You guys like hardcore? Well, I like hardcore! \hxc/ >:3!
</dumb posturing>
I saw Trash Talk and OFF! the other night. Travelled three hours by train - which is a lot in a fairly small country, mind - but worth it. Modern Cali hardcore bands, obviously, all recently formed (the difference between Trash Talk and 80s stuff is that Trash Talk has modern production values. It's still as clean and crisp and tight, with as much disregard for normal song structure and brutal creativity with it. OFF! are old hat, technically - their vocalist, a lovably sarcastic bastard, is ex-Black Flag, and their bassist used to play in Redd Kross... no, I have no idea how you move from Redd Kross to OFF! either).
Er yeah, the concert. It was fantastic. Really sparse pit, rather brutal, but goodness me what fun. Both bands were pretty top notch in terms of sound, in their setlists, in their delivery, and also general stage performance. Trash Talk's vocalist spent more time mingling in the crowd than he did on the stage (it was a small venue), and it was sort of electrifying when they all climbed on top of their amps or on barrels and tried to climb up the walls (totally nuts band). And OFF! was amusingly sarcastic and had a political bent to their music that surprised me when they explained it.
So yeah, 'twas good.
I want to see something more indie-ish next time but I don't have any money because I spent it all on the gig and a T-shirt (I
needed that T-shirt, kay?). Being poor sucks.
Just got back from my trip to Pittsburgh to see the Peppers and holy hell was it worth the 14 hours of driving. Every second was pure bliss. They played Blood Sugar Sex Magik and I completely melted into a puddle. After it was all over, I felt like I was floating all the way back to the hotel.....
I always have wanted to see the Peppers live. Just in 1985. Which is more problematic.
I actually like their later stuff quite a lot - more so than most fans of their early, weird stuff - just I couldn't see them now without wanting to have the best of both worlds and teleport to an obscure nightclub in 80s LA afterwards.