Bane / H2O

Bane / H2O: live in Minneapolislive in Minneapolis (2008)
Equal Vision Records

Reviewer Rating: 4

Contributed by: GlassPipeMurderGlassPipeMurder
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on November 28th 2008The Triple Rock Social Club near Downtown Minneapolis seems like about the least likely place for a straight-edge hardcore gathering. Made infamous thanks to NOFX's single "Seeing Double at the Triple Rock" on their most recent studio full-length, the T-Rock is consistently filled with bar-goers sev.

The Triple Rock Social Club near Downtown Minneapolis seems like about the least likely place for a straight-edge hardcore gathering. Made infamous thanks to NOFX's single "Seeing Double at the Triple Rock" on their most recent studio full-length, the T-Rock is consistently filled with bar-goers seven days a week, and their Free Bacon Wednesdays have become the stuff of legend. I even have friends who routinely drop close to a hundred dollars a night there on booze, food and jukebox tunes. Not exactly a vice-free environment.

However, as Bane's frontman Aaron Bedard would comment partly through their set, the Triple Rock hosted the band the first year it opened its doors in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood 10 years ago. Coincidentally, Bane was also on their very first tour, crossing the country with a then-relatively unknown band called Saves the Day. Ten years later, Bane returns as the headliner with a free 10-year anniversary EP for those in attendance, and seasoned hardcore heroes H2O as well as newcomers Cruel Hand and Energy in tow.

I unfortunately had to miss both Energy and Cruel Hand, and even missed roughly the first ten minutes of H2O, walking in as the band was ending their globetrotting anthem "Faster Than the World." The band was energetic and youthful, despite the gray hairs and weathered skin, and the crowd responded with epic sing-alongs to favorites like "Guilty by Association," "Thicker than Water" and "5 Year Plan," which started out with a Black Sabbath "War Pigs" teaser intro. Even the newer material like "Fairweather Friend" and "What Happened" in particular roused excitement from the audience and kept the dancefloor moving. Bringing out guests from the opening bands for surprise vocal duties, while Aaron Dalbec of Bane hopped on guitar for a verse or two, H2O put on a spirited performance and warmed up the chilly Minnesota night for the show's headliners.

After a very speedy setup and soundcheck, Bane took the stage, and the bodies started piling on. Despite being both an early show and a weeknight, there were enough kids to fill the sides of the stage, where stage-divers launched themselves into the crowd with every opportunity. Starting with "Speechless" off the band's influential 2001 album Give Blood, Bane traversed their discography, plucking songs from each of their four full-lengths, including fan favorites "Can We Start Again" and "Ali v Frazier I" that sent the crowd into frenzies of microphone sharing and stage-diving. However, the band also showed a tremendous level of awareness on stage, stopping on a dime after a girl caught an elbow to the face to see if she was okay or needed anything. It seems like hardcore has been getting a lot of negative publicity regarding violence lately, and it's fantastic to see a band with Bane's amount of influence taking an interest in the well-being of all their audience members. The girl ended up being okay, and the dancefloor opened back up for an incident-free remainder of the night.

Speaking of dancefloors, Aaron Bedard is the most amusing dancer in history. The Triple Rock stage was alive with action throughout the set, and by the time the crowd was finished shouting along to "Swan Song," there was no energy left from either party for an encore. Afterwards, fans lined up to the Bane "hardcore sweatshirt factory" as Bill Molloy would say, where the band was also selling "I'd Rather Be Stagediving" bumper stickers and giving out the aforementioned free 10-year anniversary EP, which includes a new original and a killer Björk cover. With the great bands and great crowd on hand, it's fair to say that the Triple Rock hosted one of the Twin Cities' best hardcore shows of the fall.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

danpib08 (December 4, 2008)

Hey lookingforcockes can you send me an autographed copy of your punk rock handbook complete with the history of punk rock according to Lookingforcocktosuck. I really would love to read it and then use it to wipe the semen out of your mom's ass.

danpib08 (December 4, 2008)

lookingforcorpses (December 2, 2008)

Have Bane headlined other places on this tour?

GlassPipeMurder (December 2, 2008)

i really have no idea how it was that Aaron said they played then. But he remarked that the stage was "high as fuck" back then so it was obviously a different setup. i'm just going off what he said when they were playing...or maybe I misinterpreted.

realpunx4life (December 2, 2008)

I didn't realize I had a problem, but was rather being mostly goofy. Oh well.

But the review said that Bane claimed to have played the Triple Rock on their first tour 10 years ago. That's all I was asking about. I thought that I'd made that clear the second time around. It's not a big deal, I was just cross checking my facts. You know, for fun.

