Power Trip at Acheron last night (more by Lukas Hodge)

Crossver thrash crew Power Trip (with drummer Chris Ulsh in tow) played a late night show at Acheron last night (4/19), with support from Brain Slug and Altered Boys. The show was a stop on the incendiary live band's current tour, one that will take the Texas residents to the New England Metal and Hardcore Fest this weekend. More pictures from the Acheron are available at InvisibleOranges.

Speaking of impending NEMHCF related shows, don't miss Black Breath with Mutilation Rites and White Widows at Knitting Factory on Saturday (4/20), part of a weekend of dates. Tickets are still available.

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Power Trip at Show No Mercy showcase, SXSW 2013 (more by Greg Cristman)

Fresh off of a zillion shows at SXSW, Power Trip will head north to play dates on their way to and from the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival. Of couse that includes a show in NYC at Acheron on April 18 with Brain Slug and Altered Boys. Tickets are on sale and the show is not to be missed.

All Power Trip dates are listed, along with a video, below.

Continue reading "Power Trip touring around New England Metal & Hardcore Fest, including NYC at The Acheron (dates)"

by Bill Pearis, Fred Pessaro and Andrew Sacher

Savages @ CMJ 2012 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

SXSW gets underway today (3/13) in earnest, with 83,207 bands* playing SXSW this year. Trying to figure out who to see can be an overwhelming feeling. (Actually, just standing on 6th St. on Friday night is an overwhelming feeling.) Hopefully this post will give you some inspiration if you're among the throngs of people. Or maybe just some new stuff to listen to if you're not there.

Of course you could just hang out at all our day parties (our first starts at noon today!) and evening showcases, as we're really proud of our line-ups. But there are bands who we are pumped to see who aren't playing too. So here are 40 bands we're genuinely pumped to see in Austin this week. We made a Spotify playlist of all the bands (at least the ones on the service) you can stream below.

Check out our list below...

*not the actually number of showcasing bands. But it feels accurate.

Continue reading "40 artists we're excited to see at SXSW"

The Damned at Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011 (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

Chaos in Tejas has announced yet another round of bands, including  The Damned, Gehenna (who play next weekend in NYC with Catharsis), Tragedy, Rotten Sound, Rival Mob, New Zealand's The Bats, Andy Stott, Power Trip, Hoax (who play NYC this weekend), Iceage (who have a new song/tour coming), Anhedonist, Akitsa, Parquet Courts and many more. Full list of names are below, which join the previously announced names like Bolt Thrower, Infest, Abigail, Integrity, Iron Lung (who play DBA soon), Final Conflict, Manilla Road, Merchandise, Milk Music, Total Control, and many many more.

The announcement comes on the same day that passes for the Austin festival, which happens May 30 - June 2,  go on sale. Passes are on sale.

Continue reading "Chaos in Tejas lineup expands again, adds The Damned, Tragedy, The Bats, Gehenna ++ more"

photos by Greg Cristman and Samantha Marble

sunn 0))) by Greg Cristman

The final day of The Power of The Riff festival at Warsaw in Brooklyn over Labor Day Weekend featured a headlining set from sunn 0 ))) who are currently on the road and played a show at Union Transfer in Philly last night with Dead in the Dirt. If you missed them, take David Pajo's word for it... it was a "Triumphant evil assault!"

The Brooklyn show Sunday also featured hefty names like Winter (with their original organist, his first live show!), Repulsion, Double Negative, Coffinworm, Salvation and Dead in The Dirt. Pictures and video from every set are in this post (day one pics are HERE).

Like Xibalba, Power Trip and Lecherous Gaze did on Saturday night (a show announced last minute via Twitter), Coffinworm and Batillus played an afterparty late at Saint Vitus on Sunday (also announced last minute via Twitter). Video of both after-parties and more pictures and video of from the main show on Sunday, below...

