12-12 Every Time I Die, Turnstile, Angel Dust, Vein, Pittsburgh @Mr. Smalls

This show sold out, which was pretty shocking to me. It's a larger venue in Pittsburgh, I didn't think ETID had it like that in the Burgh. Glad I'm wrong.

Vein - I got there halfway through their set, which was really short. They're very heavy and have good energy. I didn't see them at TIHC either, unfortunately. They played a way too short of a set because it was like 40 minutes until the next band went on.

Angel Dust - I like this band's rhythm and beat. I don't like the singer because he sucks and the sound was too good to make a shitty singer good. They were better at the Rock Room or whatever shitty bar with shitty sound we saw them in last time. Still a good set, I liked it.

Turnstile - I really like this band's energy. The singer is either a different singer than before, or he just has an entirely different stage presence now. They didn't play Pressure to Succeed or Heavy Hand though. Unfortunately.

Everytime I Die - I like this band but don't love this band. They're spazzy at times, heavy at times, singalong at times, a little of everything. Good set. I'm glad people turned out in droves for them.

12-7 Weedeater, Horehound, Coma, Pittsburgh @Cattivo

We had seen Weedeater relatively recently and it was a great show. The other option tonight was a benefit show featuring Hounds of Hate and a bunch of other awesome bands. We opted for Weedeater because it was a later show and I had to work a little later.

Coma - Missed them.

Horehound - Awful band name. Not much better of a band. They would get my interest in maybe 5 second splashes. In the future I'll miss this band too.

Weedeater - Killed it. They're so ridiculously good. Stoner metal at it's absolute finest. I'll try see them everytime they come around. Taking swigs of that Evan Williams.

8-18 Skull Fest 10, Oh Shit They're Going to Kill Us, Wrathcobra, Derketa, Tartarus, Pittsburgh @Cattivo Downstairs 9PM

I wasn't sure about this show going in. I assumed Wrathcobra would be the best band of the night, as they are the only one that I had listened to extensively before. I was wrong, good show.

Tartarus - Missed them. We came straight here after the other show.

Derketa - Ladies playing metal in a particularly vicious affront. Good band. Pittsburgh band.

Wrathcobra - Dreadlocked metal punks. They have been playing for a long time, and they will no longner be playing any more. Good band, first time in years I saw them.

Oh Shit They're Going to Kill Us - Great Pittsburgh band. Way better then I remember. This is their last show ever also. They had this smoke breathing dragon that was amazing thrown into the pit and shredded to pieces. It was a good time. Heavy, groovy, punk rock, great time.

11-26 Leftover Crack, Negative Approach, Crazy and the Brains, Killer of Sheep, Plasmid, Pittsburgh @Rex Theater

LoC is always a great set when they come around. Last time we tried to see them the show was sold out when we got there. That was especially unfortunate.

Plasmid - missed them.

Killer of Sheep - Local punks, been playing all the shows forever. Good set.

Crazy and the Brains - I liked the band's getup. Very British post war or something. The singer wore what looked to be a fancy shower robe. Up beat punk rock, not so yelly. I'd like to see this band again.

Negative Approach - I thought they were surprisingly good. They played all the old jams and weren't too boring. That was my thought, this is going to be boring. It was definitely not. I think they were better this show than at This is Hardcore.

Leftover Crack - Well they're getting old. But they still pretty much killed it. Good set, they didn't play Athiest Anthem but they did play the rest of the jams. Gay Rude Boys Unite and the theme song were the high points.

Hi's - Going out to the punk show is always a good time.

Low's - It was very cold.

8-18 Skull Fest 10 Mob 47, Lebenden Toten, Warpath, Blood Pressure, Lacerate, Pittsburgh @Spirit 6PM

We had high hopes for this show, as with most all Skull Fest shows. Unfortunately it was just a bit of a letdown.

Lacerate -Hardcore punk, I think from Cleveland? They were good. I was just getting tuned up at this point.

Blood Pressure - Always good. I thought they were especially good at this set.

Warpath - This band was big at one point. They are very pro queer. All that is encouraged, what is not encouraged is how shitty they were. I believe at one time this band brought it, they no longer do. From New York I think. Disappointment.

Lebenden Toten - This band was awesome. The singer lady has odd moves on stage that are fun to watch. Every song is super fast and yelly. The punks came out for this band, the rest of the set, well, not so much. I'd like to see this band again. They're from Portland I think.

Mob 47 - Old heads playing old style punk. Good set. Wasn't the crowd support that you want to see. Maybe Spirit was a little too big for this show.

Submachine, Like No Tomorrow, Ruin By Design, The Homicides, Sissy Baby Boys, Uniontown @Bar None

I'm always skeptical when I go anywhere in Uniontown. This place was not a shit hole. Actually a very nice place for a show like this.

Sissy Baby Boys - Great band name. Easy going punk. Ramones cover. I like the dude and the chic who sing for them. Good set.

The Homicides - They were actually my favorite band of the night other than Submachine. Good band. Funny band too. I liked it.

Ruin by Design - from DC. They were pretty good too. Fast punk rock.

Like No Tomorrow - This band was the best of the two out of staters. They were a little bit politically motivated, which is a good thing.

Submachine - When doesn't Submachine kill it? Very good set. They didn't play the beer song.

I was happy about the turnout, relatively, and also happy about the drink prices.

8-18 Skull Fest 10, Haram, Lecherous Gaze, Scalpel, Mueco, Probeza Mental, Mati, Beta Boys, Phantasy Lane, Pink Mist, SLIP, Pittsburgh @The Shop 1PM

The early Skullfest shows at the shop are often the best. There was a lot of promise for this one going in. There were supposed to be a bunch of bands on this show. Total chaos as far as that went. More than one didn't play. I did however like the two stage setup, though one of the stages pretty well restricted view-ability.

SLIP - Pittsburgh punk rock for fans of guitars and denim. They've been playing for a few years and are really good. Noisy and fast.

Phantasy Lane - No idea if they played or not. No finding anything of theirs on the internet. Mystery.

