7-28 This is Hardcore Fest, Gorilla Biscuits, Cro-Mags, Breakdown, Death Threat, Old Firm Casuals, Maximum Penalty, Regulate, On Broken Wings, Eyes of the Lord, No Option, Spine, Regional Justice Center, Aggressive Dogs, Gulch, Guillotine, Vatican, Fixation, Philly @Franklin Music Hall

The first two days of This is Hardcore were awesome. Sunday did not disappoint either. Per tradition we didn't get there on time. We picked Aggressive Dogs as the first band we wanted to get there to see. I wasn't feeling very good on this morning. Luckily as the day went on my stomach was feeling better. At the diner late Saturday I had too much sweet stuff. Some berry stuffed french toast and a slice of Boston Creme Pie. It was good at the time, not in the morning though.

Fixation - Missed them.

Vatican - Missed them.

Guillotine - Missed them.

Gulch - Missed them.

Aggressive Dogs - They've been playing as a band since the mid 80s and have a wide variety of songs. It looked like only two members of the band were able to make it, and they played with a few American fill ins. The lead singer is good and the songs were good. Crowd response was mild, as expected. Good set that I'll most likely never get to see again.

Regional Justice Center - Fastcore from Washington state. They were good, I think I like the recordings a little better than the live set. Cool band I wanted to see.

Spine - Missed them.

No Option - Very good band. Saw them at the Smiling Moose a few months ago. They got a really good response from the crowd. Hardcore.

Eyes of the Lord - Not a huge fan of the recordings. Car beer.

On Broken Wings - Car beer. Had 0 interest in seeing this. Did they even play? I can't seem to find a single picture of the set or reference to them actually playing.

Regulate - Good set, not a great set. I really like a handfull of their songs, and they sounded pretty good. But last year's set was killer and hard to follow up.

Maximum Penalty - Good old style band. A little bit rappy. Didn't get a whole lot of respect from the crowd. But that's normal for them at This is Hardcore.

Old Firm Casuals - More of oi punk than hardcore. I like the style of music and would like to see more of this at TIHC, but bands leaning a little more aggressive. They were good. It was cool to see Lars from Rancid play, hadn't ever been to a show of theirs or any of his side projects. They didn't get much crowd response, but there were more people standing up front for them than there was for Max Pen. Rumor after the set is that Lars was pissed about the minimal response from the crowd.

Death Threat - Killed it. They played everything from the first release and it was very good. Lots of angel dust stories. Probably the best I've seen them. Oh, they showed up too, that's a plus.

Breakdown - Killed it as always. The old jams are classic. Great frontman, great response.

Cro-Mags - Perfect band to lead into GB. I had seen them at TIHC before to lukewarm reception. Not this year, shit was on fire this time around. JJ and crew killed it.

Gorilla Biscuits - Killed it as expected. They recently had a death in the band, but they're still a great live show. Played to a full house and it was awesome.

Best bands for Sunday:
1 Cro-Mags
2 Gorilla Biscuits
3 Breakdown
4 Death Threat

Best bands of the Fest:
1 Wisdom in Chains 2 Cro-Mags 3 Harms Way 4 Agnostic Front 5 Drain 6 Facewreck

In summation the hooker hotel and the diner delivered as always. The new car was perfect. The parking situation was the best it's ever been, under a tree every time. The bands were awesome. The crowd was awesome. Perfect hardcore vacation. PAHC on top always.