Bane has been rocking out for a while now, and I waited way, way too long to see them do their thing in person. The Worcester, MA, hardcore punk band had been on tour with Trapped Under Ice, Cruel Hand, and Alpha & Omega for over a month and was on the tail end of their time on the road. TUI is from Baltimore and I really dig the Alpha & Omega LP, so this seemed like a real good chance to see some great bands at a solid venue.
First up was local band Carrying The Fire. I honestly didn’t catch all of their set since I was waiting in line to get in, but what I saw was pretty promising. The Bel Air, MD band bought the noise and the riffs early, in the style of 90’s hardcore bands like Biohazard and Good Riddance.
Next up were Alpha & Omega out of LA. Man, these guys can kick out the jams. They’re a relatively new band, only around for 3 years, but they play a set that’s fast and tight – you could swear they’ve been doing this forever. Their new album, Life Swallower, came out on 6131 Records earlier this year and they rocked a lot of it at the show. Go check them out if you haven’t already.
Cruel Hand took the stage 3rd – the Maine crew’s riffs and energy had the crowd moving in no time. They also played material off a new album, Lock And Key, which dropped on Bridge 9 recently and was reviewed here.
Trapped Under Ice were on next, and the hometown band set it off. These guys play heavy and fast, and I almost got knocked off my feet a few times by the crowd. They played Believe and a few other songs from their new album, Secrets of the World, which was rad. But the crowd (myself included) went off for songs from their Stay Cold 7″ – I’ve seriously never seen so many stage dives or crazy pit moves or just that level of insanity from a crowd anywhere. The band was going nuts, too; Sam Trapkin, Jared Carman, and Justice Tripp were jumping around like they were on a trampoline. You could tell they loved every second of it. Baltimore stands by TUI and TUI is Baltimore-bred, no doubt.
Bane closed out the show, and if anybody could follow TUI, it had to be Bane. Pulling songs from all corners of their 15-year catalog, they transitioned easily between songs from their debut album, Give Blood and songs from the pair of 7″s they released last summer. Aaron Bedard talked briefly about his time living in Baltimore, but they spent most of their 45-minute set rocking. Again, with so many stagedives, Bedard sharing the mic with the crowd, kids climbing all over the venue – an air of chaos was in the room. You could tell the band was anxious to get on stage from the way they all jumped and ran around the stage, Bedard kicking his legs up like a cheerleader (a really big, angry cheerleader) and going red in the face from yelling into the mic.
Ottobar was a great venue for this show – big enough to accommodate a sizable crowd but still small enough that everyone could see the show and you could get right up on the stage and jump off if you were so inclined (and several were).
Overall a great show. I wish every crowd was this enthusiastic, every band this talented and passionate. The world would be a better place, I tell you.
Last July, punk legends Social Distortion revealed that their long overdue new album would be called “Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes”. Well, according to the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine, what appears to be the official release date of the new album has been announced. The magazine claims that it’s been scheduled for an American release date of November 23. However, there has so far been no official confirmation on these reports, but we expect to keep you posted.
Tommy kokotinis
They don’t care about their fans. Social Distortion will never release another album!!