Mati - From New York. At the time I thought this band was Probeza Mental. Now I see it's Mati. They may sing all their songs in Greek. Maybe. Good energy weirdo punk.

Mueco - I don't think this band played. They're a D-beat punk band with a banner that I would have remembered.

Haram - Awesome band. They sing in all arabic. Fast and loud, good hardcore punk. Even between songs dude was speaking arabic. The singer has odd body language and is a good front man for a punk band. Awesome.

Lecherous Gaze - Awesome band. The singer wore some weird glasses and face wrap. It was odd and cool. Heavy guitar screaming punk rock. Very good set.

Beta Boys - I don't think they played.

Pink Mist - I don't think they played.

Probeza Mental - Good band. I thought they were Mati when Mati played. I actually like Mati a little better. Still, decent band.

Scalpel - I don't know if they played or not.

So, as you can see my review of this show is a mess. I didn't know any of the bands real well, but there were a few gems through the day.

10-10 MDC, Elected Officials, Unreliable Narrator, Pittsburgh @Belvederes

I was pretty stoked to see MDC. They have some great songs that I still enjoy listening to. Belvederes is normally a great place for shows, but this place was empty as fuck. Maybe 25 people paid.

Unreliable Narrator - This band is ok. Kind of noisy and a little bit fast. Weirdo punk.

Elected Officials - Not bad. Not great. Lady singer who was the best part of the band. I'd see them again, and I'll listen to some of their stuff sometime. They're touring right now with MDC I think.

MDC - They pretty much disappointed me in almost every way. I don't know what I expected really. The sound was pretty bad. The song selection maybe was ok. They played the big songs towards the end like John Wayne was a Nazi and Chicken Squak and Corporate Deathburger, and even though I really like many of their songs on recording, they sucked tonight live. I guess the punks must know about MDC in 2018, because they stayed the fuck home for this one.

HI's - cheap beer, Elected Officials

Low's - Just about everything else.

8-17 Skull Fest 10, Proletariat, F.U.'s, Sadist, Submachine, Red Threads, Pittsburgh @Cattivo 830PM

We went to this show directly from another Skull Fest jammer. We wanted to get there in time for Submachine, because they're cool, but that didn't happen. Missed Sadist too.

Red Threads - Missed them.

Submachine - Missed them.

Sadist - Missed them. They sound wonderfully loud and noisy on recordings.

The F.U.'s - They were playing when we walked in. They're a bunch of old heads. The show was good, I enjoyed it. A bit of an easier sounding punk from a time long long ago. Good energy, good crowd.

Proletariat - This band is odd. I didn't listen to them too much beforehand. They're more of a new wave punk band. Good energy. I like the way the singer moves, a little bit weird.

Another good day at Skull Fest. We didn't end up at Donnies Leather Central even though it sounded like it might be a good time. Or an awful time also.

8-17 Skull Fest 10, Cro-Mags, Annhilation Time, Protes Bengt, Drug Lust, Reason of Insanity, Killer of Sheep, Pittsburgh @Spirit 5PM

This was the show of the weekend to go to if you could only pick one.

Killer of Sheep - This band has been playing out forever. Same type of stuff. I like the band, fast punk with some Pittsburgh punk heroes.

Reason of Insanity - We were eating pizza during this band. Gotta get it somehow.

Drug Lust - Killed it. I don't think this band had played for a few years, but they killed it. At one point early on in the set the singer ripped apart the barrier between the drunks and not and the pit exploded for a second. It was hype. I'm sure security wasn't pleased, but no one cares. Raging hardcore punk.

Protes Bengt - This band shares members with Mob 47. Old timers playing really really really fast and short hardcore punk. I really liked the set. At one point the singer said they just played 40 songs, and with another minute they'll make it 44. They did. Rager.

Annihilation Time - This band brought all the punks out of the woodwork, and for good reason. They fucking killed it. One of the best punk shows I've ever been to. The pit was on, the singalong was on. They made fun of the overzealous security. Pretty much everything about it was great. Grooving hardcore punk rock.

Cro-Mags - NYHC legends. They didn't necessarily fit in on the fest because they've taken a more hardcore lean than punk, but they played all the hits and the crowd responded pretty nicely. Jon Joseph is an old timer and a legend and he's still an awesome front man. Great headliner to a great show.

Hi's - Everything
Low's - Not a damn thing.

8-17 Skull Fest 10, Complex, St Ripper, Phane, Agent, S.P.I.C., Reclusos, Pittsburgh @Rock Room 1PM

The previous night we were out late, but that didn't stop us from being up pretty early and getting out to this show on time. In traditional Skull Fest fashion there was some confusion over who was playing and I'm pretty certain that all the bands didn't play.

Reclusos - I don't think they played. Google has pretty much no help when getting info on this band. When I'm not sure what band is what I like to find some pictures and that helps usually. No dice.

SPIC - From New York City. I think they also didn't play.

St. Ripper - A bunch of ladies playing fast hardcore punk. It was really good. One of the members sings for Sisters of Shadowwe. Fast bang your head shit.

Agent - Kansas City punks. They were really fast and really good. Noisy, fuzzy, fast hardcore punk.

Phane - From Canada. Similar to the other bands that played. Fast street punk. They were good.

Complex - Really good hardcore punk from Philly. The shirts in support of their new album Modern Mutants is sweet as well. Good way to close out the early show.

Hi's - The bands and cheap early beer.
Low's - None

8-16 Skull Fest 10, Ritual Howls, American Nudism, Sisters of Shadowwe, Death Instinct, DJ Ericas Scary's Dance Party, Pittsburgh @Belvederes 9PM

This was the second show going on Thursday later in the night at Belvederes. So we were pretty hungry and drunk at this point. The first show ended a bit late, but it looks like they didn't start this show until after the other was over. Maybe. When we got there I think Scary Erica was DJing. I think that's what was going on. The kitchen at Belvederes was closed for some horrible reason. At that second we knew we would be leaving early. According to the lineup I think Death Instinct was supposed to play first. Maybe I missed them. I think most likely is that Sisters of Shadowwe played first, for whatever reason.

