[Concert review] THIS IS HARDCORE festival @ Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA, July 23rd - 26th 2014

As I start to write this, I'm listening to Downset.
Why bother sharing this? Because one of my best friends drove from two hours away just to see them at This is Hardcore this past weekend. I had never really given them much of a serious listen before, watching them at the show with the intent of seeing my friend “go bonkers like a Juggalo at his first Gathering.” It was good enough to watch and keep my attention, but then the singer said something: “There's been a lot of use of the word 'hate' in hardcore. We want to get away from that word. We need to unite.”

Got my attention.

For four days in one of the most historically rich cities in America, hundreds of social misfits gathered. We united. We had our own microcosm. It didn't matter if one went to see Dropdead or Cold World, they were there on the same day getting the same euphoric high from what they considered the essence of hardcore.

THURSDAY
Myself, I arrived in town mid-afternoon, stopped at Govinda's for a vegan chicken cheesesteak, then got to the Electric Factory in time for Code Orange. Another band I hadn't listened to much beforehand, but another one that won me over. They were heavy and focused, and the crowd ate it up. The only thing I can criticize is before their last song, the drummer said “Out with the old” . . . when the next two bands were RINGWORM and OVERCAST.
Ringworm is easily one of my favorite bands of all-time. Hammer of the Witch is leading contender for Album of the Year for me. No matter what response they get, every time I catch them they're on point. At least this time I think they went over well, as did Overcast, a band I never thought I'd see.
Having Crowbar was a treat, and surprising absolutely no one, they were heavy as fuck. If they played "To Build A Mountain" it would've been perfect, but "Conquering" allowed me to overlook that. Unearth and Killswitch Engage were two bands I listened to a lot getting into this kind of stuff in 2002, and they were both tight. I loved Jesse speaking to how they admire the DIY ethics and hardcore community and what it taught them as a band, and that they still recognize it even as they anticipated getting snuffed by a hardcore crowd – which they didn't.

FRIDAY
Before starting at the show, I stopped at Grindcore House and ran into the members of Discourse, who I got to see at a great show in Syracuse last year. We were in unison looking forward to Turmoil and All Else Failed later that day. And this was before meeting a new friend I made Thursday night at Atomic City Comics. Already I felt for lack of a better term an enlightenment, strengthening bonds I had as well as creating new ones.
I had seen All Else Failed once at a community center a few years ago. You can distill their sets in one word: Intense. Barely into the set the bassist smashed his guitar. The singer almost literally hulked out, tearing his shirt and everyone playing with such visceral nature you couldn't help but get the chill down your spine. If you're reading this and into hardcore, even if you haven't listened to AEF, you know what I'm talking about. (But really, listen to them.) Slapshot I knew would be a good set, but I wasn't expecting "Your Own Personal Jesus." Fuck!
Then Turmoil played. Double Fuck! Easily one of the best '90s HC bands and they delivered without missing a step. As a late add I finally got to see the one and only Agnostic Fucking Front. They played the hits, I crossed another band off my list, and after the Explosion, came Converge.
Converge, man. Every time I see them I get blown away. I spent at least half their set with my jaw wide open and just saying “Fuck . . .” Then Stephen Brodsky joined them. Fuck. And then Converge, as a 5-piece, played "The Saddest Day."
F U C K.

SATURDAY
An amazing lyricist in Trial and Between Earth & Sky, I knew I had to catch Greg Bennick. I spoke to him later in the day and mentioned we had a friend in common, and our world closed in that much more. More singular, more united. I signed up for his mailing lists (as I encourage you to do: onehundredforhaiti.org and wordsasweapons.com). Die Young (TX) was my next must-catch, and I've never seen them before but it was great to see the response they got. Coke Bust was bonkers, all there is to say there. Mindset is a band I don't listen to much, but I love to see. Another late add in addition to AF was Palehorse, which I definitely can't complain about. Hearing them saying there was new material made me that much happier. Rotting Out got the crowd fired up with a Minor Threat cover, and they were just as I'd expect for not seeing them at all. This isn't to say they were bad, not one bit – I thought a band that big in hardcore today would electrify the crowd and deliver an A+ performance, and that's exactly what they did. I think having a setting like TIHC fires all the bands up like it does the show-goers, because I really didn't catch any lackluster sets the whole weekend. The bands feed off the crowd and vice versa, just as it is in all those basements across the country (world, even).
Oh then CULTURE played. Fucking awesome. “We have a new album coming out in June . . . 1995.” Another band I thought I'd never see. The 1-2 punch of Death Threat and Wisdom in Chains crossed two more bands off my list of ones I've been missing out on seeing for years. WiC especially (since I caught more of their set, at least) had a great, positive message that I got from their set.
Then as two sides of the coin would go, it went Nails and 100 Demons, followed by Bold and CIV. Two of the heaviest bands on the set right before two HC legends. I was sitting upstairs directly above the stage for all of these sets and it was the best seat in the house for all the chaos that erupted during Nails, the brutality of 100 Demons, the stalwarts of Bold and the energy of Civ.

