Just got back from spending another hot weekend on the third NO WAY FEST in Richmond Virginia where the band I drum in played and where I set up camp and sold my wares. I would like to thank everyone for buying my stuff and especially thanks to No Way Records Brandon and Lauren for letting me get away with this again and for giving me a vehicle to put a little bit of money in my pocket. I hope that in ten years or whatever when they look back on what they have both done that they are as impressed as I am, especially since they don’t get much sleep I reckon.
As usual, I can’t sit here and pretend that I watched too many of the bands but as usual WASTED TIME were the standouts, having pretty much perfected a sound that is a cross between Negative Approach and (especially) Poison Idea. I can’t claim to be someone that listens to a lot of current hardcore but if you are going to listen to it it should probably be these guys.
The ZERO BOYS played too. I have always enjoyed their 1982 album “Vicious Circle” which is a timeless punk rock recording. They did a okay job recreating said record and the audience ate it up. Two things real quick though:
1. The drummer, who looked like a cross between Brian Baker and Jerry Nolan clearly was the current Peter Criss of the band. He barely hit the drums and did the much hated “cheat beat”. Maybe it is cause I am a drummer also, but I couldn’t help but notice this. Man!
2. The band could barely hide their contempt for the young kids that they were playing to and at one point singer Paul Mahern went on for ten minutes about it. Strangely enough the audience ate this up too. It was funny at first and then got old really quick. I know that I am myself pretty cynical as fuck, and I hear about it all of the time but holy moley I don't do stuff like that. No one is there because they want to hear the second album or that third Toxic Reasons album.
DOUBLE NEGATIVE played another weird set at No Way Fest complete with technical problems and once again plagued with a soundman who was retarded at best. I have no idea what it sounded like.
Near the end of the second day after Double Negative played, Justin was tired and since he was me and Sean’s ride, we packed up and left. My ears were ringing with two days of hardcore punk, my own personal threshold for that type of thing. We talked on the way home about how probable it was that we were never going to see a kid get up there with a guitar style like Denis D’ Amour or a band get a creepy sound a la Saccharine Trust on their “Pagan Icons” e.p. and once again I remembered more non cynical earlier days, which I battle all of the time. Such is life I suppose. Nontheless, a cool weekend despite the hot weather.
5 comments:
so normally i really enjoy reading your blog but this post was some what annoying to me. maybe i am reading it out of context(which would be nice) but i feel like i got the idea of it. I was at No Way Fest and absolutely had a blast. all three days. Brandon and Lauren do a great job and you certainly gave them due credit. It's a bummer to hear that you didn't feel like getting up and moving a possible ten feet from where you were sitting to at least get to watch most of them bands. i know you hadn't seen all of them,(yeah you could hear them i suppose) guess they weren't up to standards...I thought the Zero Boys played awesome and i was really impressed that their set still ripped after all these years. i've seen other "old classic" punk bands and most of them didn't play as well as i thought the Zero Boys did. I am in no way shape or form surprised that the audience "ate up" one of their potentially favorite punk bands of all times set. Of which, i'm sure they thought they were never going to see. You also messed up leaving early, cause if you didn't catch government warning playing songs from their new record on that stage...well then that just plain sucks. and lastly it was a bummer when you talked about "how probable it was that we were never going to see a kid get up there with a guitar style like Denis D’ Amour or a band get a creepy sound a la Saccharine Trust on their “Pagan Icons” e.p." Most of the bands that played the fest are the exact sound those kids want to hear. Yeah double negative pulls it off and kids loved you too but, kids their really like fast in your face hardcore. This also supprised me when you said wasted time was your favourite band. Albeit they are better at that than most out there. That's my rant. rebuttle? whatever.
p.s. I think saccharine trust sucks. i guess probably an influence though.
No Way!(tm) Wasted Time played a flawless set. Government Warning played well but comparatively W.T. blew them off the stage. Government Warning just has bigger hype. My favorite sets were Wasted Time, Zero Boys, Social Circkle, Bukkake Boys, and Carbonas.
As a fellow drummer I gota know hat the "cheat beat" is. At least to hopefully know I'm not doing it. Thanks!
Hey everyone.
to Anonymous..you should have signed your name, cause nothing would have happened! What can I say, I can't pretend that I am not an old man who is living in someone else's decade as far as hardcore punk 2009 goes. I am a visitor with some history and that is pretty much it. If you can get past that and take me with a grain of salt, we'll get along fine.
the cheat beat is: dooka dakka dooka daka..it is when you refuse to double the beats on the hi hat for every snare hit at lightning fast speed. the end result is pretty lame. Lots of people do odd variations on the cheat beat these days, but it always has been known for being lame.
hope that helps.
So what kind of rant did the Zero Boys go off on? I saw them at Gilman street and I do recall them babbling about hardcore in their "day". Yuck, nothing worse than hearing some old kook who's washed up as all hell talking about how it was in "their day". It's the year 2009. Get with the times or become dust.
Post a Comment