It was a beautiful Summer day in the city of Boston, and as temperatures soared into the high 80's most of the humanity in the area retreated to local beaches to cool of. A small portion of the population descended upon The Hideaway in Cambridge, Ma to pay homage to hardcore punk rock. Cooling down just wasn't going to happen.
Panic kicked off the all ages afternoon with a rousing set to celebrate their latest release. Panic is comprised of members from local hardcore bands like American Nightmare, the Explosion, etc. Their set was pure hardcore at it's best, the crowd immediately got into it and soon was shouting along, pumping fist and pointing fingers and generally just flying around the room. I didn't know any songs but the band sounded tight and I picked up their disc. Good stuff for sure but it was nothing compared to what followed.
Strike Anywhere came up next and as soon as the singer grabbed the mic and screamed "Release us now!!" ripping into "You're fired" from Change is a Sound the crowd went absolutely nuts. From start to finish this band blew the joint up! Kids were hanging off the pipes on the low ceiling and whipping up a massive pit. The band launched into "Refusal", "Chalkline", "Riot of Words", "Laughter in a Police State" and just about the whole album along with some older tunes off Chorus of One. It was crazy. Soon the room temperature was like a fucking oven and the place could care less. Strike Anywhere are all they were hyped up to be live, go see them If you can, go now!
After seeing the crowd reaction to Strike Anywhere I thought there would be a slight lull, people were hot and beaten up. But then again, this was Boston, this was Bane country. Holy fuck. Words can not describe their set propery. The singer of Bane warned the crowd not to keep hanging off the pipes and air conditioners or there would be no more all ages show in Boston. That got the crowd off the ceiling so that was cool. After a long openeing speech about Life and the game of Poker they ripped into "Ante Up" off of Give blood. The crowd exploded in a sea of swinging fists and feet, it was chaos. They played lots of stuff off Give Blood including "Some Come Running", "Bang the Drum Slowly" and many more. They played "Count Me Out" and that was it, the crowd went crazy, leaping into giant pigpiles trying to get at the microphone.
Just an insane set and then something funny happened, as soon as Bane was done the crowd basically left. It was wierd to see in the spot where the crowd was slamming furiously just moment before, only a small handfull stayed for Good Riddance. Good Riddance is one of the best fucking bands out there and everytime they play Boston the crowd gives them NO props whatsoever. A handful of people stood in front of the stage as they did their best to play to them...what can you do though. After Strike Anywhere and Bane the crowd must have had enough of the 150 degree heat inside. All in all it was a memorable show, I'll never forget it, my legs will never forgive me and my ears have permanently rebelled against my head...they fucking up and left a while ago.