Evergreen Terrace front man Andrew Carey may have encapsulated every reason any hardcore band has for touring in one arguably complete sentence:
"We do it for the scene, we like to talk trash. A lot of it is about our beliefs and the rest is just personal," said Carey after the band's performance Wednesday night at Xtreme Wheels Skate Park. The group appeared with Fear Before the March of Flames, Throwdown, headliner Norma Jean and local newcomer, Casting Lots For Judah.
Fear Before the March of Flames is a band with an extreme amount of vigor. There's more body movement and sweating in their performances than in those of Jenna Jameson. At one point Wednesday night bassist Michael Madruga let go of his instrument completely, flinging it "around the world" and helping to give the band enormous stage presence. Vocalist Dave Marion's non-stop head-thrashing and screaming back-bends didn't hurt either.
Evergreen Terrace garnered the first strong reaction from the crowd. Fan favorite "Dear Livejournal" and a cover of the Smashing Pumpkins' "Zero" - from "Writer's Block," a collection of band-loved covers released this past year on Eulogy Records - lit a fire under the mosh dancers for the first time that evening.
The Jacksonville quintet also had some choice words for a popular crowd request. During a brief intermission (due to technical difficulties), some restless concertgoers asked if the band knew any of Slayer's material.
"Slayer?" asked Carey, waving his finger in disapproval. "The lead singer of Slayer is a white supremacist, and we're not down with that."
Throwdown, tough guy hardcore from Orange County, Calif., has the attitude and stage presence to back up their destructive yet positive sound. The band supports a drug and alcohol-free lifestyle through their music, and does so with potency.
"We are here for the love of music," said lead singer Dave Peters.
Drummer Ben Dussault - who is, oddly enough, the original vocalist for the least hardcore band ever, A Simple Plan - beat his set mercilessly, laying the groundwork for the band's sound. Throwdown's set was marked with the anthem, "Raise Your Fist," and a cover of Sepultura's "Roots Bloody Roots" during which Everytime I Die guitarist and Buffalo native Andy Williams joined the band on stage.
The crowd crammed tight to the barrier in front of the stage as Norma Jean began their set. The band delivered a spectacular performance, with a series of lighting effects, visual aides and surprises-vocalist Cory Putnam was joined by Everytime I Die's Keith Buckley for a song-to back up their driving and often dissonant sound. Flashing floodlights and billowing smoke from beneath the drum kit provided a mysterious ambiance.
A projector shot stop-motion film segments onto a display screen before and during each song the band played, also giving song titles. The effects added an aesthetic that the other performances lacked with both under and backlighting.
Each member of Norma Jean moved violently as they played, the four members not bound by drums pacing back and forth across the stage, flailing with reckless abandon. Combined with all the stage lighting, Norma Jean's shadows were more chaotic than most hardcore bands' best moments.
Unfortunately, technical difficulties depreciated the quality of Norma Jean's set. During two of their most popular songs, "Memphis Will Be Laid to Waste" and "Face:Face," the PA system went dead at the least opportune moments, ruining the songs' climaxes.
"If you haven't heard us, maybe you would have liked us if you heard the whole songs," said current vocalist, ex-Eso Charis front man Putnam.
Vocals or not, the noise level that escaped from the complex Wednesday night was enough that police cars constantly drove by, on the look-out for mayhem outside.
All they had to do was look inside.
