On Saturday, I headed out for the first music fest that I’ve gone to since Warped Tour and Skate and Surf back in 2003. I usually am not a fan of large music festivals, but the lineup of Riot Fest East was completely stellar, and I got tickets on craigslist for pretty damn cheap, so there was no way I was missing this all day punk fest (even if I was in the pit with a broken arm cast).

Riot Fest East took place in Philadelphia’s Festival Pier, which is pretty much just an outdoor open space facing the Delaware River. Unfortunately, since it was a LiveNation venue, water was $4 a bottle so I pretty much needed a freaking loan for the amount I drank, but I wasn’t going to let that ruin my good time.

The fest was composed of two stages, one outdoor one and one inside of a tent. They organized it so that there would be constant music, without any overlapping (pretty damn impressive, and no waiting for bands to set up).

The Holy Mess:

I got there a few songs in for Philly’s own The Holy Mess, and they played their usual fun, slightly sloppy set. A decent amount of people in the crowd were there for them, and some young-uns started a (very tiny) pit. The Holy Mess played one new song, and it sounded a lot different than anything they have written previously. Dark, heavier, and should be interesting to hear their upcoming release.

Highlights:
Easy On The Pepsi Fuller
Crazy Horny
Goodbye 3713
A Soulful Punk Tune About A Working Class Dreamer
I Think Corduroy Is Making A Comeback

Shot Baker:

I’m not too familiar with their music, but I remember seeing Shot Baker open at a show here in Philly and being pretty impressed. The band played to a relatively small gathering, but they played tightly.

Menzingers:

It seems like everyone in Philly and their mom knows about the beloved Menzingers at this point. The Philly adopted band played to an enthused crowd who had people crowd surfing and a bit of a more legit pit opening up… finally, it’s like we were at a punk show or something.

Highlights:
Timetables
Who’s Your Partner
Home Outgrown
Straight To Hell (Clash Cover)

Weston:

It seemed like the majority of people weren’t sure who these yesteryear pop-punkers were, and while I was a bit skeptical at first since last time I saw them, I was bored out of my mind during their set. But this time around, Weston put on a killer, fun set in my opinion. I had a giant smile on my face the entire set, and I’ll be definitely be giving these guys another chance.

I caught most of Samiam’s set, which they played Dull (the only song I really know by them), and I decided to take a breather during Excite Bike’s set in order to get myself ready for 7 Seconds.

7 Seconds:

One of the main reasons I came out to this fest, I’ve been a longtime fan of these original hardcore dudes but only got to see them once. 7 Seconds had a pretty damn big pit that opened the second they busted into the intro of New Wind. Fun set, besides some tough guys trying to fight during “Walk Together, Rock Together”. Are you dumb fucks even listening to the lyrics?

Highlights:
New Wind
You Lose
Not Just Boy’s Fun
Here We Go Again Kids
4141 Done
If The Kid’s Are United (Sham 69 Cover)
Walk Together, Rock Together
The Crew
Here’s Your Warning
Young Til I Die

Suicide Machines:

Holy shit, it’s like I’m 16 again, only with slightly less acne this time around. Suicide Machines had by far the biggest reaction of the night, with a gigantic pit of mostly people my age (mid twenties) living their 90s years again. With a bit of a surprise, the band opened with a Minor Threat cover before busting into their own material, and didn’t let up for the rest of their set.

Highlights:
Break The Glass
18% 17 to 25
SOS
New Girl
Islands
War Profiteering Is Killing Us All
DDT

I wound up catching the majority of Hot Water Music’s set, but from the back (until they played Wayfarer and Trusty Chords, then I pushed my way up front into the pit). Sorry, I fail at punk rock for forgetting most of the set.

Dead Milkmen:

I was especially excited to see the legendary Dead Milkmen, but I have to admit, I felt a bit underwhelmed by their set. It was still fun, but I was expecting more energy from the crowd. At one glorious point, the lead singer of Dead Milkmen stage dove into the crowd and surfed around… Young Til He Dies.

Highlights:

Tiny Town
Punk Rock Girl
Big Lizard
Bitchin Camaro
Nutrition
Beach Party Vietnam
Stuart
The Thing That Only Eats Hippies

X played Los Angeles in it’s entirety and had a lot of people going insane for it, I stuck for part, but I wanted to make sure to get a good spot for The Descendents.