Continue reading "The Power of The Riff day 2 & afterparties in pics & video (sunn 0))), Repulsion, Winter, Xibalba, Coffinworm, Salvation & more) "

photos by Greg Cristman

Pentagram / Agnostic Front at Warsaw 9/1/2012

Saturday built upward from Alpha & Omega and Xibalba, young hardcore bands from California; the crowd endured Hoax, from western Massachusetts, a band with only a couple of EPs, whose volatile singer came down from the stage to the floor, inviting physical aggression and getting it. And the lineup worked toward the clomping meat-and-potatoes, early-'80s hardcore of Negative Approach -- established in Detroit 1981, reformed in 2006 -- and Agnostic Front, established in 1980, reformed in 1997, from New York and don't you forget it.

Agnostic Front's set was the hometown party: beefy guys from the old days at CBGB came out to support the band as it played uniformly streamlined versions of songs from the ratty old records "United Blood," "Victim in Pain" and "Cause for Alarm," responding to calls for circular mosh pits, pumping their fists to the generalized anti-authority chants: "We gotta stick together/and fight 'em all now!" And then many of them cleared out, leaving a sparser crowd for Pentagram, the early doom-metal band from Virginia whose prematurely ancient singer, Bobby Liebling, persists with effort. -[NY Times]

Continue reading "The Power of The Riff East day 1 in pics & video (Pentagram, Agnostic Front, Negative Approach, Hoax, Xibalba, more)"

OFF! at Europa(more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

OFF! will hit Power of The Riff West this weekend (8/11) in LA before eventually playing a string of shows with Negative Approach, Double Negative and Power Trip that will skirt the southern portion of the US. Though no NYC date has been scheduled for OFF! (they just played NYC with Refused), the remainder of the touring party can all be found at Power of The Riff East, which goes down over Labor Day weekend at Warsaw and features appearances from sunn o))), Winter, Repulsion, Pentagram and many others. Tickets for Saturday are available HERE and Sunday is available HERE.

Tickets are also still available for POTR West on 8/11 at the Echo/Plex in Los Angeles, which will also feature appearances from Nausea (CA), Despise You, Xibalba (who are streaming their new LP), Repulsion, Gaza, and many many more.

If you missed it, make sure and head to BV Austin to check out OFF! performing "Feelings are Meant to be Hurt" and "Cracked" at Amoeba Music, and scoot on by Amoeba's site to catch the full set).

After teasing folks with a few names here and there -- like Run DMC most recently -- Austin's annual Fun Fun Fun Fest (Nov 2 - 4) has revealed it's full line-up, including Public Image Ltd, De La Soul, Superchunk, Santigold, Refused, X peforming Los Angeles, and lots, lots more. 3-day passes go on sale at 10AM CST.

Full FFF Fest lineup is below.

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest full lineup (De La Soul, Refused, Fucked Up, Public Image Ltd, Santigold, Sharon Van Etten, Rakim, X, Converge, Japandroids & more)"

BrooklynVegan and Scenic are proud to announce our involvement in the first-ever East Coast edition of The Power of The Riff! The two-day event happens Labor Day Weekend and will feature a kick off party on the day before (8/31) and pre/post parties on the days of the shows. Save the dates, September 1st and 2nd at Warsaw in Brooklyn where you'll catch:

THE POWER OF THE RIFF 'EAST'
September 1st and 2nd 2012

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1
Pentagram
SPECIAL GUEST playing a special album set
Poison Idea
Negative Approach
Xibalba
Alpha & Omega
Power Trip

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
SUNN 0)))
Winter
Repulsion
Unearthly Trance
Salvation
Dead In The Dirt
+ 1 more band TBA

The Warsaw show is The Power of The Riff's first venture on the East Coast after two years of successful events in Los Angeles (pictures of year 1 HERE, year two HERE). Organizers / creators Greg Anderson and Sam James Velde are in the eye of the hurricane, tapping into a line up that represents the forefathers, current touring acts, plus shedding light on "up and coming" and local acts. Year three on the West coast kicks off on August 11th at Echo/Echoplex in LA with OFF!, Dr.Know, Repulsion, Noothgrush, Xibalba, and many more. Check out the flyer below along with video from 2011.

