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| Skull Fest at the Shop photo credit, Cece Manning |
Day 1 - Friday (Belvedere’s Bar and Spahn Ranch)
Missed out on a lot of the events
at the Shop due to work's inconvenient location from the city. Though Belvedere's Bar had themselves quite a lineup of bands to kick off the night and head into the weekend.
Killer of Sheep blew open the doors
with blitz style beats as the evening’s local opener. There weren’t enough bottles in the bar to contain the
energy of the Bad Brains styled hardcore band. They seriously kicked the roof off the bar (well sort of,
Ollie did manage to jump kick the ceiling from the stage). Despite a sparse crowd at the start of
the show, KoS received a warm welcome from the early birds.
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| Killer of Sheep photo credit, Christopher Woodford |
If punk could be groovy, Lecherous
Gaze would definitely be at the forefront. Being the odd one out of the litter, their music consisted
heavily of 70s style psych-rock riffs drenched with California sun. There was some shuffling and body
shaking on the floor, though most just stood and watched. In general, Lecherous Gaze was
certainly the funkiest band at Skull Fest.
I
only caught part of the Traditionals, but came back in time for The State. One
of the few mid-west hardcore punk bands at the fest, The State have been around
since 1979 and play hardcore in the same vain as Black Flag. But unlike Black Flag there was no
widespread popularity for The State, yet their music is just as angry and
powerful. Their second appearance at Skull Fest was met with a larger audience
that showed their support for the oldschoolers. On stage, vocalist Preston Woodward could be seen seething
as he shouted out the lyrics. His
band mates followed suit with a harmony of enmity. And together they combined for a stunning performance
leading into Submachine’s set.
It
should be without saying that Submachine was going to be the biggest draw for
the night. Having been a couple
years since their last show, any rust was shaken off immediately. Fans drank deeply from the intoxicating
set. Beer flowed freely from
thrown cans and bottles as part of some unorthodox communion. Vocalist Alex
shook an open bottle of beer over those in the front row (probably the only
bath they’ll ever see this weekend) and stepped into the pit to join in with
the rowdiness. The song
“Corruption” received a hearty sing-a-long session from a mass that rushed the
stage to yell out the lyrics. As
gruff as Anti-Nowhere League and as volatile as the Exploited, Submachine are
flag bearers for the working-class yinzerz. Whether they’ll keep on playing every other year or what,
it’s goddamn great to see these dudes still kicking ass.
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| Lecherous Gaze photo credit, Christopher Woodford |
One
would think that Urban Waste, an old-school New York City hardcore band fairly
similar to Killer of Sheep, would get the same size crowd to stick around after
Submachine. Not the case, but the
leftovers from the previous act did show some support. Having played earlier this year at the
Roboto, Urban Waste was met by a larger crowd and used what energy, that wasn’t
spent already, to cheer on Urban Waste.
Johnny Waste and crew hammered out the confrontational sounds that
identified them in the NYHC scene.
Supporters and fans alike cheered on as the NYC band brought out young
and angry punk in all of us.
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| The State photo credit, Christopher Woodford |
The late night after party at Spahn
Ranch was a brief encounter. Drug
Lust was already underway with turning the mutated living room into a den of
chaos. A dim red light bathed the
room with crimson hues that fit the mood rightfully. Drug Lust is known locally amongst the underground as being
particularly violent at shows.
Bottles, cans, or whatever that could be picked up with hands got thrown
at the crowd. At one point cinder
blocks were sliding across the floor of the mosh pit, adding more mayhem. Despite their reputation, Drug Lust is
entertaining and pure fucking evil.
The extra-crunchy guitars and howling vocals put then in the same
styling akin to Hellhammer.
Despite any injuries you may receive from seeing these dudes, they put
on a damn good show.
Unfortunately,
after getting a full beer bottle thrown at my foot and getting head butted in
the jaw by Drug Lust’s vocalist, I decided to call it a night after their
set. Got to same some of the
stamina for the rest of the fest.
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| Perdition photo credit Cece Manning |
Day 2 – Saturday (Kopec’s Korner, The Shop, and Howler’s
Coyote Cafe)
After recharging the batteries with
some well needed food, it was about time to catch some crust punk at Kopec’s Korner. Walking to the upstairs level led you
into an eye-opening wall of body odor.
Just the stench alone was a sure sign of how intense the evening would
be. Packed to the gills with
crusties, punks, and whoever else wandered in from the street, there was no
escape from being smitten by the destructive force of d-beat crust.
I
arrived when Wilmington, North Carolina’s No Tomorrow barreled onto the
floor. The initial impact of the
sounds belching forth from the speakers got the blood pumping in any warm
body. Hoarse yells with a backdrop
of crushing drums, overcharged the crowd into a frenzy. Kopecs’s contained room put both fans
and bands on the same level ground, which led to instances of band-crowd
interaction throughout No Tomorrow’s set.
The crusty stew came to a boiling point during a cover of Doom’s “Police
Bastard.” Skull Festers descended
upon the microphone stand and bellowed along with the song for a fitting end.
Whatever
adrenaline was left had spilled over on Oiltanker when they took to the
floor. Galloping beats came out at
charge: not your typical horse shit, but a full on battalion of riders
proceeded by berserkers. Oiltanker
set the bar for getting the crowd rallied up by sending punks crashing into
tables and falling on top of concert attendees. Shots of forceful screams echoed with contempt and were
driven home by wailing guitars.
