WHAT: Vent Revival
WHO: Skanktanks, Jack Says Nothing, From This Day Forward, All The Answers, Buried Inside
WHERE: Almonte Arena
WHEN: Saturday 19, 1999. 6:00pm
I’d have to say the show was pretty good. I’m not a huge hard-core fan, but I think it went pretty well nonetheless. The doors opened at 6:00, I gave them my advanced ticket, then it was time to socialize with the bands. I’ve gotten a fair amount of band links this way, Most of the guys I meet are really friendly. I’d brought my yearbook along cuz most of my friends were on break from Uni and I wanted them to sign it. It seemed I got more than I had expected though. It all started with one of the band members signing it, thinking it was a guest book, then it snowballed from there.. I doubt I’ll remember who these guys are 30 years from now but it’s neat anyhow. Even one of the band members thought it’d be amusing to sign it as if he went to my school. Now won’t that be confusing 30 years from now!
Another neat thing about this show that was a little out of the ordinary was the guys from KATIMAVIK. They helped out at the front door, sold chips and pop behind the counter and gave a general aura of coolness in the moshpit.
The first band to get on-stage was Frodo. These guys were amazing, high energy, non-stop rawk. I’d kinda describe them as pop-hardcore, cuz they weren’t as severe as the other hard-core bands on the bill..
Second up was Jack Says Nothing. Local pop-punk, these guys are so high energy I could scream. They had a bunch of new songs but played the old faves like “Archie & Jughead” and that popular cover, “That Thing You Do.” Some of the highlights of their set was the Terris’s head set, (What was with those earphones??) Blair and Adam’s in sync off-timed jump, and Adam’s crazy suit.
Next was some more hard-core, From This Day Forward. Another local favourite, these guys take the genre of hard-core to the extreme. Which is old cuz I could actually understand Laforge’s lyrics!! It was crazy!! You should have seen the growing moshpit surrounding the band, it was scary. Arms, hands, legs, hands, flying, clawing. It was amazing I don’t think I’ve seen one that big, but then again I’ve never been to a commercial concert like Offspring or something.
Then came All The Answers. These guys were pretty good. It was surprising cuz I met them before the show and they didn’t strike me as a bunch of hard-core guys, but then again neither do the guys from From This Day Forward. The lyrics from these guys weren’t as easy to distinguish as FTDF, but I guess to each his own. By the time these guys got on stage the mosh pit had grown bigger (if that’s possible) and some kid leapt out of the moshpit and pretended to go into convulsions. Odd....
Finally a break from Hard-core!! Ska!! It was the SkankTanks!!! These guys were amazing. They weren’t exactly what I was expecting, I saw pics on their web site of them in suits and shit, so when they showed up in miscellaneous, hockey jerseys, t-shirts and a Hawaiian shirt, I was a little disappointed. But what they lacked in fashion sense they made up for it with high energy amazing SKA! It wasn’t total straight Ska either, some of the songs had punk and that’s okay with me. I thought these guys put on a great show, it’s too bad I can’t skank.
Finally came Buried Inside By the time these guys hit the stage I had a massive headache and decided to sit it out instead of braving the moshpit. It was the final band of the nite and yet another hard-core, I didn’t think my ears could take anymore. They didn’t have the softened edge of the other HC bands I’ve heard. It was just straight screaming, kinda sounded like a bunch of rabid animals fighting. So I sat back in the smoking area and breathed fumes and watched some strange boy in the corner by the ladies washroom. He had his back to everyone and was pulling sheets off a roll of toilet paper and sticking them up his nose then he pulled a rolled up baggie out of his pocket. It was at this point I decided I didn’t want to see anymore, so I got up and left and bought myself a pop.