a rare appearance, piggy-backing on Fucked Up's tour dates. Since their guitarist is in Fucked Up, they haven't really done too much lately. They played a ton of stuff off the new LP, which was cool to hear live. The last tour they did they were selling the new LP, so it was the first time seeing them where I actually knew the songs. Lots of energy/ lots of fun, and it was only 9pm!
There was an after party show at a warehouse not too far away. We stopped off at a supermarket for brews (for my crew), and iced tea for me. We got there before most of the crowd, and just hung out w/ people. There were some hoola hoop competitions, and lots of drinking. Bad Advice were supposed to play, but their singer was either too drunk or missing. The Fratboys played first, which seemed to have members of Socialcide. Not too bad raw fast hardcore, with a sweet SSD cover. Life Crisis, who I had done a show for earlier that week, played next. They sounded even better at this show, which was the end of their tour. A great way to end a tour for sure. The Inmates were next, and due to the amount of drinking everyone was doing, I knew it'd be awesome. They opened up w/ "cement shoes," and the hoola hoops and milk crates went flying. People were running around like maniacs, and throwing fireworks. After getting hit in the throat with a hoola hoop, and almost narrowly deflecting a crate w/ my forearm, I decided to move to the side. They probably played the best set of the weekend. Fucked Up played next, and I haven't been too keen on the most recent Fucked Up material, so I sat this one out. They played a handful of covers (Blitz, Black Flag, the Nubs, Poison Idea), but none of them were too great. There were maybe 3 other sober people at this, but I think it was more fun. Best weirdo was the dude w/ the Hurricane 40 and A W.K. tattoos, who was hoola hooping while balancing on a wire spool. Then when he fell, some girl got on top of him, and they started making out.
I didn't sleep much that night, since I slept on a chair. We went out for breakfast, then to check out the huge weird cemetary. We found some weird looking tombstones, and someone named "Morecock," which we all took pictures of. The show this day started later, which was cool, but ended later. Socialcide was playing first today, and I was excited to finally see them, since their demo ripped. I expected them to be good, but holy shit, what a great way to kick off the day. Deep Sleep rose from the dead earlier this year, along w/ some members of the Spark. I had loved their 7", it had an almost poppy vibe, but still stayed real punk. It was cool to finally see them live, but the crowd didn't seem into them since they weren't super fast. Next was Cloak Dagger, who I'd seen before. I think they're ok, a little too slick sounding for my liking. I had heard a lot of great things about Life Trap's live show, and the songs I heard online were pretty cool. Nothing I heard could have prepared me for one of the tightest, most energetic sets of the fest. They blazed through their songs and awesome covers of Koro and Articles of Faith, all while the singer had his fly down. A hard act to follow, but Chronic Seizure were definitely up for it, despite probably being almost twice Life Trap's age. Both of their 7"s are great, and highly recommended. Cardiac Arrest was another band I was excited to see for the first time as well. I loved both of their records, and the singer's voice is a dead ringer for Choke (Negative FX, Last Rites, Slapshot). They were awesome, and someone finally suceeded in taking off the singer's bandanna. After seeing Government Warning a ton of times, I know I'm always in for a high quality show. Despite their singer almost breaking his neck at the show the day before, they tore through the usual set and surprisingly played no covers. Double Negative were a band I'd been hearing a lot of good things about, so when their LP finally came out, I ordered it right away. I was definitely not let down, and my expectations were high for their set. They played really awesome, but unfortunately it seemed like a lot of people left since it was getting late. Their loss, since Double Negative were one of the best sets of the night. Up next was the much anticipated Sick Pleasure set. I'd seen Nicki Sicki weirding around outside the past 2 days, but didn't see any other old weirdos with him. Turns out it was just 3/4 of Government Warning as his backing band. They played a handful of songs, and were tons of fun. He even pulled his pants down during "I've Got Herpes," and was waving his dick around. They ended their set with a cover of "sonic reducer" by the Dead Boys. The show ended pretty late, and I didn't get home until like 6am. If I had a job, I would've been tired going to it.
Thanks to Brandon and Lauren for setting up such an awesome fest. Thanks to everyone who picked up one of the posters I made. It means a lot to this unemployed artist.
*Normally these reviews would be coupled with photos I took. Unfortunately w/ my hard drive crashing, I lost all of my website files. At the same time, my parents took the camera I usually use on vacation with them. Seems I'm out of the show photography scene for a little while.*
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