BrooklynVegan and Power of The Riff combined forces for both a day and night show during SXSW this year. If you missed it, check out pictures from our Converse/Thrasher Deathmatch party (HERE, HERE and HERE) as well as our official showcase.

Continue reading "The Power of The Riff comes to NYC with sunn 0))), Pentagram, Winter, Poison Idea, Negative Approach + more"

photos by Harriet Roberts & Keith Marlowe

OFF! at The Bell House

The Power of The Riff is entering its third year on the West Coast and much like the last two years, the festival will invade Los Angeles during a weekend in middle August. Encompassing 16 bands over two stages at The Echo and Echoplex on August 11th, look for appearances from OFF!, Dr.Know, Repulsion, Noothgrush, Xibalba, Eagle Twin, Power Trip, Ancestors, Alpha & Omega, Gaza, DNF, Retox, The Love Below (who play NYC next week), Avon Ladies, Cop and Hordes. Tickets go on sale tomorrow (6/9) at noon for those East Coasters looking to make the trek.

Off! played a surprise show at Bell House last week with The Bronx after both played local shows in the area at Bowery Ballroom and as part of a Rocks Off Concert Cruise respectively. Pictures from that Bell House appearance are below.

Continue reading "The Power of The Riff LA announces lineup, pictures from the OFF! and Bronx show at Bell House"

by BBG

Negative Approach at Fun Fun Fun Fest (more by BBG)

This is Hardcore returns to Philadelphia, PA for four days in August at Union Transfer (on 8/9) and Electric Factory (8/10 - 8/12). Both shows will have no barricades for you headwalkers/divers and in the case of Electric Factory, the venue will actually construct a stage in front of their usual stage (!) to get around the existing barricade. Now thats dedication/brutality.

As for the lineup, as usual the cast of hooligans gracing the stages of TIHC are a cast of notables, including Cro-Mags, Negative Approach, Gorilla Biscuits, Breakdown, Blacklisted, Killing Time, Nails, Ringworm, Gehenna and many many more. Full lineup is below and tickets go on sale on May 17th at noon.

Power Trip is part of said lineup, and reminder, the band will hit Acheron on May 15th as part of a string of East Coast dates. All tour dates are below.

Continue reading "This is Hardcore announces 2012 lineup and new venue"

by BBG

Converge at MHoW (more by Johnathan McPhail)

As previously mentioned, Old Man Gloom (mem. Converge and Isis) have expanded their East Coast tour that will culminate at a show at Europa with The Austerity Program and Psychic Limb.

Converge frontman Jacob Bannon has announced plans to release a split under the moniker Wear Your Wounds with Revelator (Ben Chisholm of Chelsea Wolfe's backing band) on the other side.

We've already mentioned how Converge has been added to a monumental show with Rorschach and Xaddax (who are throwing a record release show on Tuesday at DBA).

It might be cause of today's status as an unofficial holiday of sorts, but there are a hefty amount of shows going on in the next few days... one bigger show that has seemingly flown under the radar is sweep-picking death-metal lunatics Origin with Cattle Decapitation, Decrepit Birth, Aborted, Rings of Saturn, Battlecross, Face of Ruin at Europa on April 24th. Tickets are still available, OR you can try and win a pair. Details are below. The show is part of a larger tour for the band and dates are also below.

On their way to Chaos in Tejas, The Mob (UK) will stop into Brooklyn to play Death By Audio on May 29th. The UK anarcho-punk band will be joined by Sickoids, Nomad, and Anasazi at the venue, and it'll set you back $10 at the door.

Speaking of release parties, Levil Uniform, the skater/extreme music zine, will be throwing a shownext friday at the Grand Victory for their fifteenth issue with local crew Syphilitic Lust and others playing through out the night. That same night, the great Hank Wood & The Hammerheads will bless Don Pedro's.. details are below.

