Anyone with any sort of knowledge of west michigan punk can tell this was a strange show just by seeing the line up. Hardcore punk from each side of the spectrum here, I guess not so strangely enough It was a really awesome show. Every band was thoughtful and energetic! I also got to meet some new people, see some friends I don’t get to see very often and here some bands I probably would not have sought out other wise.

First up was great reversals. I really really want to like this band. They are everything a punk band should be, intelligent, approachable and thoughtful. The singer had some really cool things to say between songs, subjects that don’t really get touched upon In hardcore these days so that was really refreshing. The guitar players have a great stage presence and the drummer was pretty intense, a little sloppy but I could tell he was trying real hard so thats definitely enough for me. Anyways I was I saying I really want to like this band but I think it just comes down to personal preference, I just can’t
get into the riffs. I hope these guys have a long and fruitful career because I do love bands that give a shit!

Next up was positive noizee with what might have been there shortest set to date. High energy dirty fast hardcore punk, so they are ok in my book. The singer Ryan and bassist Casey have been working super hard on a beer documentary the past few months so they were a little out of shape, more notably ryan he kind of seemed like he put on a few pounds. At any rate It was a fun set and I hope to see them again soon.

I think Black Kites was next, Im not sure? Anyways this was my first time seeing this band or hearing them for that matter and HOLY FUCK are they heavy! The guitar player had at least three stacks that I could tell and put each one to good use! He had and A/B pedal or something so he could create these weird panning effects which I thought was really cool. Aside from all the other cool shit the guitarist riffs were pretty original and engaging, all around good work! The singer was fairly intense and Had some very cool things to say about supporting all the amazing positive things we
having going on in Michigan punk. Also the guitar player made a very good point about being able to step outside yourself and see all the great things in your life even when shit doesn’t work out just the way you wanted it. The drummer jay from zehnia golov Is very talented, the only problem was that he wasn’t a very hard hitter and he had massive stacks of speakers blaring behind him which wouldbe hard for most drummers to overcome. At any rate this is another great all around modern hardcore band!

Klaud Ratt played next with a very decisive, “straightforward” set. I think it was like ten minutes long but intense the whole way thru. People went apeshit too! super fun. Half there set was songs from the self titled LP and the other half were new ones, a great mixture! they were having some troubles hearing each other but they managed to keep in time with each other very well, I guess thats the sign of a well rehearsed band! Another great set from clot wrat!

The next two bands were Zann from germany and Brothers from GR. Zann plays super heavy modern hardcore, which I wasn’t that into. The same can be said for brothers, Just a matter of opinion I reckon, cant win em all. So I sat out side and talked with some friends and did a little shrapling with Adrian and Brandon in front of the DAAC. So to sum things up it was really cool that bands from different genres can come together and gel so well. I would love to see some more diverse shows like this one! Support Michigan everything!

-Dylan 93 (hard as fvkk)