Tag: hardcore

Dusk At Midnight: Converge At The Regent Theater

Rob Shepyer January 27, 2018

Converge is not just a band to me, Converge is a concept. Fresh off the heels of one of 2017’s best releases in extreme music, the band embarked on a stacked tour with metal heavyweights Cult Leader and Sumac as openers. All three bands are worthy of headlining the Regent and the length of their sets reflected that reality. Converge is known for having some of the most violent shows of any band still playing. And to me, in regards to concerts, violence might as well be synonymous with excitement and greatness. Among the others to top the list of most violent audiences were that of Trash Talk and The Dillinger Escape Plan, each of those bands has something about their sound and presence that triggers a primal instinct within the listener. Converge’s sound encapsulates many harsh realities that their fans relate to. The crunchy guitars, bombastic machine-gun drums, and Jacob Bannon’s rabid doberman vocals all brew together to sound like emotional dysfunction, that hard knock street life, nihilism, betrayal, death, decay, and devastation. related content: Trash Talk, Ratking and Pangea: Slam Dance 101 At The Echoplex What people now know as metalcore, bands like Suicide Silence or Parkway Drive,

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

Rob Shepyer January 18, 2018

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

Hurricanes in Florida, Earthquakes in Mexico & Quicksand in L.A. At Teragram

Rob Shepyer September 12, 2017

The Teragram Ballroom was sold out for NYC post hardcore band Quicksand’s return to Los Angeles. Filled with old hardcore heads, I was confident the slam-dance-worthy music wouldn’t be able to draw violence out of these gen-x’ers but boy was I wrong. All it takes is one pit psycho to reintroduce danger into rock and roll and force you to put up your dukes or feel like a bitch. related content: Thee Oh Sees And The Practical Applications Of Quantum Physics It began with an album announcement, their first in 22 years. The first single off Interiors, “Illuminant“, sounds just as heavy and groovy and hardcore as anything Quicksand has ever put out and after seeing them live, you really get the sense that bands just can’t make music this good anymore. Montreal’s No Joy opened the night as the only supporting act. They’re a shoegaze three-piece with minimalist vocals, if any during songs. Their rapid drumming and twin six string attack fosters a lunatic lucidity which is different than the rest of the shoegaze flock. No Joy sounds best when they play fast unlike most gaze acts that keep it slow. That said, I wish No Joy dabbled more in the

Negative Approach Steamroll Echoplex w/ Nails, Bloodclot, Final Conflict

Rob Shepyer August 8, 2017

The mighty, punishing, blue-collar punk heroes of Detroit, Negative Approach, are one of my favorite bands of all time and their seminal album, Tied Down, is on my top ten albums of all-time list. They’re a band I’d do just about anything for, any act of band worship and fandom. I brought my shine-box to the show, just in case they wanted their boots spiffy. Any chance I get to see Negative Approach live, I do. So certainly, a powerhouse Echoplex lineup featuring Negative Approach, Final Conflict, hardcore super group Bloodclot, and headliners, Nails, had me buzzing just thinking about what kind of violence I’d endure and witness. related content: Sound And Fury Hardcore Festival Comes Of Age All Across Los Angeles The moment I walked in, I zipped straight to the merch table and saw the holy grail of T-shirts, a lime-green Tied Down shirt, the same color scheme as the album. I gleefully threw my twenty dollars at Negative Approach’s drummer, Chris “Opie” Moore who was slinging the merch. This was one of those rare concert consumer moments that made me more elated to buy this shirt than to listen to some of the bands playing. Atwater Village

The Most Complete Sound And Fury 2017 Review On Earth

Rob Shepyer June 26, 2017

Sound and Fury Festival is one big happy hardcore family and like any family, we like to fight but it’s only out of love. Artists and fans traveled from far and wide, from inside the USA and beyond, to join together and form an unbreakable bond for four days around hardcore music. The unity we shared was stronger than any of the things that divide people outside this scene’s little bubble. We might seem crazed for jumping off stages and swinging our fists and slamming our bodies into one another but the world-at-large can learn a thing or two from us. We can be the example-setters for brotherhood and sisterhood. When I call Sound and Fury a family, I mean the artists and the audience alike. That title is earned by the festival’s participants with three key factors: 1. Artists, usually ones under the same record label, will play in other bands throughout the whole festival. So, you’ll see Todd Jones and the festival’s organizer Martin, playing guitars with Terror; or you’ll see Brendan Yates playing guitar with Angel Du$t; or Taylor Young from Nails drumming for Criminal Instinct or playing guitar for Eyes of the Lord. Then you’ll also

