Our first order of business was not doing that $25 parking bullshit. Instead of going down 7th, which is the road Electric Factory is on, we turned down 5th and found plenty of street parking for free. This would be our spot for the next two days as well. Fuck 7th, 5th is where it's at. The line for this day was pretty bad again, but we were more prepared mentally for it this time.
We woke up in the morning and noticed that Agnostic Front was added to the lineup and Blast dropped. Great news for me. AF is one of my favorite bands and Blast is a group I'd never heard of. So for me an already great lineup got even better.
Timebomb - Missed them mostly because of the line and the nap we took before driving in. Not sure at all if they were good or not.
Rude Awakening - I was really surprised at how good of a crowd response they got. It was pretty awesome to watch from above. I still don't love this band because as far as moshy crossbreeds between new style and heavy style goes, they're just above average. I'm pretty sure I saw them before at Sincerity Fest, and I'll see them again if they come to town.
Twitching Tongues - The last time I saw them was at a previous TIH and I remember not liking them much. On recordings this band must be pretty decent because the crowd was all about this band. But I think the vocal quality was beyond poor and I didn't think the breakdowns were that great nor were the songs that good. I didn't like this band, though I may be missing something because people went off.
Backtrack - The first band of the day I was excited to see. I've seen them pretty much every time they've come to Pittsburgh, and will continue to do so. It blows my mind that after seeing the shit show that was the Twitching Tongues set that more people weren't in the room. How can more people support Twitching Tongues than Backtrack? Either way, they built up momentum pretty good during the set. It was a good time and even though the crowd wasn't as packed in as for TT, they still had good reaction and killed it.
Dropdead - I expected the crowd to react mildly to this band since they're more of the fast hardcore punk subgenre, with no beatdowns and not much opportunity for the creepy crawl. I was right, but it didn't take away from the great stage presence, message, or 20+ years experience of Dropdead. The first band talking about political things between songs. I'm sure the meat heads weren't into it, but I was and other people were too. One of my favorite sets of the day and least crowd supported. I wanted to get a shirt or something, but I don't think they were selling anything.
All Else Failed - We caught the tail end of their set and it was pretty good. I never really gave this band much of a chance, but they were highly entertaining and the crowd was super into them. I'm thinking they're a Philly band and that helped the singalongs and things. Very good set and I'll have to consider seeing them if they come around.
Slapshot - I didn't want to miss this set at any cost. Fast bands like Slapshot are pretty much out of favor with the younger hardcore crowd. Their response wasn't anything like I thought it would be. But that doesn't mean the set wasn't good, because it was big time. Their singer was one of the top performers of the day. He was bleeding the whole time. Old Time Hardcore was a great song. They didn't play Identity of Spirit of 81 as I hoped, but the entire set was still sick as fuck. One of the day's best sets.
Turmoil - I wasn't sure if they'd be any good, but they sure were. They played Anchor, Killing Today for a Better Tomorrow, and Is Anybody There. Those three songs were amazing. The crowd was super into the set, the band was grateful to be remembered, and I'll for sure see them again if they ever play another show close (doubtful). Heavy old school hardcore from the forming days of metalcore.
The Explosion - We caught the tail end of their set because we were eating some delicious tacos. Fucking amazing tacos. I never heard of The Explosion before, but I'm going to have to take a listen now. Sing along punk rock hardcore. There was a fair body of people singing along their songs, looked like a good time. Good stage presence and they were entertaining to watch.
Agnostic Front - The crowd response was pretty weak for these legends. Once again, old time hardcore bands like AF and Slapshot that are more rooted in punk than metal struggling to get footing at TIH. Which is a shame because their show on stage is great. Roger Miret is a great frontman and promised to play TIH next year too. They played a good mix of songs and ended with the Warzone cover. Great set. I always enjoy a good AF show.
Converge - Like usual they were crazy and confusing tough guys left and right. "We're too weird for the hardcore kids and too punk for the metal kids." Singer Jake pretty much summed it up right there. They closed with 3 old songs that people could mosh to. I was disappointed that they didn't play When Forever Comes Crashing, Locust Rain, Axe to Fall, or Dark Horse, but with so many good songs they had a killer set anyways. At one point in the set though, they played a few songs back to back that are more on the boring and hard to groove to songs. All in all, they mixed it up good and were a fitting set to close out night 2 of TIH.
Merch acquired: Panic tanktop, American Nightmare ghost girl shirt, Converge shirt. Agnostic front had two different shirts that were awesome but getting on the fest on such short notice they must not have had time to restock on sizes so they didn't have anything my size.
Best sets: 1. Slapshot
2. Agnostic Front
3. Turmoil
4. Converge
5. Dropdead
Disappointing sets through 2 days: 1. Unearth
2. Twitching Tongues
3. Lifeless
Favorite sets though 2 days: 1. Crowbar
2. Agnostic Front
3. Ringworm
4. Slapshot
5. Code Orange Kids
Final thoughts of the night. Weather has been pretty much perfect. Beer here is way too expensive, tomorrow we'll have to figure out how to use the $5 re-entry to get our drunk on. After two nights, this night has been the best in terms of the quality of the live show. Pretty much the crowd was lackluster for the old style.
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