Recap Of End Of A Year/Defeater/Steel Nation Show

I am not going to get into how much the Columbus hardcore scene is a joke or how disappointed I am in most of my friends. I would rather just focus on a great show that far too many people missed. Reflect opened up, and as usual they were awesome. A lot people sleep on this band or are forced to do so. This was their first time playing at Bernies and Rob's stage presence was great. Empire played next and killed it. When I watch them play I still can't believe they are not huge. Hopefully their tour with Backtrack in January will help that. Unreal City dropped off. Defeater played next and they were awesome. They just got signed to Bridge Nine Records, who will be rerelasing their cd "Travels" on LP I hope I get a chance to see them again soon. Next up was Steel Nation, I have not seen them since they kicked their singer out and became a four peice. They have a very 90's feel now, very Biohazard/Life Of Agony-esque. I am very into this turn for the band. End Of A Year closed out the night and I feel very strongly about this band. They did not let me down one bit, the music live was spot on. I am very happy to have been part of making this show possible.

I finaly was able to get an End Of A Year shirts. I love it because nowhere on the shirt does it say their name, just a live shot. And I picked up a pretty cool Defeater shirt.

Today In The Mail: Today Was A Good Day 2.0

Today I got another package from A389 Records. I love ordering from this label (other then me never getting my Gehenna shirt) I ordered this 4 days ago and its already in my hands. This was just me picking up some cheap records that I have either lost on ebay or flaked on picking up before. The Aloke LP was just a random purchase and from the A side I am into this record. Defenetly weird stuff.


H20 - It Was A Good Day/I Want More (Blue) (Side One Dummy Records)
Redemption 87 - Spidey Sessions (Blue) (Out Of 500) (Breakout Records)
Our Times - S/T (Big Hole) (Out Of 400) (Headcount Records)
Aloke - One Day We Will Kill You (Red) (Gatehouse Anchor Records)

Today In The Mail: The Modern Dogma Is

Another record I have been waiting on for what seems like forever. And its not even the version I ordered first. This Is the Record Release version (the first copy I ordered was a normal version of this but some sort of problems with the covers has it delayed). Arms Aloft is a "punk" band from Wisconsin, and I'm pretty sure at least one of the members was in Regret (a band I couldn't see enough of that just dropped off the map last year). Their music is like faster Jawbreaker/Hot Water Music with the vocal styling's of some of the better Hellcat Records artists (sounds weird but the band is great).


Arms Aloft - Comfort At Any Cost (Record Release) (Grey) (Out Of 25) (Dead Format Records)

This record also came with lots of stuff. Dead Format pin, patch and sticker. Two other Dead Format related stickers (Profanity). And A Arms Aloft sticker and patch. Plus the cover has a sweet cloth Obi and splatter on it that make the whole presentation awesome. You can download their demo off their website. Buy this record from Dead Format. This is easily one of my favorite 7"s that has come out all year. Do not flake on this band.

Forget The World And The Rules

Flyer by Me.

This show seemed like it was ages away, and now its flying up faster than any other. This is the best show I have been apart of doing so far. Its two tours colliding, End Of A Year/Defeater and Steel Nation/Unreal City. And then its two of my favorite local bands Reflect and Empire. This is by far one of the best shows in Columbus all year, and I'm sure the turnout will be great (for once).

Watch Me Sink Like A Stone

For the second time this week I went out of town and saw Have Heart, Ceremony, Blacklisted, Let Down And Convicted. This Show was in Cleveland, Ohio. The local opener for this show was Mad Minds. Oh and two posts in one day, weird.


Now the write up for this show is going to be shorter than the one for Monday's. Convicted opened and this time I didn't miss any of it. Band only gets better every time I see them. Mad Minds played next and even though they're are dudes I never really got into them when I saw them. This time though they were awesome. This was to be their "Record Release Show." Sadly due to something or other they didn't have the records to be released. You can pre-order it HERE (along with the Triceratops LP). Let Down played next, they once again we're really good Kids were moshing hard having lots of fun myself included (durring them and Convicted I really bruised up my forearm). Blacklisted played next and as usual killed it. And now I take back what I said about Ceremony, at this show they were pretty tight and played an amazing set. At some point I allegedly elbowed some girl's face in. Have Heart closed out the Night again. They once again did a great job and played some decent tunes I wanted to hear. All and all the show was great.


This is the first Blacklisted shirt I have ever purchased (for myself). And it has a kitty on it, so I love it.

Today In The Mail: Christmas Came Early

I have skipped over several packages that have come in the past few weeks. Out of pure laziness. But I think this one deserves a post. This sold out in less than a week and that was a week before I even saw it was up for order so when I saw that RevHQ had copies I ordered one for me and one for Reid (He Loves David Bazan/Pedro The Lion).


David Bazan - Jingle Bells (Red) (Out Of 400) (Suicide Squeeze Records)

Been Livin' In The Dark Since April

Last night myself, Jakob and Aaron (Plus two girls) took a trip down to Cincinnati (Covington, Ky) to see a show. The show was one of the biggest/strongest hardcore tours I've seen in a while, and with a added bonus This Is Hell and support (Gravemaker) was added.


