So, as the name suggests, this was to commemorate the second anniversary of this label's existence. As you may have guessed, there were a ton of bands from the label's catalogue on both days. BUT, label-head Scotty Sandwich (of The Sandwiches) is radical dude, who is known for being a pillar of the scene. Thus he was able to book some pretty big bands for it, like Less Than Jake (!), Brenden Kelly (of the Lawrence Arms), The Sainte Catherines, Off With Their Heads, The Riot Before, tons more.
It really turned out to be one of the best times I've ever had in my life. It was run extremely smoothly. No conflicts of bands, no bands not showing up, no running behind schedule. Also, everyone running it was extremely nice.
But more importantly, all of the bands ruled. Here's who I saw, a little bit about their set and a download link if they have their album up somewhere:
Friday:
Mikey Erg:
He sings (sang) and drum(med) in one of my favourite bands. Now he plays solo sets sometimes. He played all the "hits" and I was super stoked on it. Included probably my favourite song "Anthem For A New Amanda". When you see around twenty punk rock dudes piling onto each to sing along to one nerdy guy playing guitar, you know he's a sweet song-writer. What he does now.
The Riot Before:
They're a band that has been getting loads of accolades in the punk community recently. I've never really gotten into them, but they absolutely ripped at this show. I will definitely be checking them out soon.
The Dopamines:
I love their last album a ton. Three chords, lyrics about life. Awesome, catchy. They had Mikey Erg play drums for this set and Roger from Less Than Jake playing guitar. The set was very drunk and loads of fun. If you watch closely during this video you can see me have lots of fun singing along and stage-diving:
Off With Their Heads:
Rough pop-punk with very honest (if not depressing) lyrics. I really love them tons and didn't realize how long it had been since I'd seen them. Again, if you look closely you can see me having fun!:
Jason Kutchma:
He sings for a band called Red Collar. I had never listened to them before this festival, but he/them absolutely blew me away. It didn't even matter if he was playing guitar, he was so intense with his performance. They rule and you should support a band who sticks to their morals like they do.
Mixtapes:
I loved the shit out of everything they put out this year. Pop-punk/sort of indie. They rule and are very good at writing songs. They have sweet shit for free.
Less Than Jake:
My favourite band. They weren't hitting Canada on this tour, so I was happy that I would still be able to see them. They also happened to play all of my favourite album of theirs, Hello Rockview, all the way through. It really made me so, so happy.
Saturday.
Ascetic Parade:
They're a local band from Durham and were the first band I saw on this day. Everyone I was there with was there and we had an awesome time. Free album!
Hold Tight!:
They sound like Lifetime. I like that, because I love that band a lot. I was interested to check them out and wasn't disappointed. I listened to their full-length on the way home and found that I liked it a lot. Hey! That album is free!
Arliss Nancy:
They were another band who I hadn't listened to before the festival. They also turned out to be totally awesome! I was also pretty drunk. Lots of free stuff!
Direct Hit!:
I listened to this band a lot this year as well. Party-rowdy-pop-punk. They're records are lots of fun and I also enjoyed their set. You should really get these EPs because it's impossible not to get stoked listening to them.
The Anchor:
They were yet another band who I hadn't checked out prior to this. By this time I was three sheets to the wind, but they really did kill it. And I know that wasn't just the Four Loko talking.
Go Rydell:
These guys were one of the bands I was most excited to see a the show. I'd been following them for a little while, enjoyed their album and was excited to see how they would be live. Well, they ruled. They played a rad set of Kid Dynamite-ish hardcore and threw in an ace cover of "Boy's No Good" by Lifetime (Hey, look at my profile name for this blog!) for good measure. Then when they had more time left after, they played a great cover of "True Believers" by The Bouncing Souls. Probably my second favourite set!
Red Collar:
Like I said, I hadn't listened to them before. As I was expecting because of Jason's solo set, they killed it. They have a Fugazi-like DIY attitude, but play rad country-ish punk. Support them because earnest bands deserve it the most.
Brenden Kelly:
If you don't know, he sings and plays bass in The Lawrence Arms (also formerly Slapstick, The Broadways and The Flacon). He's a drunk and a fuck, but goddamn does he ever pull it off. Also helps that he writes pretty great songs. His solo set was exactly what I expected and I liked it.
The Sainte Catherines:
They've been a bit less active recently (they did just put out an album, but it had been awhile before that) but it didn't show at all here. They were tight as hell and really fun and everyone left at the show was the same way (heyooooo!)
Rad, check that shit out please.
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