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Back in the early 1990's, Victory Records was known primarily as a home for straightedge hardcore/metal bands, due to the fact that their 3 biggest bands (Earth Crisis, Snapcase and Strife) all fit in that category. Now, in 2002, the label has diversified to include all facets of the current punk scene, as shown by this show.

The relatively new band Taking Back Sunday started the show, drawing a larger audience and better reception than one would expect from such a new band. They played solid emo, sounding like a cross between Thursday and Saves the Day. They have great stage presence, especially since no one in the crowd knew the songs.

Student Rick was up next. One of their two guitarist/singer's fathers had a heart attack, causing him to have to fly home, and the band to seek an assist from Chris from Reach the Sky. Their set was lackluster, probably because of the intra-band emergency. Mostly pretty mellow emo-type stuff, not horrible, but not very exciting.

Reach the Sky made sure that everyone knew that they were there to rock from the beginning. However, the crowd seemed mostly to be there to see the emo bands and Catch 22, so the calls for singalongs and circle pits fell on deaf ears. However, everyone who liked hardcore (including me) really got into it, with a decent pit and even some floorpunching. Plus, they get bonus points for lead singer Ian's bad jokes and the playing of Aerosmith riffs between songs.

Grade took the rock up another level, slamming the crowd with a non-stop set of their emo-metal. They also got a good response, and joked a lot about spring break and beer bongs (for some reason, this was a recurring joke among all the bands.)

Since they play here fairly often, Catch 22 has a decent local fanbase. Apparently, according to Brendan from RTS, kids have been going apeshit from coast to coast for these guys. He even likened it to seeing Sick of it All in 1992, with the kids killing each other while skanking in the pit. I stopped listening to ska a few years ago, but Catch 22 put on an amazing show, with a really brutal skank-pit (I never knew that (except for the Bosstones) a ska pit could get this crazy). They even threw in a little "Nothin But A G Thang" for the crowd. Their music is decent skacore, leaning more to the ska side, and they're great showmen.

All in all, I'm still tired from the show, so this review sucks. But, if this tour rolls to your town, check it out.



People who liked this also liked:
The Promise Ring - Wood/WaterThe Weakerthans - Left and Leaving



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    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, April 1, 2002 at 11:36 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    you write horrible reviews.
    grade is not metal-emo.
    student rick and taking back sunday are godawful. they were signed to get the 13 year olds to buy records.
    quit referring to them as "good emo."
    how are you so out of touch with current music?

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, March 30, 2002 at 1:56 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    i thought rts recently toured wtih ensign. they're sorta hardcore? punk hardcore?

    and its a VICTORY TOUR. its their label. obviously they'd go on a tour that supports their label you fuck. diversity in shows is alsog ood lablhasdlg;yasdlgjbhnasdkl;ghasd ffuckasidoputgasdjgasd

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, March 30, 2002 at 3:18 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    whoever wrote this review doesnt know shit about music. Taking Back Sunday isnt emo, Thursday isnt emo, Saves the Day isnt emo, if you want emo, listen to american football, and jets to brazil and shit like that. dont call a pop punk band emo because they sing about girls and death and whine about shit. its just pop punk. nobody seems to understand what emo is. fucking dumb shit

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 29, 2002 at 1:46 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Why doesn't Reach the Sky play with other hardcore bands? Every time I've ever seen them, they were on a package tour with a bunch of bigger bands than them, that would draw crowds obviously not into hardcore, example: Lars Fredrickson/Dropkick Murphys tour. RTS would be on stage yelling for a circle pit, and people would just stand there and look at them. Either people are into hardcore, or they are not. You are not going to turn an emo/punk audience into '88 style, floorpunching hardcore fans. If you were, no offense, but Reach the Sky isn't the band thats going to do it.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 29, 2002 at 1:41 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Whatever happened to Floorpunch, I wonder? That "..Jersey Shore" LP was awesome.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 29, 2002 at 1:01 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    what is floorpunching exactly?

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 29, 2002 at 8:15 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    Victory is not the powerhouse that they were,but there are a couple of bands that are worthy of the victory moniker
    snapcase and taking back sunday-oldpunker-

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 29, 2002 at 12:29 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    I wouldn't say Victory is all generic bands. I like the RCR, they're not that generic.

    Posted by kirbypuckett on 2002-03-28 23:32:52
    My Score:

    they dont have a lead singer yet, it's just pretty much the whole band...mainly the sax and trumpet player.

    Long live mincus!

    This show was great in Pittsburgh...everyone here loves Catch 22.

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 28, 2002 at 9:07 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    all facets of the current punk scene? how about actually good bands and not painfully generic shit like Reach the Sky and Catch 22?

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 28, 2002 at 8:48 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    hey, who's singing for Catch 22 now ?

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 28, 2002 at 8:40 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    God that was one of the shittiest reviews Ive ever read. How many fucking times can you use the word emo and what the fuck was emo about Student Rick? What..just because they have soft parts makes them an emo fag band? just a shit review.

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