We got there late And missed all but one Convicted song. I was very bummed. Its been over 5 months since I saw them last (with Blacklisted) and I was hoping to get my mosh on (ha). Im pretty sure Gravemaker played next they were alright, I just wasn't paying to much attention to them (I know Aaron was into them). Now its been 3 and a half years (+) since the last time I saw This Is Hell. They were awesome. I like the band a lot but don't know their catalog as well as I should but they still ended up playing 3-4 songs I knew pretty well. Oh and I was taller then the guitarist and bassist when they were on the stage (something I found to be very amusing). Let Down played next, this was my third time seeing this band this year. No show will ever compare to the insanity of the Tower show (And they were pretty decent when I saw them in Romeo Michigan with Swamp Thing). But they played a good set. Stage banter was pretty good at points and I love the way they just say their name with straight edge as it goes hand in hand. Also I picked up the Tour version of their LP We're In This Alone (Six Feet Under Records) out of 80. Blacklisted was up next which surprised me because I thought they were bigger then Ceremony but that's a mute point. They were fucking awesome. I think this band gets better every single time I see them. People were losing their minds, it was great. Ceremony played next and though I do enjoy this bands earlier offerings I'm not to impressed by their last 7" and LP. They play sloppy angry hardcore. And at this show it came off very sloppy. Have Heart ended the nights festivities. I like this band. I don't love this band. A lot of people at this show LOVED this band. They were going nuts. So many people on stage singing along. The new record is really good. The last record was really good. Its very understandable why this band is so big. This show as a whole was amazing. I got to see some of my friends for the first time since I moved back from Louisville. A lot of my Cincinnati dudes. And had the pleasure of meeting a few new people. Wednesday I will be seeing this show again, and if In not lazy Ill grab up a disposable camera and snap some pics for the blog.


Oh and I picked up this awesome shirt.

Gorilla Biscuits Vinyl Figure

"We're getting close to the release More info soon. contact me at Alex@super7store.com if you're stateside and are interested in getting one. That's it for now!"

Vote

A lot of people around here at least seem to think that Obama and voting are a bandwagon to be jumped on. A cool thing to throw on a shirt (the H2O shirt was too good to pass up ha) or to put on their myspace. Well I woke up early and went to a church (yuck) a few miles from my house and cast my vote. I've always felt voting is one of the most important rights we have and a lot of Americans like to just shrug it off to the next guy. A lot of my friends are doing this today. I just hope everyone who reads this voted, and pray that cracker loses.

Crashed Against The Rocks I Have For Brains

*My End Of A Year Collection

Im only missing the two European tour versions of the "We Understand Europeans Are A Sexual People" and of course test presses. Also the great thing about this collection is I only had to get two of them off Ebay (both of those being pre-order versions I missed out on). The rest came from webstores and trades.

And the overview

7"s

End Of A Year - We Understand Europeans Are A Sexual People (Grey/Clear) (58) (Blacktop Records)
End Of A Year - We Understand Europeans Are A Sexual People (Grey) (Out Of 330) (Blacktop Records)
End Of A Year - We Understand Europeans Are A Sexual People (Clear) (Out Of 525) (Blacktop Records)

7" Splits

End Of A Year/Adorno (Out Of 520) (Existencia Records/Pine Records)
End Of A Year/Fire Team Charlie (Out Of 500) (Sticky Translucent Glue Records)
End Of A Year/Kids Explode (Out Of 500) (Narshardaa Records)
End Of A Year/Three Fifteen (Green) (Out Of 200) (Slave Union Records)
End Of A Year/Three Fifteen (Out Of 250) (Slave Union Records)
End Of A Year/Three Fifteen (Grey) (Out Of 550) (Slave Union Records)
End Of A Year/Red Tape Parade (Cobra X Records)
End Of A Year/Red Tape Parade (White) (Cobra X Records)
End Of A Year/Red Tape Parade (White With Green Splatter) (Cobra X Records)
End Of A Year/Shook Ones (Pre-Order Version) (White With Black Splatter) (Out Of 100) (Runner Up Records)
End Of A Year/Shook Ones (Black/White) (Out Of 210) (Runner Up Records)
End Of A Year/Shook Ones (Green/Clear) (Out Of 210) (Runner Up Records)
End Of A Year/Shook Ones (Grey/Clear) (Out Of 210) (Runner Up Records)

12"s

End Of A Year - Sincerely (Pre-Order Version) (Seafoam Green) (Out Of 100) (Slave Union Records)
End Of A Year - Sincerely (Blue) (Out Of 400) (Slave Union Records)
End Of A Year - Sincerely (Out Of 460) (Slave Union Records)

First (Of Many) Collaborative Shows

*Not the official flyer. (Bteen Productions Version).

For this show, I have lost my mind. And its a big duh on why. End Of A Year is by far one of my favorite bands right now, and I'm beyond excited for this show (and helping put it on is siking me up even more). Now away from me nerding out over them (I'll save that for a post later this week (If the mail gods favore me)).

