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Early shows can be both a good and bad thing. Getting older and lazier, I like getting home at a decent time, but sometimes I have other stuff going on that interferes with early shows, making me either miss the show entirely or arrive late. Due to having tickets to a Providence Bruins hockey game, which turned out to be one of the best hockey games I've been to, I got to Hell about five minutes before Agnostic Front took the stage. This gave me enough time to run into Greg to get a rundown of the other bands. He told me that Outbreak was really good, playing really fast hardcore songs and Death Before Dishonor sounded better than he remembered them. Mostly, he talked talked about how great Wisdom in Chains were (after checking out their Myspace page, I learned that he was right), calling them a great hardcore punk band. I didn't see Greg anymore after that, but he seemed more excited about Wisdom in Chains than seeing Agnostic Front, who were calling Vinnie Stigma to the stage as Greg disappeared.
The reason Club Hell has early shows on Fridays is because they have a dance night called Rock and Roll High School right after the music is over. Because of this, there were people waiting in the back of club wondering what the hell was going on at the front of the stage. They politely watched and sipped their drinks, but they looked about as awkward as I would at a ballroom dancing venue.
The people there for the show were stoked: dancing, singing along, stage diving, etc. The pit didn't seem too rough, even though I do know of one guy who ended up with a bloody nose. Mostly, people were just happy to hear a legendary hardcore band play songs that most likely shaped their lives and views. Singer Roger Miret brought fans through a timeline of their career ("I'm gonna take you back to 1986. I'm gonna take you back to 1986. I'm gonna take you back to 1986."), as they played at least one song from each of the albums I have (Victim in Pain, Something's Gotta Give and Warriors). He also gave props to the three bands they played with, calling Outbreak the best old school hardcore band out there today. He told a story about asking Death Before Dishonor to do a brief tour with them, which turned out to be a four weeks and then a seven week tour in the States (I forgot the actual length), giving them a true test. His shout out to Wisdom in Chains got a huge reaction from the crowd, which confirmed Greg's statement of this band.
The highlight of night came from their performance of "Gotta Go." The crowd went nuts and they play the song with such intensity and sincerity that it was one of the best performances I've seen all year. It seemed fitting that they end with the pile ones and crowd screaming "Gotta, gotta, gotta go," but they played two more songs that kept the energy level up, giving fans a reason to go home amped up.
Written by: RF
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