Decided that the first two bands were most likely good, but a little more sleep would be cool too since we were mad late out the night before.
One interesting extra little thing that happened here was what I'm going to call Medieval fighting competitions. Dudes or ladies dress up in suits of armor and medieval garb and fight with heavy duty foam weapons. They pack a wallop, you can't get these at Toys R Us. At one point an especially funny thing happened that made me laugh even more because I caused it. These two dudes were fighting, one was on his knees, and the one winning said "should I give him mercy?" I yelled out "no mercy!" That right there was a little bit funny. So the guy beats the shit out of the guy on his knees for 15 seconds or so and it was hilarious. Just the ferocity of it and how he really didn't show mercy. It was good. The dude came over and chatted for a second and let me hold his big ass sword. It was cool. Freedom - Missed them.
Old Habits - Missed them. But I can say I didn't hear one single word about them, see a single t-shirt, or see any merch table for them outside. A complete ghost at the fest, but that doesn't mean they weren't good.
Full of Hell - We walked in for their last 4 or so songs. They were way more beatdowny than I remember, but still have the weird guy heaviness and inconsistent melody that I remember them for. A good band. They seem to come to Pittsburgh about every other month, so I'll be seeing them again soon.
Hounds of Hate - The second Pittsburgh band of the day. I'm pretty sure everyone in the band moved to Pittsburgh from New Jersey or something, and I think they still live here. Set was good. The singer is real tall and awkward looking on stage, but that gives them an interesting look to watch. The crowd was into it. They're a new style band not so different from Backtrack. I'm happy to see them getting a real good reaction. I like this band and will see them at Roboto in the no doubt near future.
Greg from Trial - I'm glad TIH had a speaker there this year. I think it would be awesome if they had a speaker every year, even if it's Greg every year. I'm going to try summarize what he talked about. First was a story about a woman he met in Italy and the friendship that ensued. The point I think being to get out of your shell and meet some people. The next thing he talked about was a band that no one every heard of from Utah called Pyroclast (is that it?). He told the story of how he met them and how they died. Literally 4/5 of the band died in a crazy drowning accident. Truly a crazy story. The point being that your time on Earth is short and you gotta get your voice out now. I was expecting a politically motivated speach, but instead it was more of a motivational piece. Greg is an amazing speaker and probably an amazing person. I really enjoyed what he had to say and if he's ever around on a speaking tour I'm going to go to that bitch. His organization is called, I think, Words as Weapons. Cool part of the day.
Heavy Chains - I hadn't heard about this band before, but I thought they had a sweet name. Some band on stage said that Heavy Chains is the shit and everyone should check them out. I can't remember the band that said that, but it was a band I liked. So I wanted to check them out. They're about 75% hardstyle and 25% newstyle, and original enough to keep my attention. I liked them. I think that at a show in Pittsburgh the mosh would probably be overrun by idiots trying to hurt people, so this might be the best Heavy Chains memory I ever make.
Die Young - We went outside and hit up the vendor area. Ice freaking cream son. Shit was baller. Birch Beer Vanilla Bean ice cream. Baller as f'in baller shit. Might be the best ice cream I've ever had in my entire life. Don't remember the way the band sounded at all. However this is also when we watched the medieval fighting.
Coke Bust - Drinking would most likely have began after Greg from Trial if it weren't for Coke Bust's time slot. I wanted to see them because I know they're a good live show, and they're another one of the bands on the punk and fast side of things. Great frontman. Like Agnostic Front and Slapshot his style is easy and fun to watch, and he's really entertaining. They played a bunch of songs that I didn't know, and neither of my favorite songs. But they're still one of the best bands of the day. Quality fast hardcore. Plenty of creepy crawling going on.
Mindset - They play every year, I don't watch every year. Not any specific beef with their music, it just doesn't work out. Drinking.
Palehorse - Drinking.
Cruel Hand - Drinking.
Rotting Out - Had to get in there for Rotting Out. This band is so fucking good. They got a million good songs. City of Shame is still the best jam. The singer gained a shit ton of weight. At first I wasn't sure it was the same guy. It is, he's just a fat muscle guy now instead of a mad fit looking guy. Great set, easily one of the best of the day.
Culture - Drinking.
Death Threat - Drinking.
Wisdom in Chains - I'll see this band every chance I get. They are so incredibly good. Every song is a banger. They played one new song, it was killer. Played a healthy mix of older songs and newer. The greatest singalongs. Great energy. I love this band and like always they were the best.
Nails - So hot and sweaty after Wisdom there is no way I was going to be in there for Nails. I don't like this band a whole lot anyway. To me they're run of the mill heavy style hardcore.
100 Demons - A few years ago people would freak out for a 100 Demons show. Their set wasn't near as crazy last year as it had been the previous year. I think it's because they opened the set with a new song 'Drop the Hammer.' It sucked. It was worse than sucky, it was terrible. If this is a sign of things to come, they'll be the new Sworn Enemy here in a few years. They bounced back admirably by unleashing all their best songs. The mosh happened pretty hard, but out of the super heavy beatdown bands that I saw, others got more overall positive fan reaction. What I don't like about 100 Demons is the fact that they're not all that entertaining to watch. The singer kind of lurks around, the whole band has an asshole vibe going for them. Don't know how I feel about them after this set. Something weird happened at the end of the set. I think they probably just got cut off before what they wanted to be their last song. But the singer walked off the stage. The other band members were standing there, the guitars screeching like some sick shit was coming up. The drummer just sitting there. Then they all looked at each other for a few minutes, then left stage. It seemed like the singer threw a tantrum and tried to keep it under wraps. His body language was just negative. Maybe he was mad that more people weren't getting hype and violent. Probably not, most likely they just ran out of time.
Bold - I hate Bold. No way was I going to watch this. I have every Bold album on mp3 and they're super boring. Not a fan.
CIV - From outside they sounded good. I know they're an older band, but they have a new style sound to them. Probably a granddaddy to bands like Backtrack and Turnstile. I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to see them again, but I hope I do. Really there's no excuse for not watching them other than the weather was amazing and being outside was nice.
Cold World - They were sick. Best crowd response of the fest. They played plenty of old songs, a few new ones, it was great overall. The singer has his little moshy dancey thing that he does. I like it. Great set.
Blacklisted - Last year they were uninspiring and I remember that they didn't play many old songs. This year would be more of the same I'm sure. I love Cannonize, but still not interested in watching them.
Title Fight - I've seen this band 4 times and have no interest whatsoever.
Merch acquired: Coke Bust tank top, Rotting Out t-shirt.
Best sets: 1. Wisdom in Chains
2. Cold World
3. Rotting Out
4. Coke Bust
5. Greg from Trial
Disappointing sets through 3 days: 1. Unearth
2. 100 Demons
3. Twitching Tongues
4. Lifeless
Favorite sets through 3 days: 1. Wisdom in Chains
2. Cold World
3. Crowbar
4. Agnostic Front
5. Rotting Out
Final thoughts of the night. A good day. Lots of fun was had and some great live music was seen and heard. Wisdom in Chains is so sick, I gotta get the new album.
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