The third day of This Is Hardcore was straight stacked.

Locals Lighten Up! was the surprise of the weekend, playing seriously solid `80s-tinged hardcore with the occasional melodic flair á la fellow Phillies Kid Dynamite. They had just enough of a snotty delivery and raggedly chugging chords to make a full impact on me, with moments here and there recalling Career Suicide (vocally, especially). I was easily convinced to pick up their new-ish 7", I'd Rather Be Snoring.

L.A.'s Pressvre were decent as I recall, and threw in a cover of Cro-Mags' "Street Justice" for good measure if I'm not mistaken.

The crowd began to explode when Violation came on. Deep, throaty vocals fronting a pure pissed sound got under almost everyone's skin and the floor was stomped upon recklessly.

Trash Talk, who were sharing a member with Pressvre that day, came on next with their thrashy hardcore. They were OK -- I wasn't floored, but they made their mark hard with a Warzone cover and a guest spot from Ceremony's vocalist.

Granted they were playing an early spot, but Soul Control's reaction was soft. Definitely one of the most promising bands in the genre around right now, they put on their usually energetic, unique show, complete with Burn's intensity, Quicksand's crunch and Supertouch's soulful, airy atmospheres. I do have a criticism with it that's yet to be resolved, though -- the vocalist is so busy letting out his rage the entire set he misses half the words. Yeah, this isn't an uncommon thing in hardcore, but with such a huge importance placed on the band's messages of self-reflection and observation it would be more well-rounded for the words to be more articulately spit. This is especially the case when no one else in the crowd seems to know those words quite yet. In any event, they were one of the weekend's expected highlights.

Set list (1:34-1:52):

1. Touched by Fire
2. Beyond Man
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3. new song
4. Focus
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5. On Survival
6. new song
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7. I Struggle
8. Dive

Said Radio have a rather impressive pedigree (current/ex-members of Black Dove Quartet, Ceremony, the Nerve Agents, Redemption 87, Social Unrest, Unit Pride), but their set really didn't do much for me, unfortunately. They certainly seem to have some unique edges, aggressive roll and touchstone influences, but it blew by without any discernable moment for me.

Cheap Tragedies definitely offered one of the more memorable sets of the weekend. Just when I thought we'd have the first band of the fest to feature a guitar-playing frontman, the 40-some-odd-year-old singer came running up through the crowd whipping a heavy chain and sporting a traditional Lucha Libre mask. By a couple songs in he was bashing the mic to his forehead to induce bleeding; by the end of the set his face was a sweaty, gorey mess. Many bands from the weekend definitely lacked a memorable aesthetic to their performance, but Cheap Tragedies ensured they brought it in spades, along with their respectable, rock'n'roll-affected hardcore.

Colin of Arabia. Christ. I couldn't tell if it was the songs, the performance, or both, but I haven't seen a band play that sloppy in a long time. Every song was simply awkward. Every song's construction made no sense whatsoever. The instruments sounded out of tune and played chords that would offer stop-starts at random points. How people were into it I'll never figure out. Even when it comes to punk rock I expect some level of proficiency, maybe with a couple totally understandable fuck-ups here and there -- but playing like shit is a completely different story.

After an all-too-long wait for Chinese food, we returned to catch the end of Pulling Teeth's set, which included an absolutely spot-on cover of Nirvana's "Territorial Pissings." Like, holy shit. Granted it's Nirvana's most sensible song to cover for a hardcore or punk band, but even here it was a little bit outside of the box and still came off desperate, intense and unrelenting -- and never once cheesy. I've never been hugely into Pulling Teeth's original material, but maybe I should give it another shot.

Crime in Stereo was next, and while the mosh/dance was brought to a screeching halt, in its place came devoted, up-front sing-alongs and just as many stage dives. The band plucked a song each from their first full-length and Contract/Love EP and filled out the rest of the set with standouts from The Troubled Stateside. They played as tight and passionate as ever, and while things weren't really as crazy as most of the other "big bands"' sets from that weekend, it was a lot of fun.

