Basement, Ovlov, & Fiddlehead at Hardcore Stadium

Basement, Ovlov, & Fiddlehead at Hardcore Stadium



Thats right Basement played Hardcore Stadium with a few friends. Booked very last minute by the guys from Triple B records/Stupid Idiot Production and sold out rather quickly, this show was like stepping into a time machine back to 2010, maybe even the 90's!

Fiddlehead
Genre: Emo/Indie/Punk FFO: Rites of Spring, The Hated, Jawbreaker

Fiddlehead opened the show last night with what I think was probably their best performance yet. Best known for be fronted by Patrick Flynn (FREE, Sweet Jesus, Wolf Whistle, ex-Have Heart) and even having Alex Henery from Basement on guitar, Fiddlehead play their own brand of 90's style sad music in the vein of the bands above. Personally, for a place where bands use their own equipment and no sound guy, Fiddlehead sounded very clear with their twinkly guitar parts and Flynn's sad almost seemingly crying voice. Throughout the set Flynn would speak to the crowd , one thing that caught my attention was the words " Who is at the elks lodge for the first time?" I would say based on the reaction it was 40% of the crowd. For the most part he spoke about the venue, saying things like"I  first came here when I was 17, which was, way way long ago" but most importantly he said " This is a place for the youth to express themselves". Patrick Flynn being a regular at the venue has experienced a lot whether it was in the spotlight or not. Overall the crowd reaction seemed to be impressed by the music and Mr. Flynn's inspirational words which will hopefully have a positive effect on the band in the near future. A great experience all together. Fiddlehead have a new LP coming soon and a 7" currently available on Lockin' Out records.

https://fiddleheadma.bandcamp.com/releases

Ovlov
Genre:Indie/emo FFO: Dinosaur Jr., American Football

Now I'll be honest this one is a tough one for me to review because I'm not familiar with the band and listened to a few songs the day before, but anyway Ovlov was next in line for the show. Personally I wasn't to impressed by the band's style but every now and then I'll hear a riff that sounded really cool. The influence was tough to pinpoint but it seemed there were plenty of songs influenced by Dinosaur Jr. but in some cases, dare I say, a little shoegazing. What amazed me however was at certain points Ovlov seemed to have problems with their equipment, primarily one of the guitars. First it stopped working and the vocalist decided to lengthen his part (basically just going oooo oooo ooo) for a few seconds until it became elaborate.Not sure if it was for comedic effect or not but props to him for his improv skills. It happened a few more times but the band proceeded without stopping and eventually the guitar was working once more mid-song and the guitarist actually finished through with the rest of the band. It probably wasn't the best show they played but Ovlov definitely earned my respect for the stunts they pulled.

https://ovlov.bandcamp.com/

Basement
Genre: Emo/Punk/ Alternative Rock FFO: Sunny Day Real Estate, Nirvana, Braid

Basement. The band everyone was waiting for. I remember one of my friends calling me while I was at work and telling me they were playing Hardcore Stadium and I almost fainted out of excitement, considering they sold out the Royale the past two or three times they played it. As soon as the members walked out, the crowd already ran as close as they could to the stage. As Patrick Flynn said during his bands set "They sell out arenas and tonight they are here!" so as you can guess it got rowdy. Of course everyone had the mindset that Basement will probably never play here again, they gave their all, crowd surfers everywhere, moshing for every song (even the really sad ones), and of course sing-a-longs. The crowd was singing so loud you could barely hear Vocalist Andrew Fisher's voice. There was even a point where Fisher took the case of water left for them and the other bands and gave it to the crowd to pass water bottles around and surely enough they made it pretty far down. as some can recall, Basement have played RAD skatepark in Mendon, MA in the past and I'm sure it was just as crazy but with less people. Something I think people neglect to remember (including myself at the time) is the fact that there is no sound guy, no sound check, no professional sound whatsoever, just a band using their own equipment th way they know how, and a band as experienced as Basement definitely kept it clear to the point where you can close your eyes and feel like your still seeing them at the Royale.  Overall I'd say it was a very one of a kind and memorable experience and I wish I could personally thank every member of the band for even considering playing a venue that small when they could have easily played somewhere bigger and sold it out just as fast.

https://basement.bandcamp.com/

A Few Things

First off I just want to give a huge thank you to my friends who shared my review of Davefest. All I really expected was just a few friends to check this blog out but in just one review over 200 people viewed it whether it be 200 individual people, a few different people showing others or just one person constantly refreshing the page 200 times it doesn't matter, I really appreciate everyone's feedback and will continue with this.

The next show I will be attending will be Basement at the Hardcore Stadium with Ovlov and Fiddlehead.


If you're going feel free to say hi, I would love to hear more feedback. I am already looking forward to both Basement and Fiddlehead, but have yet to hear Ovlov's sound so I will get familiar with it before the show to get a better idea. I do believe tickets are still available if they are you can find them here:

triplebrecords.limitedrun.com


In the future I will try to think of a scheduled time to update the blog with new reviews, unless its easier for everybody for me to just post it the day after, like I will do for Basement, I was also thinking of doing reviews for new releases every so often, definitely want to do it for local bands but not sure about bigger releases. I'm always open to new suggestions, let me know what else you would like to see. Thanks guys!