Obnoxiously fun punk band Beer & Cable will officially christen the recently relaunched Acheron on May 5th as part of a show with The Regressives, Agitator, ZTs and Trepanning.

Some interesting additions to some May shows also happened this week. Meek Is Murder was tacked onto the coming Tournament show at Acheron on 5/4, while the supporting bill for the previously discussed Power Trip bill was fleshed out to include Crushed and Brain Slug.

More suggested shows, a stream of the new Rwake 7" (which only be available at their merch booth for Maryland Deathfest X, don't forget about their NYC show), a Code Orange Kids video, Homewrecker featuring Dylan Walker from Full of Hell, and a Black Breath video from their latest LP is below (don't forget about their NYC show). What did I miss?

Continue reading "Evillive (Old Man Gloom, Origin, Rwake, The Mob, Code Orange Kids, Black Breath)"

by BBG

Power Trip at Beerland (more by Greg Cristman)

Texas hardcore/crossover killers Power Trip have an absolutely unstoppable live show, and you can catch them in NYC at Acheron on May 15th when they team with Reign Supreme. The band is gearing up to hit the road Wednesday in celebration of their new 7" due via Lockin' Out Records. Stream that in full below, download it on Mediafire and order yours at the label site.

One of those Power Trip dates takes place at the sold-out United Blood Festival, which goes down this weekend in Richmond, VA (March 30th and 31st). The show will feature appearances from Cro-Mags, Agnostic Front (who will perform Live at CB's in its entirety), as well as younger names like Xibalba, Backtrack, Harms Way, Dead End Path, and veterans like RIngworm (who recently played our BV-BBG official showcase in TX).

All tour dates and that stream is below...

Continue reading "Power Trip on the road, schedule NYC date w/ Reign Supreme, playing United Blood Festival (this weekend in VA)"

by BBG

A Storm of Light at the Tone Deaf showcase (more by Greg Cristman)

A Storm of Light plays NYC TONIGHT as part of a round of dates with Mustard Gas & Roses (mem Isis) and Magic Circle. Tickets are still available for the Saint Vitus show. The band recently played a round of dates surrounding SXSW including the Tone Deaf showcase (pictures). Tonight's show is in direct competition with Hull, Mutilation Rites, Batillus and Trenchgrinder at Acheron, the latter two of which played Lovejoy's as part of the BV Day Party. Hull also played Red 7 with Fear on 3/15, which was down the street from Pallbearer, Screaming Females, Ringworm & Power Trip (pictures).

Punk rock crew Kim Phuc will team with Family Curse and Herzog Rising to play Death By Audio on April 7th. The show is one of a few notable and recently added shows at the space, including April 14th with White Suns (who have a new LP on Load, stream a song below), Pop 1280, and Richard, April 28th with Dysrhythmia, Kayo Dot & Vaura, and 4/29 with a mystery guest, Child Abuse, Behold...The Arctopus and PAK.

Check out the recent Decibel Flexi of In Solitude covering Samhain's "Mother of Mercy".

Youth Attack have updated their site with orders for the new Salvation House of the Beating Hell EP, new second Hoax EP, a new ARTS LP Thousand Wounds of War, and so much more. Head to their site for more details (I recommend the Hoax, ARTS and Salvation records).

If you missed it, we posted two sets of pictures from Deatmatch during SXSW (SET 1, SET 2), a set of pictures from Lovejoy's during SXSW, my official showcase during SXSW, and pictures from our bridge show. We welcomed a new EP from Cop Problem, interviews with Black God, new shows from Ilsa, Rorschach, Old Man Gloom, D-Clone, Young Widows, Autopsy and more. Got stoked and then immediately diappointed with the Kiss it Goodbye reunion and scratched our heads in disbelief at the "Death to All" reunion and Wolvhammer cover of The Cure (the latter in a positive way).