Set list (4:52-5:20):

1. Everything Changes / Nothing Is Ever Truly Lost
2. Bicycles for Afghanistan
3. I'm on the Guestlist Motherfucker
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4. Slow Math
5. Long Song titles Aren't Cool Anymore Because the Rest of You Fuckers Are No Good at It
6. Amsterdamned!
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7. Sudan
8. Gravity/Grace
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9. I, Stateside

Shipwreck (5:33-5:52) was next, and as expected lit the fucking room on fire. The dance floor expanded nearly from merch table to merch table at the opposite ends of the Starlight, and things had rarely been crazier prior. But the chaos was kept under control and the band got through a set of constant pile-ons and pissed patrons without trouble. I even found myself them enjoying them a bit more than usual.

A given highlight, Ceremony (6:10-6:33) came up next to give us all (or most of us, at least) the Infest set of reckless thrash ten-to-twenty years ago we never got the chance to witness. Their set list was impossible to keep track of, but I can assure you they opened with "Kersed," which set the crowd ablaze instantly. Impassioned finger-pointing and the THUD of stomps across the floor were the only visible and audible components, respectively, aside from the band's usually lightning-fast endeavors. They also threw in "This Is My War," "Clouds of Fire," "You're All the Same," "Living Hell," and I believe "Ghosts" and "Mothers and Fathers" among others.

Fuck, Paint It Black was awesome. Not five minutes after Dan Yemin told us he had "just one thing to say" and howled the opening pronoun of "Cannibal," he was leaking blood from his nose, dribbling down to his chin -- between this and his natural Rollins stance, it looked like a scene from a time when I was barely out of the womb. Andy Nelson constantly shuffled up front with his guitar and a stupid grin plastered across his face. The band stocked the first half of the set list with CVA material ("Bravo, Another Beautiful 'Fuck You' Song," "CVA," "Atticus Finch"), then opted for some Paradise numbers for the second half ("Nicaragua," "New Brutality," "Panic," "Exit Wounds," "Election Day"). They also played a couple new songs (!!!!!!), presumably from the forthcoming LP3, Gravity Wins. One in particular carried CVA's raw vibes, but then threw in weird and experimental, Fucked Up-like chord changes and noisily melodic passages -- definitely promising stuff.

Set list (6:51-7:17) [possibly incomplete]:

1. Cannibal
2. Pink Slip
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3. Bravo, Another Beautiful "Fuck You" Song
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4. CVA
5. new song
6. Atticus Finch
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7. Nicaragua
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8. New Brutality
9. Panic
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10. Exit Wounds
11. new song
12. Election Day
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13. Memorial Day
14. something off CVA

Blacklisted didn't quite bring the roof crumbling down like I expected, but the hometown crowd was loving it and showing it proudly to a certain extent. The band themselves played exceptionally well, better than usual really -- I was into it. They're also aiming to get as epic as possible with their album titles, I guess -- they let the crowd know their next full-length would be called Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God (planning on being recorded in October). They played a bunch of songs that spanned their discography well, and the singer used the space of the stage to his advantage, moving across it well. See, the previous time I'd seen the band was in a basement, and he merely stood behind the mic stand with his hands clasped behind his back the entire time, letting the ruckus unfold in front of him -- it was actually somewhat amusing, but here I think his increased energy levels may have provided for a better band/crowd exchange. It was an excellent finish to an even better day, letting This Is Hardcore finish on its highest note possible.

Set list (7:25-7:51):

1. Ivory Tower
2. Eye for an Eye
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3. Setting Sun
4. Tourist [f/ the blonde dude from Ceremony]
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5. Finding Faith
6. Good Grief
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7. Canonized
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8. Long Way Home
9. How Quickly We Forget (Again)
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10. Memory Layne
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11. new song (?)
12. That Ain't Real Much

This weekend also helped me to see FSU in a new light -- despite all their controversy, they seemed to do an excellent job maintaining the safety and non-violence of each show. Say what you will about metaphysically fighting potential intimidation with an even greater level of intimidation, but not one fight broke out; not one fist flew. I was sorely impressed by the secure, safe environment they nurtured and it definitely altered any ill perceptions I may have previously carried a bit. Here's to next year.