Last Friday I went to a hardcore show at the Vault here in Temecula that ended up being a big deal for reasons that have nothing to do with the bands or music. And not in a good way.
I arrived when local band Oh Dae Su was finishing their set. I've written about them before, in the In This Moment review, and I like them. Real good metallic music with cool groovy mid-paced parts. I only saw one full song which was called "Great Like Me" or something like that, something "Like Me." Their friends up front did like last time and were moshing during parts where it would seem like hardcore dancing or 2-stepping would normally take place. Which is cool but this time it seemed like a smaller group and like people weren't feeling it. The singer had a really screechy high pitched scream this time around, which I really liked, but was a little off-putting as well.
I had come to this show alone and remained alone the whole time. I just don't really know people in the hardcore scene, I love going to the shows but I rarely know anyone. So in between bands I just cruised back to my car and drank beers.
The next band was Betrayal, who was listed further up the bill but apparently openers Bermuda and Volumes got stuck in traffic. It was raining like a bitch this particular weekend so that makes sense. Betrayal is like metallic hardcore with alot of breakdowns, almost a constant breakdown it seems sometimes. I don't really like their albums much because it's kinda the tough-guy type stuff I don't usually like anyway, but they put on a really good show. The pit was hard as shit and there was clearly a group of friends who were violently regulating that place. At one point this skinny kid in a white shirt came swinging backwards to where I was standing and I lightly kicked him forward. He turned around pissed as shit and got into it with the guy next to me, thinking he had done it. Even though I was saying like "Hey man it was me sorry bro" the guy who he was yelling at started getting all defensive so there was almost a fight because of my kick that wasn't gonna involve me. Weird. I'm pretty sure there was a fight towards the front of the stage at one point and maybe another one too. It was a very aggressive atmosphere.
Next up was It Prevails, who were supposed to be the 'headliners' of this show but since the other 2 bands still hadn't arrived they just went next. It Prevails is drastically different than all the other bands who played tonight because they don't have any trace of tough-guy hardcore and they are actually pretty melodic. Like they were still a hardcore band, but a real "emotional hardcore" band somewhat in the vein of Boysetsfire, Verse, softer Bane songs, etc. They had a cool guitar thing going on where the rythm guy was playing the harder power chord type stuff but the second guitarist was mainly doing little melodies on the higher strings to offset it. Really, I liked them alot, but I can tell they're the kind of band that might bore me on CD because although I like this style there are alot of bands who play it. For most of the set people were just standing around but then 2 dudes kinda opened up the pit and it went weak for the rest of the set. This really wasn't like moshing hardcore it was listening hardcore.
Bermuda was the next band up, and they really played good. I liked them alot, they had obvious metal things like cool blast beats going on, but they were undeniably hardcore with alot of power in the performance. Unfortunately this is where things went awry for me. I had been getting in the pit from time to time all night, and during one particular breakdown I went in with a bunch of my karate shit and as I got closer to the front of the crowd, I got roundhouse kicked HARD to my abdomen. It must have been Chuck Norris himself who hit me because I have never been injured like this before. It's almost a week later and I legitimately think my ribs might be broken or at least bruised and my liver is probably bruised or inflamed too because it took the brunt of the hit. I pushed my way through the crowd making ridiculous gurgling scream sounds that I truly could not help but yell out as I half-collapsed holding my stomache. I forced my way out the door and just started screaming and leaning over to recover. Some guy was out there on his phone and he was just like "Oh shit some dude just came out all hurt" but kept on his convo. After probably 3 to 4 minutes of complete agony the likes of which I truly cannot remember experiencing before, I walked back inside and stayed near the back so I could dodge anymore hits. Nevertheless I got caught up in a crowd-bash and got my chin punched but that was the least of my problems. For the rest of Bermuda's set I just couldn't think of anything else but this horrible pain.
For most of the show there had been this little Asian kid (I'm talkig LITTLE, short and skinny and young) with a Suicide Silence shirt on who had been going in the pit doing really shitty sloppy hardcore dancing. For the most part everybody was kinda laughing at him but nobody was aiming for him; he got hit by SOMEBODY in the Bermuda set, however, and just got knocked the fuck out. The security guys had to put him on their couch and guard over him, and surprisingly most of the main mosher people including the ones who appeared to be assholes came up to offer condolences and see if he was okay. Bermuda just kicked everybody's ass.
After their set I called up a few friends to confirm that they were all hanging out at David's like we planned and to vent about my injury. A couple people looked at me like they had seen how hard I got hit but nobody came up and asked if I was alright etc. Hardcore people are hella nice.
The final band tonight was Volumes, who I had heard about before but never actually heard. For this one I staked out a place towards the back near the water fountain so I could see everything but stay out of harm's way. I just couldn't take anymore tonight but I wasn't about to miss part of the show; aside from my injury the bands had all been pretty good. Volumes is a kinda tech-death-core type band a bit in the vein of After The Burial, Veil Of Maya, etc. They have 2 singers who are both pretty competent and an interesting rythm section that kept the set interesting. It's not music I've never heard before but they had strong grooves and hard-as-shit breakdowns, and appeared to have a pretty good response from the crowd. It wasn't as violent as Bermuda's set, but people seemed to know the songs pretty well. Also their lead guitarist busted out a tasty solo at the end of one of their songs that was a welcome addition. If you like the bands I listed above or stuff like them, Volumes is probably right up your alley and I think they said that they have an album coming soon etc.
After the show I went and hung out with friends and tried not to complain about my abdominal pain but it was feeling pretty shitty. It's definitely the worst injury I've sustained at a show, if only because it involves internal organs and because it hasn't subsided since the show but actually gotten worse I think. It makes me re-evaluate my pit-going tendencies; maybe I should stay put when I can tell there are some violent motherfuckers here.
Love the music, hate the scene.
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