More suggested shows, a stream of a new Horseback song, the Split Cranium LP (with Aaron of Isis and members of Circle) a 16 song, an Author & Punisher song, a White Suns song and more is below. What did I miss?

Continue reading "Evillive (Kim Phuc, Horseback, Salvation, Split Cranium, 16, more)"

by BBG

Pallbearer at Rites of Darkness (more by BBG)

Pallbearer and Ringworm are doing all kinds of killing down here in Texas, and I was out super late last night and do it again for 14 hours straight at Scoot Inn today, so I'll keep it short and sweet this time. My suggested shows for the week are below, but first....

One of Texas's most furious young hardcore/crossover bands, Power Trip, are preparing to release their self-titled EP. Download the release for free via Mediafire and get your copy via Lockin' Out Records.

Check out a great interview with Dale Crover of Melvins over at Metalsucks. The band has a new EP and a new video.

Check out the new Raw Meat, featuring members of Rival Mob and Nomos, for free via Mediafire. Order your copy on cassette.

The weekly list of suggested NYC shows is below... what did I miss?

Continue reading "Evilllive (Power Trip, Melvins, Raw Meat, more)"

by BBG

Saint Vitus @ Irving Plaza in 2011 (more by BBG)

Chaos in Tejas (May 31-June 3 in Austin) have announced ANOTHER batch of bands to add to their ridiculous lineup including Saint Vitus, Church of Misery, No Statik, Toys That Kill, Pegasus, Martial Canterel, Anasazi, Bloodwing (mems of The Spits, who are on tour soon), Harm's Way, Hatred Surge, the Hex Dispensers, John Wesley Coleman, Joyce Manor, and many many others. The current full lineup and flyer is below and tickets are FINALLY going on sale TODAY (1/31).

Doom legends Saint Vitus are currently preparing their new LP Lillie: F-65 for Season of Mist. The record, their eighth and first in seventeen years (!), is tentatively set for release at the end of March. More details are forthcoming.

In related news, members of Mind Eraser also serve as personnel in Magic Circle, another Chaos in Tejas band. Look for Magic Circle to team with Pilgrim (who we recently interviewed), Windhand, and Natur at Public Assembly on March 1st.

The updated Chaos in Tejas lineup is below along with the flyer.

Continue reading "Chaos in Tejas 2012 expands again; tickets on sale today"

by BBG

Dropdead at Europa (more by Keith Marlowe)

Chaos in Tejas have announced another round of bands for their 2012 shindig (first round here), including rare appearances from legendary post-hardcore band Moss Icon (a one-time only reunion), as well as Japan's Reality Crisis and Skizophrenia (their only US dates), and repeat offenders/favorites like Dropdead, Municipal Waste, Midnight, Ares Kingdom, Puerto Rico Flowers, Xeno & Oaklander, Thou, the Rival Mob, Boston Strangler, Crazy Spirit, Brain Killer, Power Trip, Wiccans (who just played one of the final shows at Emo's), and many many others. A full list of additions and the new flyer is below.

Since the original announcement, two previously announced bands have dropped off the original lineup: Mexican black metal band Nyogthaeblisz disappeared from the lineup after their anti-Islamic/Semitic/Abrahamic stance and involvement in known NSBM (National Socialist) label Satanic Skinhead was pointed out by a few blogs. That led to Antisect and The Mob even threatening to not play. Word then spread that Disma's Craig Pillard released nazi-glorifying records under the name Sturmfuhrer. Disma then dropped out as well due to "the drama" that ensued. Craig would not comment on the matter, but other members of Disma say he has changed.

In related news, Thou will hit the road for a string of dates with The Body this week on the West Coast. Both bands will also be at the inaugural Gilead Media festival (chaired by the Gilead Media label) in Oshkosh, Wi on 4/28 and 4/29 which will feature appearances from (in alphabetical order) Arms Aloft, Aseethe, Ash Borer, Baby Boy, Darger + Plague Mother, False, Fell Voices, Get Rad, Hell, Loss, Mutilation Rites, Northless, Protestant, A Scanner Darkly, and Sleepwalker. More details are available at the site.