Davefest II

The first of many reviews!




To anyone who doesn't know, Davefest is an annual show to celebrate Mourned drummer Dave Coughlin's birthday, and needless to say, Dave knows how to party. With the help of his fellow bandmates, the second Davefest was booked with a mixed lineup at Boston's one and only Hardcore Stadium.

Field of Vision
Genre: Heavy Hardcore/Metalcore FFO: Hatebreed, All Out War

Opening the show was a new band out of Weymouth featuring Dave and Brendan Coughlin, as well as CJ Romeo filling in, from Mourned and everyones good friend Neil Murray on vocals. This was Field of Vision's first show luckily they had a decent crowd for the first band to play. To begin Neil said the words "Take care of each other" then proceeded into crushingly heavy riffs that only a few saw coming. With only a few songs written they also added a short cover of Tear it Down by Hatebreed. Overall the slow heavy riffs paired up very nicely with Neil's angry voice. Bonus points to them for being the only band on the bill with every member wearing Adidas. Field of Vision have a demo being recorded soon but still have t shirts available if you contact one of the members I'm sure they will be happy to help you out

Taman Shud
Genre ; Sludge Metal/Post Metal/Metalcore FFO: Poison the Well, The Ocean, Black Sheep Wall

Next on the bill was Taman Shud, a two piece from Walpole. Only judging by one EP the crowd had no idea what they were in for when this band came on. Appearance wise, Taman Shud turned a lot of heads considering every member wore  a ski mask during the performance except drummer/vocalist Zach Ganshirt who wore what looked like a potato sack covered in blood on his face as well as a Jonas Bros. t shirt that I know for fact he wears with pride. A very unique performance was given considering there was a different vocalist for most of the songs. The band opened with a Black Sheep Wall cover which was probably one of the heaviest songs played all night, then proceeded into a new song with Billy Nicholls of Mourned filling in Vocals. Next was a cover of the songs Concubine and Fault And Fracture by Converge with fill in guitarist Geo Hewitt on vocals. Converge being my favorite band, I was very excited for these covers but unfortunately it seemed like I was the only one. Playing a few more original songs as the set progressed, the PA was unfortunately having problems picking up the vocals, however this is no problem for Billy as for the last song he threw the mic down and growled as loud as he could. Even though the sound eventually shut off on the mic, Taman Shud are definitely a band one should experience live and the new songs are not to be slept on.
   
https://tamanshudma.bandcamp.com/releases

Vantage Point
Genre: Hardcore FFO: In My Eyes, Stop and Think

Vantage Point was up next. Being the only punk band on the lineup, a majority of the crowd was not used to their sound. Frontman Russell starts off by telling everyone "Please move closer I promise no one will mosh into you" an unusual thing for a hardcore band to say but nonetheless, he kept his promise. Vantage Point began with their brand of fast and aggressive hardcore and Russell's fast paced movements that Boston is known so well known for. The crowd liked what they were hearing. One of the last songs Russell explained was personal to him and it was about his father and his relationship. I talked to a few people after the set more used to the heavier side of hardcore to see what they thought, and most of them enjoyed the change of pace and definitely liked the fact that Russell wasn't afraid to put his emotions into the set. Vantage Point have a three song demo available now with new stuff to come and will also be playing with Violence to Fade, Red Vision, and Jinx on 8/2 at Dudley-Gendron post in Sutton MA.

https://vantage-point.bandcamp.com/releases

Mourned
Genre: Death Metal FFO: Behemoth, Dying Fetus, Napalm Death

The Stars of the show. I'm gonna dive right in to this one. Frontman Billy starts off by saying happy birthday to Dave then the music begins, the lights were off and all around us was absolute darkness and other metal cliches. If you've been to a mourned show you know what to expect. Destructively heavy riffs followed by evil black metal inspired parts with lots of blast beats. The crowd loved it and the pit got more and more rowdy as the set went on. At one point Mourned surprised everyone and covered Ov Fire and the Void by Behemoth, a very appropriate song to cover based on their sound, and also played their own song Ravenous Torment with a special guest spot for Taman Shud vocalist Zach Ganshirt. Throughout the set Billy would purposely say cliche things any commercial metal band would such as growling "Who is ready for the almighty Floods!?!" or "This next song is called...AAAAARRRRHGHGHG!!!" and it was hilarious. Mourned currently have and ep and a two song promo featuring songs on their new LP coming soon, and will be playing with Condor (Col.) at Ralphs Rock Diner in Worcester 7/1

 https://mournedma.bandcamp.com/

Floods
Genre:Heavy Hardcore/Metalcore FFO: All Out War, Kickback, Recycled Earth

The headliner was the return of Floods. Opening with their crushingly hard riffs the whole crowd reacted as you would, the pit was an all out brawl. You could tell the fans have been heavily anticipating the reunion as a good portion of the crowd was upfront trying to the mic and eagerly trying to get the guest spot for the song Devil's Rhythm. A great performance and crowd reaction was unfortunately cut short due to a huge misunderstanding between people moshing and Floods ended their set, and the show was over. Even with an abrupt ending Floods proves once again why they were and still are the kings of the south shore, and definitely made Davefest II a show to remember.

https://floodsma.bandcamp.com/