This as I said is a collaborative show between Aaron (Xbowz) And I. This "flyer" you see above is actualy a CD cover. I burned 30 CD's with 2 songs each by the bands playing the show (except Unreal City and Reflect who took to long or didn't send songs at all). Now I don't know if this will at all help people come out to the show but Fucked Up is playing in Columbus tomorrow and a lot of diffrent kids (the kind that don't come out to a lot of Bernies hardcore shows) will be there. And passing them out at this show might get some new faces out for once. When in doubt I just wasted 5 nights of my life putting all this stuff together. Big Woop. I've wasted a lot more time on a lot more things.

To Walk Ahead And Leave The Pain Behind

Being straight edge really puts a damper on trying to distract yourself from your problems and the day to day horror of this world. I can't just have a beer or get high and forget about things for a while. Not to say I would ever want that. I would rather work at my life and try to make things better in it. And for the last few months I have been focusing on myself, my work ethic and filling the void I created, with records. Now maybe this is not a new void, but it has grown over time to take the place of almost anything else in my life (other then my friends) that made/makes me happy. I have come to a point here though where I can go no further with this filler. I have to mature and calm my spending.



Since I have moved back home I have bought somewhere around 250 Records. This picture shows around 200 of the 7"s I have bought (10"s and 12"s for another time maybe). Check out some of those gems on top. I have also bought Dozens of shirts, Tapes and some other random hardcore related items (Patches, Pins, Sunglasses, Posters).

Now this does not mean the "Today In The Mail" portion of this blog is gone. I am still waiting on about 15 packages and I'm sure those will stagger in. What this does mean is, other people might find good records at used kids other then me. And I should have my own car by mid December (Yeah I'm 22 Its about time). And maybe down the line my own place. Fuck I need a second job.

Today In The Mail: Holy Terror Kind Of Day

I have been waiting on these records for a while, A long while. So the fact that only one of the many packages came today Isn't that big of a deal.


Clockwise:

Pulling Teeth - Witches Sabbath II (Out Of 300) (A389 Records)
Integrity - Walpurgisnacht (Red) (Out Of 300) (A389 Records)
Trapped Under Ice/Dirty Money (Blue) (Out Of 300) (A389 Records)

Today In The Mail: Today Was A Good Day

With today's other update comes this one. A new edition for the blog, but an old favorite of mine. Everyday I come home from work (or peek out to my mailbox on the few and far between days I actually have off) I hope to find treasures waiting for me. Today was a great fucking day. 3 packages.


Clockwise:

Ruiner - Japan Tour (White) (XL)
H2O - Water Drop Shirt (Off White) (XL)
Pressure - Beasts (Red/Black) (Out Of 900) (Burn Bridges Records)
Have Heart - 2003 (Last Press) (Out Of 100) (Bottled Up Records)

I have the next three days off, so both my blogs should get a bit more attention. (But I can't promise anything).

I Wish This Was Seamless

One of my most recent purchases Smorkin Labit 10-inch (Kidrobot X Kozik). My toy obsession is slowly being fed by Rivet Gallery (Columbus, Ohio's best stop for designer toys). I am very pro-distractions as of late.

Spin Off

My blog has a son. This will still be my main blog, this new one is just for mixes.

Check it out...

Things I Can't Say

Black Dove - December 2005 Demo Tape

This was Black Doves first release, they just had a LP come out on Solar Funeral (No Future, No Fate). The demo was crushing and is out of press. Pick up the LP if you get the chance, I flaked way hard and just picked on up the other day. Bang your fucking head.

Black Dove - December 2005 Demo Tape

01 - Why Do Babies Cry
02 - Necrobutcher
03 - Hordes Of Lampadas
04 - Savage Children
05 - Black Doves

Download

(This Post is just the beginning of a new direction for the blog. Inspired and in honor of my man Peter Check out his new Blog and listen to Leeway or pose hard.)

September 11th, 1997

If I was to say I looked up to a person or thought maybe I could model myself after them. Raybeez would be that person. And Warzone will always be one of my favorite bands. Their music will always be able to change my mood, and put a smile on my face. RIP Raybeez.

"In our minds, and in our hearts. We feel that hardcore music should stay out of big business and stay in the streets where it belongs. All you kids out there... KEEP THE FAITH"

If We Can Afford The Luxury Of Turning Our Heads

The other day I took a stroll through Goodale Park. It was a nice escape from the mall and the inside of my house. It was also a great escape from the night, the only time it seems I'm even in this world anymore. Or at least aware. I took a few pictures, and then just sat and took it in.


The large pond is half covered with lily pads and other plants. I don't really remember it ever being like this before. But maybe I'm just not in this park this time of year.


This was the only other picture I took that I liked. Lame I know, but I am lame.

I Can't Deny Reality

I got this the other day in an antique store thirty minutes outside of Columbus. It was three stories chock full of goodies but this was the only thing I found that was worth the price. 25 cents.