If I might turn this around, and at the risk of sounding like an asshole, would you mind telling me what your problem is? It's just the histories of a venue and a band, no one's taking it to heart. (Right?)

lookingforcorpses (December 1, 2008)

Yeah, the Triple Rock was not a "venue" the first few years it was open.

givemeamuseumandillfillit (December 1, 2008)

Realpunx for life, what's your problem? The review says that they played the "first year" and then said 10 year existance, if they only had shows for the last 5, then that's the first year.

realpunx4life (December 1, 2008)

Well yeah, I knew that. Perhaps I wasn't clear that, while the BAR opened in 1998 (and no one will dispute that), the SHOW SPACE didn't open until 2003, so I'm just saying that they didn't start having shows until 2003, so Bane wouldn't have played there in 1998 unless they used to do shows in the main bar part (which WAS open in 1998), but that wouldn't make sense on a number of levels. (One of those levels being that I doubt they'd have been able to have an all ages show in the main bar part and I doubt that Bane would be playing 21 shows, another being that the bar is cramp-y with no part of it being reasonable for a rock band to set up in, unless you get rid of the pool table.)

For my evidence that the show space didn't open until 2003 (as though my painful memory of missing Lifter Puller and the Mountain Goats sharing a stage while I was on vacation were not enough) I present the world's most trusted and beloved news source, Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Rock

"The bar first opened in 1998.... The venue portion of the club opened in 2003..."

And I didn't even edit the entry to make it say that! (Well, I edited out some content to bring it here and make it concise...) You got that, Bane?! I'm (apparently) calling you out! (Did they think that they were at the Triple Rock when they were actually at Fireball or the Foxfire?)

GlassPipeMurder (December 1, 2008)

(And I remember exactly that the venue opened in 2003. I was out of the country for their opening weekend that featured Lifter Puller and the Mountain Goats. It was the weekend of, like, June 5, 2003.

http://www.punknews.org/article/31382

....donno what to tell ya. That's all I know.

GlassPipeMurder (December 1, 2008)

Gorilla Biscuits headlined the same place as Have Heart? Is that because the former doesn't draw too well in the area or the latter is just that big in the area?

my feelings would be that the Twin Cities sXe hardcore crowd is modest in size, but faithful. meaning if they make it out to GB, they'll make it out to Have Heart and Ceremony.

realpunx4life (November 30, 2008)

This doesn't make sense. The Triple Rock was only a bar for its first five years of existence. How could Bane have played there in 1998 when the venue didn't open until 2003? (And I remember exactly that the venue opened in 2003. I was out of the country for their opening weekend that featured Lifter Puller and the Mountain Goats. It was the weekend of, like, June 5, 2003. Did they used to put on shows in the barroom? That wouldn't make a whole heck of a lot of sense.

inagreendase (November 30, 2008)

If Bane was really giving out that 2-song single at their shows, I think it's perfectly okay for someone to share a megaupload link or something. Give it up.

have heart played there at the beginning of the month.
plus 7 seconds and gorilla biscuits both played there on their respective reunion tours. so yeah.

Gorilla Biscuits headlined the same place as Have Heart? Is that because the former doesn't draw too well in the area or the latter is just that big in the area?

joeg (November 29, 2008)

Question: how is H20 hardcore? The majority of my musical taste is spent listening to hardcore but I never understood their association. Everything I have heard from them sounds like pop punk. Like...Movielife pop punk, not Simple Plan type.

Answer: listen to the first 3 records.

theonetruebill (November 29, 2008)

Hahahah, I'm famous!!!11!1111!!

I wanted to see H2O again (it's been almost four years) when this was in Chicago the night before but it was too much money for one band I really like. Still sounds like it was a great time.

onegirlarmy (November 29, 2008)

xkidxdynamitex (November 29, 2008)

i was there. it was great.
also, the triple rock hosts alot of straight edge hardcore.
have heart played there at the beginning of the month.
plus 7 seconds and gorilla biscuits both played there on their respective reunion tours. so yeah.

tenwestchaser (November 29, 2008)

Trauma16 (November 29, 2008)

That "I'd rather be stagediving" bumper sticker is definitely on my van.
Aaron dances like a rap super star.

Bane is hands down one of the greatest live sets ive ever seen.

onegirlarmy (November 29, 2008)

H2O and Bane are the furthest thing from tough guy bands (directed at the dude below me).

Bipedcasserole (November 29, 2008)

am i tough enough to even comment on this?

no?

ok. these bands are bad.

(runs away screaming)

TROOF (November 29, 2008)

I love the fact that Bane has always spoke out against the violence. I wish I could have seen this tour. Score is for the lineup.

northdakotaKILLS (November 29, 2008)

score is for the triple rock.

that place fucking rules. awesome bar, great jukebox, and they have great vegan food. love that place.

bxbomber (November 29, 2008)

Caught this show in nyc, h2o still got it and energy was pretty good.

mattp330 (November 28, 2008)

getting a little old ramone