All tour dates, new additions to Chaos in Tejas, and the show flyer is all below.

Continue reading "Chaos in Tejas adds bands & loses some due to controversy; Gilead Media launches festival"

photos by BBG

Four stages and more. Fun Fun Fun Fest truly is non-stop fun of many varieties. BBG spent most of Friday at the Black Stage (the one Danzig headlined). His pictures, including Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Murder City Devils, Russian Circles and the afterparty at Red 7, continue below...

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011 -- Day 1 in pics (part 1) -- Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Murder City Devils, Russian Circles & more"

by BBG

Snapcase

It's 1PM in Texas and I just tied a bandana around my face before its time to get down to business. I'm not some outlaw out to rob a bank and hop on a speeding stagecoach; With the dry dirt and the hordes of kids in full-on circle-pit/floorpunch mode, a bandana or a surgical mask is a key tool in dealing with the clouds of dust that form around the chaos.

Chaos it was, off-stage that is, as the crowd popped for the likes of Suicidal Tendencies, Snapcase, Dwarves, Municipal Waste, Gwar, Mastodon and others on Fun Fun Fun Fest's Black Stage (where I spent a good bit of my time). Though I wandered to the Orange Stage to catch amazing performances from Cap'n Jazz, The Hold Steady & Descendents (among many others) and the Blue Stage to catch scorching shows from Big Freedia, Pharoahe Monch, Dam-Funk, and A-Trak, but it was the Black Stage where I caught pretty much every single band in action.

And that's a lot! One of the great things about the Black and Orange stages is that they are actually TWO stages each. A band will finish their set, and then on a stage right next to it, another band will line check and play. Times between bands varied (due to set time length and on occasion, technical difficulties), but there were moments when it was as low as 5 minutes between sets. More music and less downtime.

I started out my Saturday (11/6) with Black Congress, whose powerful post-hardcore impressed the early crowd. Hatred Surge followed, and even with a new singer in tow, the brutality has stayed a constant. Power Trip was next, and they do crossover-thrash that is less DRI/ Municipal Waste, and more serious/furious. Bands this good shouldn't play this early.

I'm very picky about sung vocals and punk rock, so it's sort of no surprise that I didn't care for either Bad Religion (who had no guitar in the mix for the first three songs), The Briggs or The Vandals, but I did enjoy what I saw of Strike Anywhere's live set (even though I am not into their recorded output). Dreadlocked singer Thomas Barnett is as energetic a frontman as I would see on the Black Stage all weekend, and really added tremendous power to the band's melodic hardcore.

Muncipal Waste (more here)

Strike Anywhere is from Richmond, and the band got a "Richmond represent" shout out from the great Municipal Waste that day. The band thrashed their way through one of my favorite sets of the afternoon, complete with thrown trash cans, a wall of death, stage diving, and an "execution" courtesy of fellow Richmond band Gwar. Gwar was fun in a kitschy way and delivered a great set later in the day, but the crowd energy and the precision of MW's live show was the most memorable.

Also on the Black stage were Valient Thorr and The Casualties who both delivered energetic sets, with the latter giving a crusty spin on the Ramones classic "Blitzkrieg Bop". The mohawk-ed kids went ape, and a wall of death, which was later faux-mocked by Municipal Waste when they initiated their own wall of death, was called upon by vocalist Jorge Herrera.

On the Orange stage, I managed to catch Woven Bones, The Appleseed Cast, and Jeff The Brotherhood. Jeff The Brotherhood is a staple of the small stage in NYC, so it was a bit odd to hear that guitar tone blaring out of 50 feet of PA speakers. Odd, but no less fun/impressive.

Along with Municipal Waste, Big Freedia was another one of my favorite sets of the day. Her nonsense odes to ass, ass, and ass-clapping were a pure sugar-rush and left 90% of the crowd in hilarious amazement and the other 10% with a big old "WTF" look. The Freedia set was tamer than her usual appearances, but no matter, it was still much fun and much booty-shakin. Dam-Funk would also get the crowd moving on that same stage hours later.

