Because of privacy reasons information in regards to location and date have been omitted.



Because of privacy reasons information in regards to location and date have been omitted.

Here’s the deal: I’ve only recently become immersed in the hardcore scene, and because I feel I don’t know the scene or the music well enough to give a fair and accurate depiction of each of these band’s sounds, my most accurate means of conveying my experience, apart from a general description of the show, is through my photos, as well as those of photographer Nathan Congleton.

The show space was perfect. Wide and open enough that you could see the stage from wherever you stood, but small enough so the room didn’t feel half-empty. The selection of bands was great, ranging from a collection of younger, less established bands, to bands with a secure following, pretty much in that order. As an outsider, I was intrigued to see the difference between the younger bands and the older bands, in regards to stage presence, confidence, and the crowd reaction they inspired, but this is something that applies to most genres of music. It seems like a key part to becoming a successful hardcore band is writing lyrics striking and effective enough that fans can remember them and sing along, because as anyone will quickly realize at a show, hardcore is very much a crowd-inclusive kind of music. The more that kids can sing along and become a part of the performance, the more they’ll get into it, and the more effective your music will be. As far as how to write the most effective lyrics, you should probably ask one of the guys from Ceremony.

One thing I’ve noticed that’s different about hardcore though (and this applies to a certain extent to punk and metal as well), is the trend of having an overwhelming number of acts, in this case 6, but in many cases, much more than that. I can only imagine that this is a virtue of the shorter length of the average hardcore song as well as the shorter lifespan of the average hardcore band.

The bands, in the order that they played, are as follows: Results, True Life, Hardside (same line up as Results minus one guitarist and with a different singer), Stick Together, Skin Like Iron (who shares two members with Ceremony), and Ceremony.

A few key elements of the show before my little photo montage:

The drummer from Results and Hardside, who had been on tour for three weeks at this point, had been playing the entire tour with a broken foot. And he didn’t just play, he fucking killed it. This kind of dedication and guts is what continues to blow my mind about the hardcore scene. I would definitely recommend keeping your eyes on this kid, he’s got balls as big as my head.

Stick Together’s singer Hoodrack (also of War Hungry), on top of having a great presence and a good handle on what it means to be a frontman, is a funny, funny, son of a bitch, who tells the most random, tangential, but still pretty entertaining stories in the middle of sets. Ask him how the ride down to Richmond went.

Ceremony’s frontman is fucking nuts in the best way possible. Period. Here’s some pictures:

Many, many thanks to those that put on the show, your spot is great. Thanks also to the bands that work their dicks off so we can enjoy their music, and to Nathan Congleton for the great photos and for letting me use his bad ass fish-eye lense.