Sisters of Shadowwe - Ok band, slow kinda like synth punk new age punk sound. For the last few years Skull Fest has put on a handful of shows like this. Not something that I was able to get into being starving and drunk. We left about probably halfway through.

Went to the pizza place by the bowling alley. Pesaro's Pizza. Hit the spot.

Hi's - Cheap beer, punks, tunes, pizza
Low's - Kitchen closed at Belvies.

8-16 Skull Fest 10, Mower, Parasytes, Negativ, Janitor Scum, BB Eye, Iron Wind, Khiss, Lupus, Kollision, Pittsburgh @The Shop 4PM

Skull Fest every year is an amazing time. The the experience of melting into the accumulation of punk zombies and freaks is unparalleled. I like going to Skull Fest right after This is Hardcore. It makes me appreciate punk more than metal. TiHC isn't much punk at all. Skull Fest is punk as fuck. Cestones Pizza on Mt Washington to start the day. Obvious choice.

Anyway this was the first Skull Fest show. A few precedents were set here. First is that you should be very leery of starting times and also of what bands may or may not be playing. This show started pretty late. At least an hour and some. Not mad about it, but it's a fact.

Kollission - I don't particularly care for this band. Fast punk, street punk ish. Pretty sloppy. From Pittsburgh I think. They had some merch that I didn't like much. The lateness of things has now been established, now we bring in the confusion over who is playing.

Janitor Scum - I really wanted to see this band because the band name is so awesome. As far as I can tell they didn't play at any point at Skull Fest. They're on the same label and tour as BB Eye.

BB Eye - Another band I wanted to see with an awesome name. As far as I can tell they also didn't play at any Skull Fest show. Their bandcamp said they were to play this show with Beta Boys, but Beta Boys were scheduled to play Sunday. Some mix up happened here.

Iron Wind - It took some Googling to determine what band was playing here. It's Iron Wind. I really liked the way they started the set, with the lead vocalist slurring and all kinds of shit. They pulled it together a bit. Kind of a Motorhead punk sound. I remember the chic bass player having large hair.

Lupus - This is the point that the lateness and confusion stopped mattering. This band is killer. From Bogota Colombia. We don't get a whole lot of Colombian punk and hardcore but it's bad ass that we just saw Raw Brigade at This is Hardcore, and they were good, then this band. Fuzzy punk rock, not especially heavy or fast, but very good.

Khiis - From Oakland CA. They were really good too. Lady singer, weed smokers. I liked their merch, somewhat of an Arabic influence in the look maybe. They're a fast echoing punk band. They had great energy and got the steady stream of beer cans flowing.

Negativ - From Oslo Norway. They absolutely killed it. Band of the day for certain. The singer has a great crazy face. As soon as they started playing he went into crazy face mode. It was perfect. The punks went off. One of the best sets of the weekend.

Parasytes - After the last three bands it was going to be hard to top the energy. Parasytes was good, but not great. The bass player had some really awesome hair. The balding curly mullet was heavy. Screamy lady fronted fast punk. Good songs.

Mower - By this time the show was running really late. We were super hungry. We didn't watch Mower and instead went to Belvederes for the late show under the impression that the kitchen would be open until 1AM.

At one point in this show a punk band that I won't mention was setting off fireworks at the Shop. Prompting someone to take the stage and say do not fucking do that because there are chemicals in there that could blow up. Punks.

Highs: The inebriation situation, all the bands
Lows: One bathroom, a hundred+ drunk punks. The piss was flowing in all available places.

7-29 This is Hardcore, E Town Concrete, Arkangel, District 9, Wisdom in Chains, Carnivore AD, Twitching Tongues, Jesus Piece, Agents of Man, Sworn Enemy, Queensway, Lionheart, Mindforce, Sanction, Three Knee Deep, Vamachara, Philly @Electric Factory

The obvious bummer of the day is that Sick of It All dropped because of a medical issue or something. I don't know. They didn't seem to miss any other days on their tour. Either way, this day had a killer lineup with or without Sick of It All. In the end, where they played in the lineup, I wouldn't have seen them anyway. More on that later. We wanted to get there in time for Sanction. Played it out pretty perfectly.

Vamachara - Missed them. But I like their style of heaviness.

Three Knee Deep - Wasn't into them on recordings at all. Didn't see.

Sanction - Killer band from Long Island. They were added last minute when Sick of It All dropped off. Younger guys playing fast and heavy shit. We saw them a few times earlier in the year and they were just as good this time.

Mindforce - I really like the singer's voice. Perfect voice for their style of thrash hardcore stuff. I'd like them to come to Pittsburgh.

Queensway - Didn't watch them. I was out at the merch superstore.

Sworn Enemy - Good set. What I really wanted to see was a ton of songs from As Real As It Gets. We got a little bit of that, a few songs off the first release Negative Outlook, and a handful of new and newer songs. I guess they're becoming obscure enough that most people don't know Negative Outlook anymore, which was once their forte. So the crowd response was better than I thought it might be all in all, but the newer songs suck. Especially the last song, it's called something like Your Music Sucks. It's awful. Though, the brand new song was pretty good.

Agents of Man - Wasn't much interested in this. It was real weak, as anticipated. Crowd response equally as weak. I don't hate the band, it's just not that good.

Lionheart - They were way better than I anticipated. I guess I don't listen to them too much because I get tired of how many songs are about LHHC being awesome. The live show was very good. Good to see, especially since they've been playing out for a long time.

Jesus Piece - Super good and heavy band. They brought the mosh more ignorant than anyone else pretty much. That's not necessarily a good thing, but it's a thing. I like the energy of the vocalist and the bang your head parts.

Twitching Tongues - Missed them. Not a fan. After this was dinner break.

Carnivore AD - We caught the back end of the set. They were very professional metal. Having a shtick on stage. I didn't hate it. Still not sure how I feel about them as a band. I don't know them well enough to say for sure, but I heard some people grumbling that they didn't play their best songs. I don't know. I'm glad I caught the last 4 songs.