Seeing Big Freedia meant missing a good portion of Cap'n Jazz, who announced on stage that Fun Fun Fun would be their last show. Unbelieveably kinetic and powerful, Cap'n Jazz reminds me that emo is short for "emotional" and not just a psuedonym for pop-crossover. Mesmerizing and awesome.

Peelander-Z

Sunday (11/7) was a late start for me, so I got to the venue to see the tail end of Junius (who played 2nd, after Eagle Claw on the Black Stage). They're a band I'm very familiar with for their latter-Isis crunch-and-clean vocals steelo. It was surprisingly the next band that really got me going: Peelander-Z. With a large crowd looking on, Peelander-Z delivered an incredible mix of energy, stage presence, audience participation, fun and simple song-craft, and plain old good times. They played from the crowd. They stage dove. They led the audience in a giant game of limbo. They had a footrace. Totally fun.

I have a lot of recent experience seeing OFF!, High on Fire, Kylesa, Floor, Mastodon, and The Bronx, who all played the Black Stage that day. All gave predictably excellent shows though Kylesa in particular seemed a bit more energetic that usual (lots of Laura pogoing). It might have been the fact that FFF marked the end of their US tour with Torche and High on Fire, but they were particularly good on that sweltering Sunday afternoon. Floor was great as usual, though I enjoyed them more at Red 7 later that night... possibly because their music felt like a bookend to a great weekend. Both High on Fire and Mastodon's setlist delved into all of their recorded efforts which, as a long time fan, was comforting.

I'm not particularly scared of anyone, but Human Furnace of Ringworm gives me the shakes. His gravelly voice propels the rest of the Clevo-hardcore band forward and blew my mind that afternoon. They were one of my highlights of the day, and if I had only seen them and Snapcase on Sunday, I would have been content.

If my dad listened to modern music anymore, he would go apeshit for The Hold Steady. The band cranked out a crunchy Springsteen-esque set and sounded better than I have ever heard them before. Though they were killing on the Orange stage, I made the hard decision to bounce to catch the rest of Suicidal Tendencies' set.

Nothing against Mike Muir, but he isn't in the same shape that John Joseph of the Cro-Mags is (Muir and the rest of the known universe). No matter, it doesn't stop him from zigging and zagging back and forth on stage as the rest of Suicidal Tendencies runs through hits like "You Can't Bring Me Down" and "I Saw Your Mommy". High energy stuff; I can't imagine running in circles while trying to recite the words to "Institutionalized". Catch Suicidal and Cro-Mags together at Terminal 5 on November 14th.

If I was to pick two of my favorite sets from Sunday, the winners easily go to Snapcase and Descendents. Snapcase was brutal, technical, confrontational, and totally fun; the crowd gave back every ounce of energy that the band put in. From the opening notes of their third song, "Zombie Transmission" from Progress Through Unlearning, I knew that this was going to be a highlight. We need more shows from Snapcase.

Descendents, who we also need more shows from, are one of the few bands that pass my "no clean vocals in punk rock" test. Their songs are funny without being goofy, melodic without being overtly pop, and driving/hard when they want to be. Classics like "Suburban Home", "Bikeage" and a good portion of Somery, "Everything Sucks" and many of the highlights from that LP, and tons of others all made their way onto the setlist that night. And yes, the band made sure to fit in "All" and "Weinerschnitzel". Too fun, and though I left Mastodon early to catch them, I have no regrets.

As far as pictures go, we already split the fest up into ten other posts, my pictures from Saturday included. This post is number 11 and it includes all my pictures from Sunday (and it is our final set of Fun Fun Fun pics from this year) which continue, below...

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest in review w/ more Day 3 pics (part 4) - Snapcase, Floor Suicidal Tendencies, Kylesa, Ringworm & more"