Wow, what a show! Cycles/Positive Noise/Ancient Filth/Damages/Phil Mee at The Pothole, Muskegon, MI 3/16/11
This week’s show review is by Ryan Cappelletti of Punks Before Profits. If you take photos and like to write about punk shows (or if you and a friend wanna team up to do this) drop us a line at webzine@maximumrocknroll.com with a sample review and pics, and maybe you too can be a MRR shitblogger!
I think it is really important to play and make it out to shows in small areas that may surround your city. A lot of the time, if we get out of our box, we can find something truly fucking awesome. My band, POSITIVE NOISE, got asked to play a house show in Muskegon, Michigan, where our bass player and drummer live. Not sure if anybody has ever heard of this place, but it’s a pretty bleak area. One of the highest unemployment rates in the country, and with this new emergency manager law being put into play, Muskegon could be the first for a fascist takeover! I never understand why my bandmates decide to stay, but either way they give people hope through shows like this. So thanks for making me venture into Muskegon for another show.
OK, the show started with local band CYCLES. This band fucking rips total fast as fuck, HC crusty punk. They just did a demo and trust me, it rules, so get in touch with pullupmysocks@riseup.net to get a copy. They ended the set with a BREAD AND WATER cover that ruled. Up next was local hip hop superstar PHIL MEE. It was truly awesome to see somebody take a total punk crowd and rip through a few hip hop jams done very well. Sometimes I feel people with other musical backgrounds have a hard time playing in a basement situation, but this was not the case with this guy.
POSITIVE NOISE was next. It’s always hard to talk about your own band, so all I will say is that it was cool to talk between songs and have part of the crowd take part, and bring it to a full-blown discussion in the middle of a fast hardcore punk set. Local Grand Rapids hardcore took the floor next: DAMAGES! This band just gets better and better every time. They play fast, catchy HC punk, and got the crowd moving into a total frenzy — it was awesome.
The last band of the night was ANCIENT FILTH from Boston, Mass, who drove many, many, many hours out of the way to play this one Michigan show. I was already stoked on this band before hand, but after seeing them they are one of my new favorite bands. The tour they just did I think only had two or three shows in all. They basically just wanted to get out of town and play a couple shows. They played an energy ridden set of HC punk with the emphasis on punk! They also ended with a ZERO BOYS cover. If you are fan of modern HC like LIMP WRIST and older Italian HC punk, then please get the ANCIENT FILTH demo now! If you don’t believe me check out www.ancientfilth.com for the proof.
You never know where you will find great hardcore so never underestimate any town or scene this show is solid proof killer HC can be found all over the fucking place!