Wisdom in Chains - They pretty much killed it, just like every time. They played a good assortment of songs from their full catalogue. Ending with Land of Kings of course. They got a very good response from the crowd. A good time every time. They had a fill in on guitar, but he was pretty good. They didn't play Someday. That was suprising. Best set of the day.

District 9 - This band was good. I don't love their music, but a couple songs are bangers. They played them all. They even fucked up one song. But that doesn't matter so much. All about the Bronx. They don't have any new music in 20 years or so I think. Maybe longer.

Arkangel - I was super excited to see this band. Arkangel never plays in the US. Belgium heavy hardcore. They didn't disappoint. The first 6 or 7 songs killed it. Then a random fist that I never saw hit me in the head and I don't remember anything for about an hour. Fuuuuck.

E Town Concrete - welp...

Best Bands of Sunday:
1. Wisdom in Chains
2. Arkangel
3. Mindforce
4. Sworn Enemy

Best Bands of This is Hardcore 2018:
1. Incendiary
2. Wisdom in Chains
3. Regulate
4. Arkangel
5. Ten Yard Fight

7-28 This is Hardcore, One King Down, 18 Visions, All Out War, Harvest, Merauder, Knocked Loose, For the Love Of, Shattered Realm, King Nine, Trail of Lies, Candy, Year of the Knife, Numb, Departed, Invoke, Safe and Sound, No Victory, Philly @Electric Factory

This was the day of the fest that I was least excited to see. The lineup is good and killer, but it's lacking bands that I really really like. Unfortunately this day started looking better when Sick of it All and Rotting Out dropped. But still, no real complaints. This was the heavy day of the fest. We took our time having breakfast at the diner and missed the first few bands.

No Victory - Missed them. Hadn't listened to them before.

Safe and Sound - Missed them too. Hadn't listened to but maybe one song.

Invoke - Missed them. I really like the band name though.

Departed - Missed them. I usually like to support the stoner bands, but we didn't get there in time.

Numb - I'm betting they were really good. From Japan. I had hoped to get there in time to see them.

Year of the Knife - Really good band. I'm pretty sure I've seen them before, but this time was much better than any past time. I'm pretty sure they are a straight edge band. The new songs from the new album were really good.

Candy - I had been listening to a band called Candy from Vancouver Canada. I was excited to see them because their sound is different. This Candy wasn't bad either. Heavier stuff. The singer has nice hair.

Trail of Lies - From New York. Every time I see them they've gotten better. The singer is good to watch, good energy, really good songs. I'm going to listen to this band more. It seems like there was a ton of New York on the fest this year. That's good news. If NYHC blows up, all east coast hardcore blows up.

King Nine - Was really excited to see them. They killed at the Code Orange show, so I knew they would here too. The crowd was into it. They brought the mosh and it was all good. They have the Long Island hardcore sound that is pretty much blowing up right now.

Shattered Realm - We didn't watch them. I know Joe Hardcore is in this band and I'd like to support him. I just don't really like the band. We went out to the car to put down some free beers. After Shattered Realm was the dinner break so everything was all set up.

For the Love Of - Got back inside during their last few songs. I was very suprised at how good they were. I listened to a bunch of their songs beforehand and had the set pegged as boring. I was wrong. People were into it too. Good band, good late 90s 2000s metalcore sound. I don't think they've played at all for a long time.

Knocked Loose - I was expecting mass chaos. The set was very well supported, but didn't get as hype as I had imagined. They played a very good set, all the songs you wanted to hear. Dead Ringer and Oblivions Peak are killer every time.

Merauder - Never been a big Merauder fan. I think that their songs on recording are very average. Yeah I want to see Master Killer sometime. But this was not that time.

Harvest - Surprisingly good and energetic. They're the suprise band of the day for me. I really liked the whole set. I don't know any of the songs, even though I downloaded and listened to everything beforehand, but I obviously missed some bangers.

All Out War - They pretty much kill it every time. I still prefer them on recordings, but their This is Hardcore sets are not to be missed. They play all the jams that you want them to.

18 Visions - 0% interest in seeing them live. I'd be willing to bet that the crowd went nuts though.

One King Down - By the time they played we were back at the hooker hotel boozing up in preparation for a late night treat at the diner. I wasn't a big One King Down fan back in the day, still not now either. And I credit Rob Fusco, the singer, with ruining Most Precious Blood so that kills my interest.

Best Bands:
1. King Nine
2. All Out War
3. Year of the Knife

7-27 This is Hardcore, Ten Yard Fight, Incendiary, Vein, Shark Attack, Shipwrecked, Regulate, True Love, Raw Brigade, Please Die, World Demise, No Option, Philly @Electric Factory

We didn't go to the show on Thursday night. Probably would have but TIHC originally announced the 3 main days, then a few weeks later added the Thursday show as a pre-show type of deal. They said a few times on Facebook that they'd be sending out an e-mail for people who already bought 3 day passes to get a deal on the 4 day pass. I never got the e-mail I don't think. Maybe I did. Either way, I don't love any of the bands on the Thursday show, so we didn't go.

The hooker hotel didn't disappoint. Equally as raunchy and whatnot as you'd like. The Springfield Diner served it's purpose with greatness.

Unfortunately, Rotting Out didn't play. Sounds like someone in the band got injured during another show. Something like that. Sucks because Rotting Out is a great band and we really wanted to see them.

The PBR deal was gone unfortunately. They were slinging Rolling Rock instead for $5 a can. That's ok, but much rather have PBR.

No Option - Missed them. They were a last minute addition to the show because Rotting Out wasn't playing. They opted to add a opener type band than a more established later in the day type band.

World Demise - Missed them on purpose. Every single time I would go to the This is Hardcore website there would be all the advertisements for this band. Made me hate them.

Please Die - I liked this band on recordings. They didn't play Pay Up or a few of the other sings I liked from their new CD. That's ok. More of a sing along oi hardcore band. Not too many opportunities for the mosh. Not the hardcore mosh at least. Crowd response was averagely disinterested. I liked the set though.

