Hardcore Havoc

By: Hunter Roberts

As I step in the doors of the graffiti ridden palace, there is suspense in the air. Sound check is the fore bearer of what’s to come, an amazing musical performance of some very talented musicians.
The headliner was Sleeping Giant, who came onto the stage with stride full of confidence. Their sound, was more of a punkish sound, than the hardcore scene that the concert had in the previous bands. Sleeping Giant’s songs were performed well, which made them sound better than they actually sounded on cd’s or internet music sharing sites. The singer, Thom Green, had a message of faith to covey to the audience, which he did. In my opinion, though, he talked way more than played music, which decreased my enjoyment of their set.
Before Sleeping Giant, was The Waiting Ends was on the main stage. I saw The Waiting Ends do part of one of their songs during sound check, it surprised me of how insane the vocalists and the drummer were in the band because the technique and energy of the vocalists all tied into the song and made it an amazing song. I couldn’t wait to see their set.
The Waiting Ends walked out casually onto the stage, then out of nowhere burst out with energy, and a shredding guitar. They gave some technical guitar work with chunky breakdowns in the middle of their songs. The dual vocalists made the song unique, and gave it edge that sounded fantastic. In the middle of their set, they finally responded to the shouts for the “Wall of Death,” they asked the crowd if they’d like to start a wall of death. Of course the audience gladly obliged to question. Half of the crowd went to one side of the venue, while the other went to the opposite side. Once the music built up in tempo both sides rushed towards each other in a blur of shoving and fists. It was a performance to be proud of with the band’s great stage presence.
After Burn the Ruin and before The Waiting Ends in the lobby, stood We Set Fire ready to play. As everyone crammed into the small lobby, I wondered on how good of show they could put on in such a small area. Amazingly, in that crammed space of stage, they put out a performance that I didn’t expect. They blasted out a fast paced, high energy set that you couldn’t help to mosh or dance very energetically to. This led to a very concentrated, violent pit. That, if you were close to, you were in danger of getting hit. Although it was a short set, it was by far one of the most spirited performances I’ve seen performed. We Set Fire had another “mini set” before the headliners. After their first set, their second set had the same effect on the crowd, and gave a good if not better set than last.
Then it was Burn the Ruin started off with their unique sound of dual guitars, solid bass lines, blasting kick drums, and killer vocals. From the “mosh pit” everything was moving so fast, and the more energy they gave, the faster, and harder the “pit” went around. They gave a few words of advice to come closer to faith to the crowd and joked around, then played one last song.