The drive up was bleak. Rain, darkness, blinding fog and winding mountains for two hours. RWAKE, WORLD BURNS TO DEATH, and DEVOUR were the perfect soundtrack. When we finally arrived, in tact, to Harrisonburg we met up with some friends on Old South High st. Mike Marketti was gracious enough to let us crash at the NERVOUS HABITS house. We spun some records and drank a couple beers before heading about two or three blocks down the street to the second show of the night. When we got there a band called TOWERING was playing, who I assume took NERVOUS HABITS' place (they couldn't play because their guitarist was out of town). We arrived halfway into their set. They played some sludgy hardcore with vocals yelled into a mic suspended from the ceiling. Nothing groundbreaking here but not bad either. The basement was sweet and wide open. The turnout was also good.
Next up were SNACK TRUCK. I'd seen these guys at MacRock and they weren't really my thing, but they absolutely blew my mind this time. Two drummers (both of ULTRADOLPHINS fame) a guitarist and bassist pumped out instrumental jams that are a heavy and crisp mix of indie/prog rock, revolution summer style post-hardcore and weed jamz. Finally an instrumental band that could play a 40 minute set and not bore me once. The guitar tones were incredible and the whole feel of the set was much heavier than I remember. Also, whereas most of the time incorporating two drummers is redundant and a really cheesy gimmick at best/distracting and sloppy at worst, these two played really well together. The dual drummer attack added a lot of energy and they actually played complimentary parts rather than playing the same thing. You can tell SNACK TRUCK loves playing together and practices all the time, because these songs were as tight as can be. Not punk, but this shit was really, really good.
I was psyched to see SWEAT LODGE next, only to learn that the show was over (?!). I guess they played first for some reason? This is the second time I've missed them at a show I've attended. Bummer!
So we went back to the Hobbits' house and raged for a while. Someone made a waterfall out of a 40 oz. bottle. Insane. We played with a stray cat. Smashed some pumpkins. Made some watered down mac and cheese. Drank more beers. Watched Gary Busey in the Buddy Holly Story movie (which was incredible albeit unapologetically factually untrue). Passed out.
DAY TWO
Woke up around 10 to torrential downpour and crazy wind so I went back to sleep until noon thirty. We got up and dicked around until Mike got off of work at Jimmy John's. The weather cleared up and we decided to grill. After we went to a sketchy and nauseating butcher's shop I stopped by food lion to get some veggie burgers. Harrisonburg does not seem like a good place to be a vegetarian/vegan. We started drinking and grilling around 3 while Prescott watched college football and yelled and broke things. A couple veggie burgers, a bunch of mac and cheese and salad, and about 6 beers later I could barely keep my eyes open and I passed out for an hour on Mike's bed. I woke up around 8:30, drank a Tilt and then we headed to the show.
The turn out was great! The show hadn't even started yet and the basement was already packed with more people out in the back yard. In Richmond, everyone except Good Show Steve and whoever was bartending at Nara that night would be sitting around watching reality TV and drinking Joose waiting for someone to call them to say the show had started (including me). People in Richmond are spoiled because there is a decent show almost every night. In Harrisonburg people take what they get and are pumped about it. This can, however, create a strange environment (more on that a little later).
First up were KINGSHEAD. We've played with these guys three times now and this was their best set. They play heavy hardcore that recalls HIS HERO IS GONE. Multiple vocals and some sweet riffs. They have a really good demo available as well. It seems like a lot of people made it up from the Va Beach/Norfolk area to see these guys, which was really cool. I hope we get the chance to either tour or put out a split release with them. Unfortunately, they've changed their lineup a bunch of times and were only able to play a 15-20 minute set. Their last song, a new one, was raging! I love seeing fast, energetic, punk beats with heavy riffs to back it up. They should continue in that direction. Despite the fact that the basement was packed, no one moved at all minus the subtle head bob. Weird.
BALACLAVA was up next and I'm in that band so I'm not going to review it. Suffice it to say that, despite some technical difficulties, it was a really fun set. The crowed continued the practice of exerting as little energy as possible. It felt a little awkward. Pete and Danny and Joe lit a joint at the beginning of our set and passed it around. I think some straight edge kids were pissed about it. Good times.
Last was SAVAGE LAND. It was their record release show. They played dumbed down and pissed hardcore. They are definitely into the Grave Mistake thing. From what I understand only half of the band is claiming the edge, singer not included, but they might as well have been a straight edge band. The aesthetic is there and the music is pretty two-steppy. Apparently kids in Harrisonburg dig them because for the first time all weekend people moved. They sang along and danced around. I guess they have to pick and choose who they rage for. They finished the set with a cover of MINOR THREAT's "Minor Threat." Sweet end to a sweet show. The SAVAGE LAND dudes were cool to us and I picked up their 7".
After the show was over we hung at the house for a while meeting some people and then took off to some college type party. Lots of hipsters dancing ironically to music that sucked in the 90s and still does. It wasn't punk at all so we stood outside in the cold yelling "PALIN 2012" at people for a while. We were all pretty fucked up so we decided to walk back to the NH house and get more fucked up. 12 veggie chicken nuggets later and I was passing out on the couch watching Freaks and Geeks. We woke up the next morning, thought about going to the Little Grill collective but knew it'd be packed, and went to Dave's instead. I had another fucking veggie burger. The drive home was much easier and less scary than the drive up, and the new WARKRIME CD fit the bill.
All in all it was a great weekend.
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