Raw Brigade - From Columbia. They had all the energy. Perfect band for the fest. Good fast straight edge hardcore. Not too much metal involved here.

True Love - I very much liked this band. They're good on recordings, better live. Middle of the road hardcore in terms of fast vs metal. Good energy, good response from the crowd.

Regulate - Blew the place up. This band is very good. I really enjoyed pretty much everything about the set. Great energy, good sound. The singer has a nice voice for mid pace hardcore. They played some songs off the new album that I haven't heard yet. They had one song that I thought wasn't any good, but the rest was killer.

Shipwrecked - The band lucked out pretty much because there was a serious lightning storm going on outside so they had to make everyone go inside. Pretty much everyone saw this band. But similarly to Please Die, they're a different style of hardcore than you can mosh hard and bang your head to. The crowd response was very mild. Though I thought they played their songs well. They played Destroy and Fast Violent Noise and some other bangers. I'm not sure why there was such a long time waiting for them to play once they appeared to be set up already. Like the band, wrong fest for them.

Shark Attack - They've been playing for a long time, but I think during the set they said it was their first time in Philly. I like the singer and how he looks like a wise guy pretty much all the time. This goofy smirk on his face. Not mosh hardcore, but fast hardcore. Faster than Please Die and Shipwrecked, less metal than anyone else as well. They're well known, the crowd response was good. They have some really good jams. Most likely played every song they have.

Vein - Dinner time. Though, based on everything everyone said I should have watched.

Incendiary - Killed it. Best band of the day. They have so many good songs, just absolutely kill it every time. The mosh was on. The singalong was on. Pretty much everything was good. Good song selection as well. The singer tried to say some meaningful words about hardcore and social activism I guess. Kind of missed the mark. But that didn't matter much.

Ten Yard Fight - I wasn't sure about this one honestly. They are a good band for sure. High intensity. High energy. Again the singer tried to get into some basic political stuff, kind of missed the mark in terms of being really engaging with it. Respect the effort. They played all the bangers that you would want to see. Good energy from old heads. Back in 89 when the cowboys were strong.

Best bands:
1. Incendiary
2. Regulate
3. Ten Yard Fight
4. Raw Brigade

6-22 Appalachian Terror Unit, Menstrual Parasite, Spontaneous Noize Combustion, Bitrot, Pittsburgh @Babyland

I had high hopes that a place called Babyland might go on to become a great drunk lawless punk rock venue. Somehow exactly that happened. The space is in the basement of a building. It's a sprawling space with at least one section of it being a woodworking facility. The show was there, it was awesome.

Bitrot - Good set, good energy. They're the only local band on the bill. Fast raw echo-chamber punk rock by 2 hot ladies and a dude. Energy was good. The set was good. The crowd was into it.

Spontaneous Noize Combustion - From VA. Self described scumbags trying to create noise. They succeeded. A song into the set the guitar player had to change a guitar string. They kind of lost momentum there. Ok set, loud and fast and noisy.

Menstrual Parasite - Great band name, good band. Hardcore punk crust metal thrash noise. I enjoyed the set. Probably the best band on the set not named ATU.

Appalachian Terror Unit - Really good set. Everyone was into it, it was a rager. Punk rock in the vein of Behind Enemy Lines. Best two vocalist punk band around. Good set.

High's - Babyland, all the bands
Low's - Nothing.

6-12 KRS-One, Abstract Theory, Pretty Krissy, Dude the Hawk, CPX3, Pittsburgh @Karma

I had high hopes for this show, but in the back of my mind I knew it could end up being whack too. My fears were that with KRS-One having like 20 albums and songs from the 80's to this year, there was no telling if he would even sniff some of my favorite songs. Now, turns out he didn't play a lot of my favorites, but in the end that didn't matter. A all time dope MC is an all time dope MC.

Karma was a pretty good place for the show. I liked everything about it except they need to make a second opening to the stage room if they're going to have big shows like this there. CPX3, Dude the Hawk, Pretty Krissy - So I know which one Pretty Krissy is. I'm pretty sure Dude the Hawk was the dude with no shirt pretty must hosting the first part of the night. And CPx3 may be the name of a crew of like 6 different rappers who really had no common traits between all of them. CPx3, if I'm right about them being a group, came out and did different songs of their own. Some compiling with other artists. Some were good, some were meh, none of them were good enough for me to want to know who they were. The one high point of the first part of the night was when Pretty Krissy and the guy I'm thinking is Dude the Hawk did their last song about 'give me your password ni**a' follow by 'bitch you can't have it.' Great song, good performance. Afterthought, Pretty Krissy looked tall on stage, but she's really a short lady. Good rapper too.

Abstract Theory - I thought they were by far the best rappers from the opening sets. Two dudes, probably both white, one definitely white, lol. Come on, he was wearing a vintage Star Trek shirt. I don't know the name of any of their songs, nor had I heard them before, but I'm going to check them out in the future.

KRS-One - It was probably about an hour, or close to that, after the last group before KRS took stage. It was well worth the wait. Dude rocks the mic like no rapper I've ever seen. The freestyles were on point. The songs were on point. The life lessons were great. Dude is inspiring. He played at least portions of some real bangers like Sound of the Police, P is Free, The MC, among others. We all had a great time, and KRS destroyed shit. Best hip hop artist ever.

I'm sure I've said it before, but I got to air out my rap show grievance. I hate how many rap groups have the lyrics playing over the speakers with the beat. Is it because they don't have recordings of just the beat and the music? Is it the case that removing the words from the recorded song is extremely difficult or expensive? I really have no idea why this happens. In my eyes it makes their live set cheap as fuck. But you can tell when real MCs are on stage like KRS. Aside from the chorus of a few songs (completely acceptable and understandable), he didn't have the lyrics coming out the speaker. Because... obviously... a real MC.

Hi's - KRS-One all fucking day the dopest MC in the galaxy until I see one better, cheap drinks at Karma.

Low's - Nothing.