Los Crudos Play The Echoplex Right When L.A. Needed It Most

Rob Shepyer November 20, 2016

All year long, as racial tensions have been building, I have seen a steady incline in the amount of Los Crudos patches on denim jackets. While Donald Trump kept digging a grave for himself in the heart of white nationalist sensibility, with every racist, anti-constitutional comment, Los Crudos songs started appearing more and more over the loud speakers in between sets at shows. Was it sheer animal magnetism, fate or the power of attraction that Los Crudos announced a matinee show at The Echoplex for November 13th? Or could Martin Sorrondeguy sense his voice was needed in Los Angeles, now more than ever? With only a week since Donald Trump was crowned president-elect against Hillary Clinton, Angelinos reorganized, prioritized, and took to the streets but when it came to hearing the right words, every protestor needed to bear witness to Sorrondeguy speaking. related content: The Two Americas: Obama, Hillary and President Donald Trump Los Crudos is a Chicago based punk band from the 90’s that popularized Spanish lyrics in hardcore punk. They’ve always been singing about the very politicized issues that came up in this election: xenophobia, racism, economic inequality, and immigration. This was the second punk show I’ve seen

Nails at Sound and Fury shot by Todd Anderson

Sound and Fury Hardcore Festival Comes of Age All Across Los Angeles

Rob Shepyer June 16, 2016

I am not a hardcore kid. I do love plenty of hardcore bands but I’m a metal kid that found his way to punk. So by virtue of that, what I really seek out in music is extremes and as soon as I discovered Sound and Fury, I could tell it was the most extreme 2 day fest Los Angeles offers. Sound and Fury is a home for the hardcore kids, the truest of which as Nails front man Todd Jones pointed out, come from broken homes. The west coast and east coast have constantly been trading influences since the dawning of punk and as the east coast created hardcore and nurtured it with festivals like Philadelphia’s This is Hardcore, Sound and Fury Fest became the West Coast’s rebuttal. Sound and Fury’s history was all about showcasing rising bands and staying in low key venues around Ventura County for a DIY, homely feel that would foster brutal moments of pure letting go. Now having moved to the Regent Theater as its home base, the festival is bigger than ever with a lineup that crossed every flavor of hardcore punk. I bought my ticket the moment I saw Ceremony and Nails

Youth Brigade at Punk Rock Bowling shot by Todd Anderson

Punk Rock Bowling 2016: 18 Years of Limping Las Vegas

Janky Smooth Central Command June 9, 2016

Don’t’ let the fights fool you; Punk Rock Bowling is a pure, unabashed, hippie love fest. Anthropologists should study the dynamics of a slam pit to understand a punk in his natural habitat because there is so much love in that stew that a few fists flying could never dampen the warm feelings we have for each other. That’s what terrified parents watching expose’s on the terrors of the punk scene in the late 70’s and early 80’s never understood. A jumper on the roof of The Golden Nugget? Doesn’t matter. Sporadic loneliness and bad acid aside, It’s one of the few times a year when MOST attendees feel like they are a part of something bigger. Because under the spikes, tattoos and snarls are a group of individuals who are overflowing with sensitivity and love. They party hard. They fight hard. They dress hard and they look hard, despite the whiskey dick. For the past 18 years, Punk Rock Bowling has served the punk community during both boom and busts of the scene. When NuMetal was hammering the last nail in the coffin of the music industry, Punk Rock Bowling was being born and punks kept sticking to their

