If Ever A Band Was My Home: Ceremony’s HOME SICK Festival At The Phoenix Theater

I have been waiting for so long to write about Ceremony that referencing their performances in completely unrelated articles just became a habit of mine. If I was writing about hardcore punk moshing and stage diving then I’d compare the peaks of that violence to the bar set by Ceremony when Anthony Anzaldo strums the first notes of “Kersed” or when Jake Casorotti starts the kick drum intro to their cover of Red C’s “Pressure’s On”. If I was talking about Joy Division’s many offspring, like in my Cloak and Dagger review, I’d talk about how Ceremony’s “L Shaped Man” is the only derivative of that style worth its weight. If I was talking about what I feel is the spirit of America as expressed in music, I would say it’s when Ceremony plays “Hysteria” and you can almost transport yourself back in time when Bill Haley & His Comets performed “Rock Around The Clock”, it’s that same desperate need to let loose, still in the air after half a century.

“…The only young band I’ve seen come close was Ceremony performing “Kersed” at Sound and Fury 2016, when the entire audience erupted when the opening notes of the song were strummed and there was one distinct sound that shot up into the air and that was the sound of everyone’s feet stamping on the Regent’s floor in a furious, collective CLAP!“

That quote is taken from an article I wrote about JD McPheerson, of all artists…. I’ve seen Ceremony only 5 times in my life, first when Negative Approach opened for them at the Echoplex, then at Sound and Fury 2016, a third time in San Francisco’s Chapel with Nothing opening for them which Anthony claimed was the best San Francisco show they’ve ever played, a fourth time for their Your Life in America show with Antwon at the Echo, and finally in Petaluma, California for their own festival called Home Sick at the punk rock haven known as the Phoenix Theater.

related content: Sound And Fury Hardcore Festival Comes Of Age All Across Los Angeles

Home Sick, the festival’s name, can have many different meanings. For one, most of the bands on the bill are from Northern California so perhaps this is Ceremony’s way of celebrating their roots. It could be a reference to their song “Sick” on Rohnert Park which might be the most socially relevant tune in the band’s whole catalogue at this political moment. Here is just a sample of the lyrics:

I’m sick
Sick of the GOP
Sick of liberals
Sick of me
Sick of Obama
Sick of head trauma
So very tired of being sick
I’m sick
Sick of living in America
Sick of mass hysteria….

To me though, Home Sick means getting to start my year right by re-grounding myself in the setting of a concert by my favorite band.

Petaluma is an interesting little town a little over an hour outside San Francisco. The bay breeze still fills the air making the American flag over the hotel Petaluma dance and buckle to keep those stars and stripes flexing through the night. There were street harpists on bookstore corners and for a second you might think that a hardcore festival was some kind of disruption of the town’s peace but once you see it then you realize punk rock is any little town’s shadow.

I arrived before Doors at 2:00pm like I was a punk walking into Crass’ communal home in Essex. No one checked my credentials, I was just there to hang with all the crustys and play the free Rival Schools arcade machine in the lobby. I then watched a few bands sound check and said whats up to Anthony. Once they had started letting the public in, I strolled up front to check out the day’s first band, Oakland’s post-hardcore trio: Super Unison.

Taking their name from a Drive Like Jehu song, Super Unison boasts that they combine the sound of Dischord Records with Riot Girl. One can hear that fresh post-hardcore guitar tone in every riff, just pure dissidence and focused anger with every clean strum of the hand. Songs like “You Don’t Tell Me” touch on the objectification of women whenever men talk down to them with just as much vigor as Fugazi’s “Suggestion”.

Acrylics was next and were probably one of the most physical and jarring early acts I had ever seen at a festival. Lead singer Mark Nystrom can withstand incredible amounts of punishment as he flops around on stage, slamming himself full force without a care for his body. I’m not saying he’s overweight, but ask any professional wrestler and they’ll tell you that fat absorbs and muscle tears, so perhaps the best body type for the job of hardcore singer is Mark’s. My gushing over the antics shouldn’t take away from the music which is absolutely frenzied and abrasive. It’s almost auditory violence, with notes bending and drums blaring at insane speeds as Mark goes ape shit on the stage and mic.

From hardcore to goth, Screature seemlessly took the wheel and drove the fest into a darker, more moody direction. Another band hailing from Sacramento, Screature uses electronics, guitars, and drums to create a building, hypnotic psych rock and goth infused sound that Liz Mahoney can wail over. Carrying on in the tradition of many Irish goth sirens, Mahoney’s vocals emote warning and chaos just as much as they soothe. In songs like “Hit the Void” one can hear what sounds like a hybrid of Black Sabbath with Bauhaus.

Remaining in the void, Hide was next, bringing together a mixture of goth, industrial, death rock and the kind of bdsm burlesque you might see in a Ralph Bakshi film. Demanding that all the stage lights be turned off, singer Heather Gabel writhed around in stockings and tattered clothes under flashing white strobes. She is a fierce creature with a visceral message and no fear in nakedly showing all the pain most people are determined to “hide”. Through her body and voice alone, she was able to give us a shocking and memorable display of her spirit.

After Ceremony, the next band, the O.C.’s Fury, was probably the reason I roadtripped out to Petaluma. I had seen them perform at Sound and Fury last year and thought they stole the festival. Ever since then, I’ve been obsessed with their 2016 release Paramount, which to me sounds like the reincarnation of Black Flag. Songs like “Damage Done”, “In Extremis” and “Death Yellows Life and Reason” are able to maintain the brutality of hardcore but still have a rock and roll sensibility that even mainstream listeners can understand. I think Fury has the musicianship, the following, and the charisma to be a top tier hardcore band the likes of Trash Talk or Ceremony or Turnstile. I could even see them transcending those bands if in their first effort they can produce a song like “The Feeling”. That riff cannot be denied and audiences at Home Sick certainly weren’t going to be the first, they fought like dogs to get a piece of the microphone to spit some of the lyrics in.