6-1 Code Orange, Harms Way, King Nine, Too Pure to Die, Eternal Sleep, Pittsburgh @Mr. Smalls

This show will probably go down as the best pure hardcore show in Pittsburgh this year. Killer lineup. For Pittsburgh Hardcore, this was a must go.

Eternal Sleep - We were walking in as they started playing. Killer set. They played Keep Moving and Dead Like Me and all the bangers. Heavy hardcore, Pittsburgh proud, and a great live set. Eternal Sleep is boss as fuck.

Too Pure to Die - Well, I know and really like some of their songs like X The Fuck Up and Calloused. They played the good songs. The new songs are ok. Most of the old songs are ok. I don't particularly like it when frontmen start calling the crowd weak and pussies, but that's obviously his thing. When it's your second show back after a decade hiatus, and you were never really more than a regional band in the first place, you pretty must have to take what you can get. Especially if you get to play on a bill this epic.

King Nine - Their first time in Pittsburgh, but we'd seen them before in Philly. I enjoyed the set. Nothing amazing in my opinion. They have some particularly good songs and good stage presence. I'll see them again at TIHC.

Harms Way - They killed it. On most nights they are easily the best band of the night. The songs off the new album were rippers, and they played the songs from the old that you really wanted to hear. Loved it. Humans have no value.

Code Orange - Well they pretty much pulled out all the stops on this one. The lighting was top notch, though soooo bright it burned out your retinas. I seriously had to look at the floor sometimes. But the live show was on point, the song selection was there even though I'm not a huge fan of the slow songs. But that's my opinion of many slow songs. Great set, great energy. At the end of the set they let the drone sounds play out for like 5 minutes. It was pretty much a tease of an encore. But the whole time I was thinking, what songs would they play? They already played the bangers. No dice for the encore.

Hi's - All the bands
Low's - It was all dope as fuck.

5-20 Punk in Drublic Music and Beer fest, NOFX, Bad Religion, The Interrupters, Mad Caddies, Bad Cop Bad Cop, more, Pittsburgh @Highmark Stadium

Originally when I got the tickets for this I was under the impression that this would end up with a bunch of bands and be an all day thing. Ended up with the 5 advertised bands and at least one local who we didn't see much of. That's all ok, though. Because the bands were all good. I was worried about the freeness of the beer. Lines were long for the free beer, but it wasn't so bad because there were tons of breweries and the lines went pretty quick. I think the free beer in the tiny glass thing went really well. Too bad they cut everyone off right at 4.

Something I loved. So at the footstep of everyone's tent was a bucket where people could dump their beer if they didn't like it. At the end of the night they poured all those buckets into maybe 10 total buckets to make big nasty 20 gallon pales of mixed swill. Then they set those out in the field so you could fill your cup for free if you really wanted to. I didn't see anyone partake, but it's a novel idea and I loved it.

Local - No idea. We were really just getting in there and getting our bearings.

Bad Cop Bad Cop - I hadn't listened to them before, and they were playing while we were getting cup after cup of free beer. Lady punk rock on the easy side. Nothing funny or too hard or fast. They were good to listen to.

Mad Caddies - Killed it. They covered Anti Manifesto by Propagandhi and it was sick. My dude Raf used to love this band back in the day, and this band still kills it. Good pick Raf. Easy going ska band with some killer tunes. I especially enjoyed the stage presence of the trombone player. Best band of the day.

Interrupters - They were really good too. Punk band with dudes in suits who were all brothers and a chic singer. It was good, not great though I wouldn't say. Punk rock, not too hard not too slow.

Bad Religion - The reason I went. They were super good. Greg Graffin has the best voice in punk rock maybe. They're all old dudes by now, but they put on a super good show. It was a treat and a curse at the same time because they played their entire 1988 release Suffer. There are 2 really good songs on Suffer by my count. Opening with You Are the Government was killer, then of course playing Do What You Want any time is killer, but to me the album is a bit of filler. But when it's 30 years old you gotta play that shit. It was awesome to see a set that they'll likely not perform ever again, because of said filler songs on Suffer. They played a few other songs too that were not on Suffer. In the end I loved the set, but wish I had made the setlist myself.

NOFX - They played a short set because evidently someone from the band fell off the stage and cut his hand and had to get stitches. Sucks. I wanted to hear Murder the Government.

Highs - Bad Religion, Mad Caddies, swill buckets
Low's - Stadium beer prices after the free was gone

4-25 Sanction, Settle the Score, Facewreck more, Pittsburgh @Mr. Roboto Project

A free show. Kinda free. I put $5 in the bucket raising money for someone. Worth it.

We got to the show a touch late and missed a band or two I think.

Facewreck - Good heavy tunes. The Crutch song was killer. Hate the band name, but really liked the music.

Settle the Score - A heavy local band that has been playing for a while now and is pretty good.

Sanction - I saw them at Altoona Fest for the first time. They killed it there, and they killed it at Roboto. Up and coming hardcore from Long Island. They bring the heat kinda like Incendiary, similar style. Good time.

Highs - I'm torn on the Roboto floor show, as opposed to setting up on the one foot stage.
Lows - Nothin'

4-20 Russian Circles, King Woman, Pittsburgh @Spirit Hall

The pizza at Spirit really hit the spot. So much in face that we ate pizza through all of King Woman. I'm not entirely upset about that. I didn't listen to them at all beforehand so I don't even know anything about them. Oh well, we were there for Russian Circles anyway.

Russian Circles - Really good set. Pretty much every song is really good. They have the pace down pat. Their first half of the set was pretty drum heavy and it was really good. The second half of the set was really guitar heavy, and that was good also. All in all great set. I like that they don't have any lyrics. The one thing about this band is it's a really stationary show. No crowd movement or sing alongs and such.

Highs - Spirit, pizza, Russian Circles
Low's - The just too cold to be nice weather

4-8 Integrity, Ringworm, Midnight, In Cold Blood, Lakewood OH @The Foundry

I figured this show was going to be pretty awesome. It was. We'd never been to the Foundry before. The show was sold out, 300 people, so you can imagine the size of the venue is a bit small. That's pretty ok by me. The venue was long and narrow. That's a good thing for tall people, bad for short people or those who don't push to the front. I didn't have a problem.