The Descendents:

The Descendents were singlehandedly the reason the majority of people came to Riot Fest to begin with, and with the countless bands that they influenced, it’s not hard to see why. At one point during their set, fireworks were gracing the sky, and while having nothing to do with Riot Fest, it was pretty fucking sweet rocking out to The Descendents with fireworks in the backdrop.

Highlights:

Myage
Hope
I Want To be A Bear
I’m Not A Loser
Suburban Home
Bikeage
All-O-Gistics (had his kids come on stage to read them)
I’m The One
Coffee Mug

MP3:
The Descendents – Suburban Home
7 Seconds – 4141 Done
Suicide Machines – Islands
Samiam – Dull
Hot Water Music – Wayfarer
The Holy Mess – Tonight! Stroudsburg! One Night Only!
The Menzingers – Home Outgrown

More:
Holy Shit I Broke Myself

Buy:
Interpunk

This past Friday my online calendar reminded me of a show that I completely forgot about: Hub City Stompers at Philadelphia’s Fire. I showed up pretty late (and even then, Hub City wasn’t taking the stage until about 12:30am). I made it in time for NY’s Jukebox Romantics.

The Jukebox Romantic:

These guys took the stage to a tiny crowd, consisting mostly of their friends and maybe 3 or 4 others (including myself). However, as they continued to play their set, the room started to fill in. These New Yorkers played heartfelt, fun punk rock that was reminiscent of old Bouncing Souls or Sticks and Stones with some occasional ska rhythms thrown in. I definitely need to check out their recorded stuff, as The Jukebox Romantics put on a damn solid set.

Fun fact:
The lead singer took the stage wearing full on Mets gear hoping to piss off the Philly crowd, but as a Yankees fan (and even the Phillies fans in the crowd) mostly thought it the whole Mets thing was endearing… kind of like when a Chihuahua starts growling at a German Shepard, you know it doesn’t stand a chance in hell, but it is going to REALLY TRY!

Hub City Stompers:

It’s been a little while since I’ve seen these Jersey dudes/dudette (over 2 years?!), so I was pretty excited to be seeing them again, and it always seems they always have different members every time I catch them. Regardless, HCS played a solid set to a rather subdued (well except for one drunk guy) but singing along crowd. They played a handful of new, unreleased songs (cough Pants Music cough), with the majority of songs coming off of Dirty Jersey and Ska Ska Black Sheep.

I wished they played a bit longer, but Hub City played tightly as usual.

Set (From what I remember not in order)

Where’s My Hooligans
Skinhead Boi
80s cover
Skins Don’t Cry
Bumbl-B
Johnny Date Rape
Chatterbox
Mass Appeal
WTFIU?
Pants Music
Ska Train to Dorkville
Ska Ska Blacksheep

Mp3:
Hub City Stompers – Clutch Tango

More:
Hub City Stompers – Ska Ska Black Sheep
Ruder Than You – Big Step

Buy:
Hub City Stompers

So this past weekend, I was driving and some guy sideswiped my new car… Ok, shitty situation but not the end of the world. It was strange how it happened, as it almost seemed intentional. I got out to talk to the guy, and he was all “oh I’m sorry, let me go in my car and get my insurance info”. He goes into his car and GUNS it, with me standing right in front of his car.

I jump out of the way, and luckily don’t rebreak my arm. I tried to get his license plate, but unfortunately I’m either a character off or it isn’t registered. So, I got to pay for repairs but hey, let’s have a mix about it!

CONTACT ME IF YOU’RE IN THE PHILLY AREA AND KNOW OF THE LICENSE PLATE HLE-1156 or something close (silver / goldish car, white dude, long dirty blonde hair… complete stoner bro).

Oh, and here’s some songs:

MP3:
Toxic Narcotic – Asshole
Swallowing Shit – If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport
Blanks 77 – Hit and Run
Teenage Bottlerocket – Crashing
Atom And His Package – Getaway Car
Smoke Or Fire – Cars

More Mixes:
Holy Shit I Broke Myself

Buy:
Interpunk

As of late, I have been listening to Black Flag’s “Damaged” nonstop everywhere I go. Car ride, shower, writing posts… Damaged is there with me. With Black Flag often being considered the most important hardcore band ever, and Damaged usually considered their most important release, chances are if you listen to punk rock, you listen to a band that was directly or indirectly influenced by this album.

Released back in 1981 Black Flag was around for 3 years prior, but “Damaged” was the first release featuring Henry Rollins as the singer, and holy shit the kid was pissed off. With 15 songs ending around the 35 minute mark, with the exception of the goofy TV Party and the foreshadowing more experimental Damaged I, all of the songs are fast paced, pissed off early hardcore and some of the greatest songs to come from this era of hardcore.