Punks and crusties alike rioted and raged by crashing into one
another. After a killer
performance, one could understand why No Tomorrow and Oiltanker put out a split
record together
By the time Oiltanker wrapped up, I
had a couple of options: check out Sickoids or check out Icon Gallery. Since the crust show had ran late, I
swung by The Shop to see a few songs from Sickoids. They were the last band for the all-ages bracket on
Saturday, so there was already an ecstatic crowd bouncing around the room. After a couple of songs, the Philly
punk began to sound somewhat static. But the Sickoids did dominate the young
hooligans with a wall of sound as the final act.
Howlers Coyote Cafe was just two
blocks away from where I was and their portion of Skull Fest was already on its
way. Icon Gallery was the second of three female-fronted bands playing tonight. Joyful rhythms had fans swaying and
bouncing along to Icon Gallery’s songs full of heartfelt tones, marked by vexed
feelings. Happiness and
frustration so beautifully composed on stage that even the lighting of red and
blue was rather befitting. Fans
sung the chorus to “Pain” with much drunken glee, as they converged towards the stage. Icon Gallery was a high point as the evening proceeded to go even higher.
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| Icon Gallery photo credit, Christopher Woodford |
Compared with last year’s
performance, Oh Shit They’re Going To Kill Us made a point that they were going
to play only older material. With
the exception of “Combat Shock” from their new EP, most of the songs on the set
list came from the self-titled record and their first EP. Oh Shit garnered their fans in for a
feast, but it took a couple of songs to get the crowd hungry. Ravenous moshers were rolling around
the pit as punks circle-moshed into a vortex before creating more chaos to
onlookers. As demanding as hungry
folks are, fans were calling out for “Werewolves on Wheels,” which was met
towards the end. Instantly, the
pit caved in to a roar of delight to close out the set.
Early this year, Richmond’s
Occultist began their tour with Ghoul in Pittsburgh and played to a very
enthusiastic crowd, including a large number of female supporters. A few months later, Occultist is back
and just as wicked. Much of the
crowd began to disperse by the end of the night, but Occultist still had some
devout followers raging hard at the vocalist’s feet. The momentum of the music was a constant torrent of crushing
blows. A crossover band with hints
of black metal though crusty on every edge. Every bit of power left in the remaining Skull Festers was
poured out into head banging and slamming into each on the floor. It was a far more intimate crowd as Day
2 of the fest began to wane, but Occultist gave a couple encore songs to treat
those who stuck it out.
Closing Thoughts from Christopher Woodford
This is the biggest article I’ve written on a concert event. It has taken a lot of time to come up with descriptions on the events that unfolded, yet this overview was just the tip of the iceberg. There was more, oh so much more! One person alone cannot see all the bands at Skull Fest 4. Show times overlapped with one another and bands occasionally did not start on time. I had to leave out a few things out due to timing and creativity burnout.
This is the biggest article I’ve written on a concert event. It has taken a lot of time to come up with descriptions on the events that unfolded, yet this overview was just the tip of the iceberg. There was more, oh so much more! One person alone cannot see all the bands at Skull Fest 4. Show times overlapped with one another and bands occasionally did not start on time. I had to leave out a few things out due to timing and creativity burnout.
However, Skull Fest 4 was truly something special this
year. The number of things going
on during the day and night made it one of the biggest music events in
Pittsburgh. There are a few things
that I’d like to mention that I wish I could go more in depth. But for the sake of getting this
article out on time, I can’t. What
was left out will be carried on through memories.
If I could say one thing about Skull Fest it's that the festival is a celebration. It is an opportunity to celebrate music and community.
Last minute things I wish to mention:
Shayontani “Shani” Banerjee’s exhibit on women in subculture
at the Garfiled Artworks was exquisitely passionate. The exhibit feature many familiar faces in the underground
punk and metal scene. Some of them
I know personally, some I don’t, but all are dedicated to the local music
scene. Bloated Sluts, Barren
Scepter, Liebestod, and Gunspiking all had killer sets and took part in Shani’s
exhibit by performing live. Again,
this was one of the biggest highlights of Skull Fest 4 and forever remembered.
Then there was Cobracabana after party. Punks only location, but a shit ton of
Skull Fest attendees showed up to drink and carry on into the night. To me, this was the end of Skull Fest,
since I didn’t spend as much time as I should have at Day 3 of Skull Fest due
to work. The Cobracabana party exemplified
the bonds people share in punk. It
symbolized camaraderie, dedication, and love, even if everybody was shitfaced
by the time the sun came up. A
single moment in time where everything feels right and just.
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| Caleb (Wrathcobra), Hilary, and Chani (Icon Gallery) photo credit, Christopher Woodford |
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| Punx Picnic photo credit, Christopher Woodford |
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| Fun in the sun photo credit, Christopher Woodford |
Closing Thoughts from Cece Manning (Photographer)
Skullfest is always a good time for friends, great music and
my hobby photography. I live in Cleveland and travel about two hours for
Skullfest! This is my second year attending. I think the best band of the
weekend was Nomad. They blew the roof off, or the ceiling! It made me feel like
I was at home. Punk is meant to be outrageous and crazy! I love capturing the
madness in a photograph!
A few other bands that I thought were great in my opinion were perdition, inmates, hysteria, parasytic, and ratface! I love ratface! There were so many more great bands! It seems like Skullfest gets better and better every year. Cheers to all who put this fest together! And cheers to Renee's awesome strawberry vodka smoothies! See you next year, Skullfest!
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| Nomad photo credit, Cece Manning |
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| Muy Caliente! photo credit, Cece Manning |
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