Sunday, November 16th, 2009 @ The Pothole; Muskegon Heights, MI

This show was proposed to me by Rorik, the singer of Under Anchor a couple weeks ago, and I was delighted, as were my roommates, to open our doors to five bands on a sunday night. There was an interesting mix of folks from different parts of Michigan at the show, with Deathskin Razors being from the Detroit area, Under Anchor from Mt. Pleasant, Above It All from Muskegon, In The Way from Grand Rapids, and XtraVomit from Grand Rapids/Muskegon. Xtra Vomit played first and it was really fun and we blasted thru 7 songs and talked about them. In The Way was second and it was their first show! They were a 3 piece (guitar, drums, vocals) and will have a bass player soon, because I met him at the show and he said he is learning the songs and it is his first band! That was exciting to me! In The Way played a nice short set with short tough hardcore songs that were fast at times with chunky chug parts that weren’t regurgitated and I felt a genuine presence from them, which I personally hone in on in bands! Bad attitudes, rock star wannabes, or folks that are all about using punk/hc as a stepping stone to bigger better things, or turning it into some kind of band worship scene can really be a turn off to a group that writes good songs. Above It All was from Muskegon, and why have I never heard of this band though we live in the same town?!  I don’t know, but I was excited to connect with other hardcore kids in Muskegon, and they played heavy hardcore with dual guitars, no bass, and covered “Fight For Your Right To Party” by the Beastie Boys. The energy was getting up there and an amp got knocked backwards, so there was a break in their set while the amp was fixed, and everyone was ok, and the show went on, without a hitch, and with lots of laughs! Deathskin Razors varied up between super and somewhat fast to good breakdowns and awesome mid paced parts. Manic vocals and good vibes, out to destroy any kind of geographical rivalry and to play honest hardcore and be down to earth people. Very inspiring to me, and I traded an Xtra Vomit tape for the 7″ but have only listened to it once and was reading while listening to it so I can’t review it yet. Under Anchor was last and they played their tight hardcore with crushing slow parts, melodic guitar and bass work thrown in, and super passionate in your face vocals that prompted bunches of sing alongs, as it usually does when I see them! There was some fighting dance moves but not very asshole like and that was good! Me and some buds were discussing a few days ago our mutual dislike for the kicks and punches when they turn into blows on bystanders, as happened to me when I got punched in the head 2 weeks ago during Damages’ set in Grand Rapids at a house show, and we corrected ourselves from calling it kung-fu, karate, or martial arts, as all of these forms of art are about defense and respect. Ha!  So let’s have some kicks and punches in the middle while there’s a circle pit flowing around, and those who want to stand on the wall can do so without getting elbowed or slammed into! This sort of flow was pretty good at our house last night, and it was a super positive, energetic, full of laughter time!  No drama can overshadow the power of positive, productive punk and community!