We especially liked the police officer at the door telling everyone to smoke weed in between bands and not to bring it in. Thanks.

In Cold Blood - Very good band. Reminds me of Steel Nation a bit. Heavy dual singer metal hardcore. Good shit. I'll see this band again I hope.

Midnight - Honestly if Midnight wasn't on the show, I'm not sure I'd have gone. They were awesome. Motorhead sounding metal in the especially fun and evil variety. Sick band, I love them. The hardcore crowd wasn't especially into it, but I was.

Ringworm - A completely underappreciated band all around. This was probably the best I've ever heard them or seen them. Somehow songs other than Justice Replaced by Revenge got the biggest mosh. Great set, Human Furnace is great.

Integrity - They played a ripper of a set. Played pretty much everything you wanted to hear, and only two new songs. Heavy as fuck and super good. Good venue to choose for this hometown back to back.

Highs - All the bands, the matinee with a 3 hour drive.

Lows - Nothing at all.

3-23 Weedeater, BASK, Hyborian, Pittsburgh @Cattivo

I love the late show. It was super decent that this started at 11. I'm guessing that there may have been an earlier show that they had to clear out? Either way Cattivo was a good place for this show.

Hyborian - I hadn't listened to this band before. I didn't like them right off the bat because they stopped playing their first song four times because the bass guitar was fucking up. They should have just played through it. I don't know what that was all about really but it was a momentum killer. They had a good riff or two but all in all very average leaning towards sucking.

BASK - This band is a bit on the easy side of metal. They were good, better than the opening band. A little bit poppy at times and in general happy sounding. More so than I expected at least. Half decent band, I didn't mind watching the whole set.

Weedeater - They were pretty much better than I expected. They played their best album in it's entirety, it was very very good. I like the bass player, he was drinking whisky straight from the gallon bottle. Great energy from the band. Though the crowd left a bit to be desired. I don't think anyone there knew the words to a single entire song, but that didn't really take away from the night at all. Good metal, good set.

Highs - Weedeater, beer
Lows - Trash band.

3-5 Propagandhi, Iron Chic, La Armada, Pittsburgh @Rex Theater

Any time Propagandhi is going to be around the area, I'm going to see them. Last time they came through was a few years ago with Comeback Kid. It was awesome. This time had promise to be the same.

La Armada - This band had been to Pittsburgh a few times over the years, but I hadn't ever paid much attention to them. They were good, a bit on the heavy and choppy side. I really liked the guys in the band. When they talked about things they seemed sincere and genuine and I really liked it. I very much wanted to be way into the music, but it just wasn't so.

Iron Chic - More or less a pop punk band. Maybe a little in the vein of Hot Water Music or something like that. Not quite really poppy, but not heavy or fast or angry or anything like that. The singer had a gnarly beer gut holding him back. The songs were good. Maybe I'll download them sometime.

Propagandhi - The best set I've ever seen them play. Great shit. They opened with a bunch of bangers consecutively, then played some new mixed with old, then they rocked it out to end. Great sounding set. Great everything. One issue here with this band, the cheapest merch was a $25 t-shirt. That's fucking astounding pricing. I feel like that's Metallica or Kenny Chesney prices.

Hi's - Drunk, bands, yay

Low's - Those shirt prices. Fucking fuck.

2-27 Mammoth Grinder, Concealed Blade, Ritual Mass, Pittsburgh @Rock Room

Rock Room shows are always the best. Though of all the food special days, hamburger days are the worst. But the $1 PBR pounder specials are where it's at.

Ritual Mass - Heavy new hardcore metal band. Relatively new at least. Heavy and pretty good.

Concealed Blade - This band rules. Great mosh parts. I love watching them in smaller spaces like the Rock Room. It was packed in and a great time. I know Blood Pressure is on tour in Mexico for a while, so we probably wont see any Concealed Blade shows for a bit.

Mammoth Grinder - We were excited to see this band for the first time because of the Power Trip and Iron Reagan pedigree. They were pretty good, but I felt the set dragged on pretty long. Or it could be because my belt broke and I was fidgeting with that.

Hi's - Rock Room, all the bands

Low's - Not a thing.

2-23 American Nightmare, No Warning, Spiritual Camp, Pittsburgh @Rex Theater

It's American Nightmare, of course we were going to go. The Rex is a good place for this show. I'm thinking close to 300 people were there. A pretty decent showing for Pittsburgh for a fast band. I think this show could have greatly benefited from a good heavy local band like Eternal Sleep or Concealed Blade or No Reason to Live or something.

Spiritual Camp - I don't particularly like this band on this show. They're more of a surf rock garage rock indie type of band. Not really a hardcore band at all. Which is ok, but it's not what I was in it for. They had a tambourine player who pretty much just wigged out the whole time. Very dancey music.

No Warning - At one point in time No Warning was really popular. The response to them was pretty average on this night. For the first half of their set pretty much one dude was moshing, and he was escorted out for some reason. I know the mosh has happened in that place before. I'm not sure what he was doing that warranted the toss. Oh well. No Warning wrapped up their set with their popular songs and the tambourine player. Good set.

American Nightmare - The good news is they're making new music. The bad news is the new music sometimes sounds more like Spiritual Camp than American Nightmare. They played most of the songs off of Background Music. I really dislike the forced curtain call. The crowd wasn't into it vociferously enough to warrant a curtain call. They came back out played one song, that's it. The old songs were great, the new songs were ok.

Highs - American Nightmare, No Warning, great weather
Lows - Not a whole lot.