At this point I went to the Kung Fu Necktie to catch the A389 Records aftershow. I didn't catch Noisem at the fest, so seeing them at this venue (think your local hole-in-the-wall bar) was good consolation. So much talent is in those kids channeling the metalheads of years' past, I can't wait to see where they go from where they are now. Full of Hell gave another noise-distorted masterpiece of a set, but honestly I was waiting for In Cold Blood. They're another band that I thought I'd never see, though I caught them in January at the A389 annual showcase. Hearing this would be one of their last sets I knew I had to go. So many great aftershows this weekend, if nothing else, I needed to see In Cold Blood. They were tighter than in January. They still punished. Then they closed with Integrity's “Judgment Day” to less than 50 people. It was an intimate moment that only those into what we're into understand, and I can't imagine how many moments like that there were for everyone this weekend.

Crowbar @ TIH 2014

SUNDAY
Alas, all good things come to an end, so after a walk through some touristy spots in the city, it was off to the show. I caught the tail end of World War 4 and they lived up to all the hype I've noticed for them. Turnstile got the crowd riled up. But sorry, Turnstile, you're not Slumlords. They were probably my favorite hardcore band when they were active, and when I saw them at Posi Numbers '05 I wanted to hear more of them. Nine years later I got what I asked for, and though their set was cut short I couldn't complain.
Incendiary, pardon the pun, fired up the crowd, as did Power Trip. Perhaps this is criticism #2 but I'm not complaining one bit: If you have girls with your band's logos on their bikinis shaking their asses on stage, I'm pretty sure that's a “metal band” thing, unless I haven't seen that Raw Deal video on Youtube yet. Again, I love Power Trip, and having fans that devoted is great to see. Overall the mix of people there isn't something I always observe at home. Young and old, male and female, all colors, all there for a weekend of hardcore.
I caught a bit of Knuckledust as I ate with that friend who came out to see Downset (we both enjoyed the Slapshot S'mores cupcakes) and they were another pleasant surprise.
Downset was how I started this off, so I'll jump ahead to the aftershow where I caught Cult Leader (not your typical Salt Lake City fare, but damn were they good) and Oathbreaker (another intense, talented band), and then that was it. My body literally had enough – a diabetic, my blood sugar was crashing and I still had an hour to drive back to my frend's house in Allentown. So I missed out on Madball, Fuck You Pay Me (Erba!), Mammoth Grinder and another Power Trip set, but this was after I had already taken so much in.

As I started that drive back I had this sinking feeling overcome me. I was heading back to my problems. Work is a headache. My personal life is nonexistent. Everytime I leave town I dread going back, knowing what's waiting for me.
But I made connections. I made new friends, convinced them to drop large chunks of money on things I love when I was an utter stranger less than 24 hours earlier. I spent a part of an afternoon with someone I spent 10 minutes with previously while selling him my Deadguy shirt. You can't bond with someone in the "normal world" over All Else Failed or Sam Black Church like I did at the Electric Factory last weekend. I got yet another memory with one of my favorite people in the world (over Downset!) Even if we were hitting or jumping on each other in the pit, we were all there with one purpose, to get the most out of a small portion of time.
That's exactly what happened. That's what I take away from this little bubble that was constructed. I ate the best food. I watched the best bands play their best sets. I was around the best people to share this experience with.
Thank you so much to Joe and everyone else involved in putting this on. You have my total gratitude and my eagerness for what's next.
- Sean Scott   Facebook   Instagram

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