YOUR HANDY DANDY GUIDE TO A SRSLY HARDCORE SUMMER
This summer, there are so many awesome hardcore festivals taking place throughout the U.S. of A that it’s hard to keep up. Thankfully, your trusty hXc correspondent has compiled a neat little guide to some of these must-see events below, starting with this weekend’s Black N Blue Bowl:
Date(s): May 15
City: New York City, NY
Venue: Webster Hall
Lineup: Cro-Mags / Madball / Supertouch / Yuppicide / H2O / Cruel Hand / Skarhead / Trapped Under Ice / Wisdom In Chains / Sand / H8 Inc. / Incendiary
Comments: This is a big annual daylong event for NYHC and those who love it. Pretty stellar lineup this year, thanks to the co-headliners (Cro Mags and Madball) as well as the Supertouch and Yuppicide reunions. The choice of venue is pretty damn special as well, given that Webster Hall used to be known as The Ritz, a hallowed rock venue that hosted countless punk and hardcore shows back in the day. Expect a fair bit of weepy-eyed nostalgia in between stage dives.
Date(s): May 28-30
City: Tacoma, WA
Venue: Viaduct
Lineup: Another Breath / Backtrack / Bad Seed / Black SS / The Bonus Army / The Carrier / Dangers / Disembodied / End Of A Year / Foundation / The Ghost Inside / Gone But Not Forgotten / Grave Maker / Hammer Bros / Ill Intent / Indecision / Keep It Clear / Like Wolves / Oblivion / Outrage / Pressvre / Punch / Rotting Out / Sabertooth Zombie / Sojourner / Soul Control / Terror / Title Fight / Trapped Under Ice / Vacate / Vanguard / Withdrawal / Xibalba
Comments: This fest’s motto is “ALL AGES, NO DRINKING, NO DRUGS, NO FIGHTING, NO BULLSHIT.” Good luck on that, guys! In any case, Rain Fest has plenty of great bands, from metallic hardcore monsters like Disembodied and Terror to weirdos like The Carrier and (Graf Orlock side-project) Dangers.
Date(s): May 27-30
City: Austin, TX
Venue: Beerland, Emo’s, Red 7, etc.
Lineup (partial): Subhumans (UK) / Rorschach / Bastard Noise / Mother Of Mercy / Wasted Time / Rival Mob / Saviours / Toxic Holocaust / Iron Age / Poison Idea / Leatherface / Morne / Gehenna
Comments: While not exclusively a hardcore fest, plenty of hXc artists are taking part of this multi-venue extravaganza. But seriously, if you can get your ass to Austin, you’re in for some pretty great sets from icons like Subhumans and Bastard Noise.
Date(s): June 10-12
City: Amityville and Garden City, NY
Venues: Broadway Bar (10th), Ethical Humanist Society (11-12th)
Lineup: Advent / Agent / Ambitions / Backtrack / Balance and Composure / The Banner / Barnaby Jones / Bottom Out / Bracewar / Bridge and Tunnel / Bring Out Your Dead / Capital / The Carrier / Cipher / Crooked Mouths / Cruel Hand / Daybreaker / Daylight / Dead End Path / End Of A Year / Fire and Ice / Fumblerooski / Hostage Calm / Incendiary / Iron Chic / Make Do and Mend / Maximum Penalty / My Heart To Joy / Naysayer / Product of Waste / Revenance / Rock Bottom / Scourge / Scraps and Heart Attacks / Shai Hulud / Skycamefalling / Soldiers / Stand Your Ground / Subterfuge / Suburban Scum / Thieves and Assassins / This Is Hell / Tigers Jaw / Tomahawk Chop / Trapped Under Ice / War Hungry / With Honor / Wolverine
Comments: For a fest taking place in what can pretty much be described as a windowless community-center auditorium, the inaugural Long Island Fest has a damn good lineup of local as well as national acts, including Shai Hulud! I’ve been to the Ethical Humanity Society before, and it should be noted that this is no concert venue. Still, you gotta respect the D.I.Y. ethos of it all, and that they’ve managed to secure a few regionally relevant reunions for the event is commendable. Dress for sweat.
Date(s): June 11-12
City: Phoenixville, PA
Venues: Polish Club (11th) and St. Michael’s Park (12th)
Lineup (partial): Sick Of It All / H2O / Earth Crisis / Fury Of Five / Mushmouth / Death Threat / All Out War / Dysphoria / Boxcutter / CDC / Strength For A Reason / Cruel Hand / Bulldog Courage / Doubledealer / Hate Your Guts / Barricade / Straight Mangled / Stout
Comments: A combination indoor/outdoor fest, East Coast Tsunami offers a solid roster for those within driving distance of Phoenixville. The opportunity to see Sick Of It All, H2O and Earth Crisis on one bill is cool enough, but quality openers like Doubledealer make it worth investing in the weekender.
Date(s): July 23-25
City: Santa Barbara, CA
Venue: Earl Warren Showgrounds
Lineup (partial): All Is Fleeting / Alpha & Omega / At Our Heels / Bane / Beartrap / Cold World / Create Avoid / Creatures / Daylight / Dead End Path / Donnybrook / Down To Nothing / Dry Spell / Expire / Fire and Ice / Foundation / Give / Grace Alley / Harms Way / Heartsounds / Loma Prieta / Make Do and Mend / Minus / Mother of Mercy / Mourningside AD / Not Sorry / Piece By Piece / Power Trip / Product of Waste / Punch / Rival Mob / Rotting Out / Ruckus / Sick of it All / Strife / Such Gold / Swamp Thing / Terror / Tigers Jaw / Xibalba
Comments: This West Coast hardcore event of the summer boasts a “who’s who” of contemporary hardcore, with only a smattering of still-standing legacy acts. Expect a lot of young people with black Sharpied Xs on their hands climbing over each other to scream along with the bands. If you’re completely out of touch with today’s hardcore, here’s your three-day crash course.
Date(s): August 13-15
City: Philadelphia, PA
Venue: Starlight Ballroom
Lineup: TBA
Comments: Organizer Joe Hardcore has remained steadfastly tight-lipped regarding this year’s lineup, but if the fest’s history is any indicator, expect this to be huge. Tickets will go on sale when the lineup is announced, likely within the next couple of weeks.
-GS