2-17 Wisdom in Chains, Strength for a Reason, Line of Scrimmage, Jukai, Trail of Lies, Sanction, Break Away, Absolute Suffering, No Reason to Live, Dissent, Departed, Forced Out, Iron Price, Red Vision, Cursed Path, Foul Play, Fire in the Blood, Vile Mentality, Brick by Brick Fest, Altoona @Altoona Grand Hotel

First things first, this show was really sweet. There aren't enough fests at big hotels. We were able to get a room for under $100. It was perfect because we didn't have to buy beer from the hotel, we got that Lionshead special at Duffys for $4.99 per 12 pack. We killed something like 56 beers on Saturday. No one puked or passed out. Perfect day. The hotel was pretty much all you wanted it to be. A few different eating options in there, a bar, a nice pool and hot tub. It was really decent.

We were just a little late getting there. We missed a few bands through the day.

Vile Mentality - Missed them. I really like their band name though.

Fire in the Blood - Missed them. I really don't like their band name though.

Foul Play - Missed them.

Cursed Path - This was the first band we saw once we pulled into Altoona. They kinda sucked. Multiple of their songs were played in such a way that I thought they were fucking it up. I don't know if they were fucking it up or not, but I left their set feeling meh. Heavy band, just not good riffs and shit.

Red Vision - Missed them. At this point we were able to check into the room and take all our shit up. Get the cooler set up. All that mess.

Iron Price - I wanted to see this band, but it just didn't work out.

Forced Out - Missed them.

Departed - Missed them.

Dissent - This band was pretty good. I liked their metal riffs. It was cool.

No Reason to Live - Pittsburgh metalcore. They were better this time around than any other time I've ever seen them. Decent mosh response, good band on this day. I think I'm going to download their new album.

Absolute Suffering - Missed them.

Break Away - Good band. Youth crew style straight edge hardcore, but harder than what you think when you think youth crew style. I liked them when we saw them at TIHC, I liked them this time around too.

Sanction - Really really good. I hadn't heard this band before, but I'm going to get into it now. A heavy hardcore band from Long Island. Relatively new band. Good riffs, good mosh, just good in general.

Trail of Lies - Missed them.

Jukai - Jukai is a killer good heavy band. Party animals perhaps. Perhaps not. Either way, they are always heavy and good.

Line of Scrimmage - We saw them once at East Coast Tsunami a while ago. They were ok then. We didn't watch them this time around.

Strength for a Reason - I like this band a bit. But we didn't watch them this time.

Wisdom in Chains - The main reason we went to this fest. Really if Wisdom wasn't playing we probably wouldn't have spent the money for the trip. They killed it of course. Played about 30 minutes, per usual. They didn't make any shocking song selections. Maybe the omission of Cap City was a little bit of a shocker. But when you have as many good songs as they have then something gotta give. Great set like usual. Great singalongs.

Hi's - The hotel, def going back next year even if Wisdom doesn't play.

Low's - Not much. The Snow and the cold primarily.

1-27 Laugh Riot Vol 1, Punk Standup Comedy, Jesse Irvin, Gab Bonesso, Sam Zayvan, Pittsburgh @Mr. Roboto Project

We went to this show with minimal expectations. A $5 comedy show is great value, but how many laughs you get is questionable. In a dry venue at that. But when we left we were all really happy and it was a good time. I wouldn't call it punk comedy, but maybe a little bit.

Sam Zayvan - This dude was seriously funny. We were all crying. By far the most funny of the night. He's from Afghanistan and Atlanta. He didn't have much of an accent so I assume he was mostly raised in the US. His jokes were a little bit lewd, which is completely fine by me. His one joke about being proud that his girlfriend banged John Mayer was gold. We died.

Jesse Irvin - I liked this dude too. He had funny jokes about being in his 30s and bald and cats. We laughed and had a good time.

Gab Bonesso - She's a Pittsburgh comedian. Energy through the roof. Her tagline was something like 'but I'm the crazy one.' It didn't do it for me. She had some really funny and smart jokes though. She was the best entertainer of the night because of her energy. Good set. She made some joke about my hat because I was the only person wearing a cap backwards unfortunately. She also told everyone she thinks I have a huge penis though my go-to move shouldn't be just whipping it out. Side thought: was that my #metoo moment? Nope, she can tell everyone that whenever she wants.

Hi's - price, laughs, venue
Low's - driving in the murky rain, sober venue.

They said starting in March this will be a monthly thing. They should have some of these at the Shop or somewhere you could get boozed up.

1-23 Flobots, McLovins, The Slims, Remy Vega & Brittney Chantele, Pittsburgh @Rex Theater

I've been out of the game of writing about the shows I've gone to. Since Skull Fest I just got behind and didn't try too hard to catch up. But it's a new year and this is the first show of the new year for me so I'm back on the train. Boom.

Remy Vega and Brittney Chantele - They were really good. Two separate artists who have collaborated on music recently. Vega is a DJ and producer and rapper, Chantele is a singer rapper mix pretty much. They were really good. Vega did some freestyling taking words yelled from the crowd. That was especially good. Chantele's songs were real chill, and socially aware. I enjoyed the set.

The Slims - This started out strong, ended weak as can be. First there were three dudes on stage. One guy playing bass, one rapper, and one dude with a guitar and some sort of effects table slash keyboard thing. The first song was good with all three dudes. Chill garage rock rap low key king of vibe. Then the bass player left stage. I guess he was just a friend and they were playing their shit together. Then the rapper and guitar dude did a few songs. These were good too. Not as good as the first jam though. Then the rapper left the stage. It went way downhill from here. Turned into shitty guitar rock songs dedicated to dude's mother and girlfriend and shit. Good thing the hockey game was on in the next room.

McLovins - Just awful. They're a soft rock band. They didn't make any sense on the show. Did they win a battle of the bands or something? Wasn't into that at all. Again, hockey game and beer.

Flobots - Killer show. Both rappers have really nice and different voices. The old songs are good, the new ones are good. Killed it. The lady playing the fiddle is really what makes their live show. She's really good and very entertaining. I hate the one new song though, Quarantine. It's like they turn into some shit stadium rock band for the chorus. Either way, they were very very good. I should have seen them by now, really.

Hi's - Flobots, Vega and Chantele, the Rex
Low's - Who put together this lineup? Pittsburgh surely has better rap and rock options for such a show.