The Bronx at The Teragram Ballroom shot by Josh Allen

The Bronx And Friends Bring Holiday Chaos to Teragram Ballroom

Danny Baraz December 24, 2015

For those who spend time thinking about it, the evolution of punk rock is a fascinating progression. From it’s origins of out of tune power chords being banged out as an expression of rage and frustration by a minority of well informed youngsters, to it’s corporate acceptance and well polished image of typical teenage angst, it just won’t die away, as predicted. To me, The Bronx are the apex of the punk rock format. A group of ultra talented and polished musicians with one of the most charismatic frontmen in any genre. I think The Bronx have stretched punk rock to it’s furthest limits with musicality and raw power. Last week, lead singer Matt Caughthran and crew brought their White Drugs Xmas Party to The Teragram Ballroom for two consecutive nights of holiday cheer. Night 1 featured The Bronx spinoff, Mariachi El Bronx and a complimentary set of opening acts and Night 2 featured The Bronx OG format. After seeing Mariachi El Bronx a couple times in 2015, I opted to go see The Bronx for the first time in awhile. Also on the bill was yet another project by Caughthran, The Drips along with San Diego Noise/Grindcore outfit Retox. The

Mike Muir of Suicidal Tendencies by Josh Allen

No Rest ‘Till Knotfest

Alfonso Contreras November 3, 2015

It came, it went, and it fucking rocked socks off of every color. The festival brought along a roster of respectable new and old school heavy metal, rock, and hardcore bands that entertained the masses from noon into the dark hours of nightfall – and having a couple of highly popular hip hop acts thrown into the mix not only made the entire experience that much better but brought the entire festival in a direction not expected. For an old school metal/hip hop head like myself this was the absolute perfect Pre-Halloween treat! Day:1 The entrance line like at any other festival of this magnitude was as one would expect – long, dirty, drunk, and a show in it’s own right. Luckily for me, I got to stroll in right past the mob of overly excited fans and rolled on in on the Janky Smooth wagon and straight into the VIP/Press check-in area. Quick props to bossman Danny B. for the ultimate hookup. The entry gate was packed with an array of black tees, strange hairdos, and multi-oddball shave jobs. The age range stretched from youngsters and their parents to teens and seasoned heshers. The first day offered up the

It’s Not Dead Fest: The State of the Union

Danny Baraz October 13, 2015

After my visit to San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino yesterday and bearing witness to the 1000’s of punks kicking up huge clouds of dust In 100 degree weather at It’s Not Dead Fest, I can, without a doubt, attest to the fact that It’s NOT Dead. Not dead at all. Well, at least the part of IT that generates millions of dollars of revenue, world-wide. When people talk about “It” being “dead”, are they referring to “it’s” spirit? “It” is punk rock and I’ve written about this topic so many times now that this might be my swan song. Then again, if a 52 year old Milo Aukerman can stand in front of thousands of sweaty friends and play “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” then I can write about “it”- again. After attending HiFi Rockfest a couple weeks back, I must admit, I WAS a bit worried about the future of hardcore punk but after the invasion and take over this weekend and thinking back to the last Punk Rock Bowling it became clear that the issue with HiFi Rockfest was 100% promotional. I hadn’t attended a Warped Tour in at least 15 years and this show reminded me

HiFi Rockfest: Good Times, Bad Turnout at The Queen Mary

Danny Baraz October 6, 2015

People have been proclaiming the genre of Punk (in it’s most classic interpretation) to be dead for over 30 years now. Certainly they must be referring to the movement more so than the music because it seems like every time you turn around, there is a new punk festival brewing a lineup of classic bands with fascinating and improbable lineups. Hi-Fi Rockfest is the newest festival dedicated to dusting off crusty old punk legends and propping them up on a stage to perform to varying degrees of success. Hi-Fi Rockfest was organized by the trio of punk powerhouses DC-Jam Records, Dying Scene and D.O’B. Sound. I wasn’t all that interested in seeing a Jello Biafra-less Dead Kennedy’s but I was SUPER stoked to see The Sonics for the first time. Just 24 hours prior to the frenzy of the Super-Blood-Full-Moon, the celestial satellite hung brightly over the Long Beach Harbor and the Queen Mary. I arrived later than I wanted to Queen Mary Park where the festival was being held. Aside from The Sonics, I was way more interested in seeing bands playing earlier in the day like Downtown Brown, Year of the Dragon and True Rivals. And Luicidal is