Tap back into you’re ancestral punk rock roots, and go listen to this shit.

MP3:
Black Flag – Police Story

Learn Your Roots:
Black Flag – The First Four Years
Circle Jerks – Group Sex
Minor Threat
The Adolescents

Buy:
SST Records

Holy shit, I’ve been stoked for this show since before I was born and Kid Dynamite was even a band… true story! Yesterday evening, I headed out to Philly’s famed First Unitarian Church to catch one of my favorite bands around and Philadelphia punk rock legends Kid Dynamite. The basement was packed, hot, sweaty, and incredibly sexy.

I missed both Spraynard and No Friends, but made it in time for KD’s entire set (thank god.)

Kid Dynamite:

The band took the stage and Dan joked about how if you want to take your clothes off, just do it now, then broke into a relentless set. Stage dives were plenty, and people were dancing in the pit the entire time (which in retrospect, staying in the majority of time with a broken arm was probably a terrible idea… but expecting me to control myself at a Kid Dynamite show is like expecting a meth addict to control themselves at a sudafed factory).

They blasted through the majority of songs with little stage banter, except for a small warning about there being a small gap between the stage and the speakers (which… let my broken arm attest to), and to give some information on The Philadelphia Free School, a non-profit that the show was raising for.

They played a shitload of songs, my only real complaints being there wasn’t any Gate 68 in there and the fact they didn’t play every song they ever wrote… twice. Setlist from what I remember (Not in order and missing some):

Zuko’s Back In Town
Heart A Tact
Pause
K05 0564
Living Daylights
Bookworm
Copout
Cheap Shot Youth Anthem
Table 19
News At 11
Wrist Rocket
*
shiner
Pits and Poison Apples
ph Decontrol (I think)
scary smurf
Death And Taxes
Never met the gooch (I think)
pacifer
SOS
Two For Flinching

MP3:
Kid Dynamite – Heart A Tact

More:
Full Kid Dynamite Set (2010)
Kid Dynamite, And The Art Of Moshing Everywhere

Buy:
Jade Tree

While I’ve been a fan for The Copyrights for a little while now, I usually skip through their albums looking for specific songs and rarely listen to the album as a whole. With their latest and fifth studio release of “North Sentinel Island”, The Copyrights mix things up a little bit, and the album blends together much more.

Known for their upbeat, catchy pop-punk, The Copyrights bring in a little more melancholy and mid-tempo to North Sentinel Island, giving it a much more Menzingers feel than Teenage Bottlerocket, but without ever abandoning their roots.

The album title comes from the island that is home to people who are completely isolated from modern civilization, and the lyrical themes reflect this. With lyrics like “I’m not homesick, I’m sick of home” and “you always sleep better, when you don’t have any dreams”, The Copyrights remain brutally honest while keeping the music relatively upbeat.

I can definitely see this one being a contender for my top 10 of the year, and no fan of pop-punk should be without.

MP3:
The Copyrights – Trustees Of Modern Chemistry

More:
Teenage Bottlerocket – They Came From The Shadows
The Copyrights – Mutiny Pop

Buy:
Red Scare

What up long lost homies? There has been a little lack of updates because I was supposed to go to the Outerbanks this past week, but there was some bitch named Irene who sort of ruined that plan (hint: for you west coasters… we got hit with a hurricane).

So instead I went to visit a friend in Asheville, NC! I’ve never been there before, but it was a pretty cool city. Lots of hiking trails, nature, and hippies… but not a trace of punk rock. So in the spirit, here’s a little mix of the shit I listened to on the way down.

Fun fact: I met this couple there, who told me they never met anyone from Philly before… I quote: “You’re too nice to be the typical Philadelphia urbanite we’d imagine”. Apparently we’ve got a reputation… And the joke’s on them, I’m a Jersey kid at heart.

MP3:

Dead Kennedys – Kill The Poor

The Revenge – Like A Fine Bottle Of Good Pussy

Black Flag – White Minority

Protest The Hero – Heretics And Killers

Give Up The Ghost – The Ice Age Is Coming!

Punch – Break A Leg

Lighten Up – Absolutely Not



Listen To These Mixes Or Be A Turd:

Holy Shit I Broke Myself

A Ramones Core Mix For The Shorties

Songs to Piss Off The Personal Fitness Trainer Below Me Mix

Drunken Yuppies Breaking Into My House Mix

Buy:

Interpunk