Old Shows: Volume 1

I recently came across a stash of old fliers posted in a photobucket account from the area I started going to shows in. So last night I flipped through some of them and remembered a few. Not nearly as many as I thought I would, but there were a couple.

This Bigwig/Ensign show was one of the biggest let downs I had ever attended. I didn't give a shit about Madcap, The Commercials or Count The Stars. I was just getting to know the guys in Boywunder and wanted to catch their set so I got their early. I used to go to shows alone all the time. No one else in my town was into hardcore so I discovered it on my own and enjoyed going by myself. Well the minute I got there the place was fucking packed with a bunch of people I didn't know. I paid my way in and saw immediately that Ensign had cancelled. I had seen Bigwig in the past and liked their live show, but the real reason I came was Ensign. Too bad for me.

I stood around for awhile until it was time for Boywunder. They played their usual set that I would eventually see what seems like a thousand times and I went to my car to have a smoke. As you can see the date was February 8th so it was cold. I went to turn my car on to get some heat and discovered my starter was dead. To make matters worse I had a pre-pay cell phone at the time and only had a single minute left to use. With that minute I sent a text message to a friend to get ahold of my parents. I have no idea how that worked, but at about 4 AM my step father found me on the side of the road with a tow truck arriving shortly after.

The whole trip was a waste, I paid $10 to watch Boywunder and have my car break down. I never went back into the show because I was busy having people try to jump my car and shit. I am as car stupid as it gets so I did a lot of opening the hood and staring. This also made me start seeking out more people to go to shows with which of course had its obvious benefits.

I was going to post a whole bunch of different fliers in one post but I think I'll just do one at a time. I've already come across a bunch more and will post them as I feel like it and tell stories just as boring as this one. Wait until I get to the Madball show that I didn't go to and went to Prom instead.

Iron Cross/Colin Of Arabia/Incendiary/This Is Hell & more

March 5th is going to be a busy day for shows here in Baltimore. Two great shows are happening, unfortunately at the same time. One at the Sidebar featuring Iron Cross and Colin Of Arabia and the other at Charm City Art Space with This Is Hell and Incendiary headlining. Somehow I plan on making it to both of these, but I haven't figured out exactly how yet.

Sidebar Tavern
doors at 7:30, first band at 8
$10 in advance at www.missiontix.com
$12 at the door

Iron Cross (Godfathers of American Oi)
Colin of Arabia (The beast returns from Boston)
Yellow Stitches (ex Drug Test from NH)
Chosen Ones (ex Hudson Falcons from Buffalo)
Fist Fight

Charm City Art Space

7PM

This Is Hell

Incendiary

Turnstile

Punchout

Soldiers

Zodiac Killer Records

Due to my "job" writing reviews for Stereokiller I've come across many bands I wasn't familiar with that I may not have otherwise come across. The majority have probably been really terrible bands, but there have been a handful of great ones too. After having one of the guys in Copstabber send me their album Officer Down! for review I started getting a bunch of releases from their label Zodiac Killer Records.

Officer Down! very quickly became my favorite record of 2010. Every time I mention this album I always mention the track "More Abortions", the catchiest song about abortions ever. Anyway, I've had a lot of Zodiac Killer CD's show up at my door since this summer and have gotten really into the bands I've heard.

Most recently I've discovered bands like Whiskey & Knives, Holley 750, The Antares, Hooked On Southern Speed, The Hip Priests, and Sonic Negroes. Most of the bands have a pretty similar sound of guitar driven punk rock with a heavy rockabilly influence. That isn't to say the bands sound alike though, so far each have had their own unique qualities that made them enjoyable. With the exception of Medicated Motherfuckers Relapsed,  which I thought sucked.

The best bands I've come across have fortunately been from my area. The Reticents, while now defunct have an awesome hardcore release with EP I & EP II. As I mentioned before Copstabbers Officer Down! rules and makes hardcore punk as fun as it gets. Disguster and Flat Tires also put out some awesome records. I'm slowly building up my Zodiac Killer collection, but I am looking forward to adding a lot more. This stuff has gotten me out of my usual hardcore saturated playlists by adding a whole lot of new punk rock.

Check out the label and see what Zodiac Killer Records is all about. They really do release something for everyone in the punk rock scene.

Go!

I'm not exactly sure what my goal is with this blog. I've just been running out of shit to do on the internet so I thought I'd try something somewhat productive. I don't plan on packing this with downloads of new or old shit unless it is something that I really think deserves some extra attention. My girlfriend did get me a new USB record player for Christmas so if I am going through my records and find something I think most people are unfamiliar with I'll throw it up here. That is if I can figure out the Audacity software that came with it.

I've picked up a lot of new stuff lately, recently I received the new Fight It Out 7" from Dave Heck and his label Get This Right. Check out the page he has up for the label at Stereokiller.com to hear some of the bands he is putting out records for. This Fight It Out record is called Depression and is very similar to one of my all time favorites Mushmouth.

I've been a huge Gang Green for years going back to when I bought their I81B4U by accident. Since then I have fallen in love with their grimey, party themed hardcore/punk/whatever. So I was real pleased when I found this at Soundgarden here in Baltimore. This is a three song 5" with Agoraphobic Nosebleed and A.N.S. both covering the "King Of Bands" and an extra track by A.N.S.. I was never a big fan of AN, but their take on "Alcohol" is just fine by me. Their song selection was a little predictable as I've only heard bands cover "Alcohol" and nothing else by Gang Green. There is good reason though as it is arguably their best track. A.N.S. chose "Let's Drink Some Beer" and did a great job with it and threw in an original called "Blazing Saddles". I had heard of A.N.S. before, but never looked into them too much until this release. Since I've got this I've sought out the rest of their releases and highly recommend these guys. Pick it up from Tankcrimes they just released a second pressing of 500.

That's all for now I guess.