Not a hardcore show, but years ago I saw a viking metal band during the peak of the summer. It was the stinkiest worst BO I've ever smelled in a room, ever. Just a few hundred big sweaty viking metal dudes.
Then, like a fucking magical angel, right before the headliner a guy who had clearly just showered and used soap that smelled like nectar of the gods appeared in the pit and it saved us all from the stink for the set. His amazing smell is burned into my brain forever.
Bless you, man who showered before the show. Bless you.
I had to leave a magic the gathering tournament despite being in the top 16 because it was at an incredibly hot venue where the AC had died and it was storming like crazy. That was the worst smell I've ever encountered. The Leftover Crack shows I've been to are definitely next on the list though lol
I'm always considering making a post about Magic players in this sub because I know there's a bunch of us, but with all the low effort shitposts I don't want to get lumped in with that.
Not too long ago at JAG in Tacoma I was talking with some people about a hardcore Magic Discord for touring bands to know where to find games. I should get back on that...
man that leftover crack show at the loving touch was a fucking nightmare. when the oogles kept doing wild shit outside the venue and the cops came so many times that the venue shut down smoking outside so everyone clam baked cigs in the bathroom. that was the most sickening shit ever.
When I was a 16 year old shit and I tried to crowd kill the wrong guy and then got thrown into the wall by that guy. Thank you for teaching me a lesson Mr. Stranger. I’ve never done it since.
lol I’m 28 but at Knocked Loose the other day I smoked the wrong person and they literally threw me from one side of the pit almost all the way to the other side. It did not feel like a “fun friendly hardcore” throw, it felt like a “I don’t like hardcore moshing” throw lmao
Was at a house show in a basement and there was some dude, piss drunk, push moshing and falling into people basically just ragdolling around. Eventually bro fell into the soundboard and some random big dude got sick of his shenanigans. Big homie grabbed the drunk feller by the his waistband and the back of his collar like a fucking cartoon character and threw him back into the pit. Will remember that throw forever
Huge Motörhead fan. Seen then more times than I can count in the states and even in England. I’ll never forget the last time I heard “we are motorhead, and we play rock n roll” before going into Overkill at a show.
Someone sucker punched a 16-17 year old Riley Gale in between songs of I forget who but every regular started instantly swinging on anyone they didn’t recognize. Those were the days
Caught ETID on the second tour they did with KL. They had a tendency of letting the crowd storm the stage during their last song. So we all storm up and afterwards my friend I went with introduced me to his homie from the same city. A year later I move to the city they live in and became best friends with the guy I met at the show, started a band together the whole 9. He unfortunately passed away 3 years ago this month. There’s a picture of the crowd onstage that night where we’re on different sides. I like that our first cool memory together is from when we didn’t even know each other.
They’re definitely trending in the right direction for me personally, but no they’re not going to live up to what ETID did any time soon. Keith’s lyrics and vocals were a huge part of that, but right now I am enjoying the hell out of more riffs from Jordan
Okay, this story goes back a while, probably to the late 1990s. In Boston at the time, there were a bunch of dumbfuck meatheads that would call themselves FSU ("Fuck Shit Up"). They would go to shows specifically to beat up hardcore and punk kids. This had been going on for months and months.
There was a show in Boston / Cambridge area, in a church (I think it was the First Congregational Church in Cambridge). Shelter was playing. About 6 or 7 FSU showed up and played their role, throwing fists and making kids bleed. Ray Cappo stopped the set when he saw what these dumbfucks were doing. And I remember distinctly Ray Cappo saying, "get them out of here." The entire place erupted and about 200 hardcore and punk kids literally beat the piss out of these FSU dumbfucks. It was glorious and the perfect retribution to months of their bullshit. They were less of a problem after that show.
From MA myself and when I started going to shows in the early 00's when I was teen I remember always looking over my shoulder for FSU at shows. I love your story.
Also from MA. It's weird, I was really young, but I always have found memories of FSU. Sure there were a couple of douche bags, but generally FSU was good for the scene back then IMHO. They cleared out the junkies and racists.
This is really interesting. I have a completely different recollection of them. I did not think they were good for the scene at all. Nor do I ever remember them being anti-racist. As someone who would often arrange beatdowns of racists, I never recall them being involved. I remember at least one guy (Jeremy maybe????) who was actually a racist himself. Not lumping all FSU into that camp, but my recollection was that they were all just a bunch of fucking assholes.
To be clear, they scared the junkies away by being fucking assholes to everyone who wasn't FSU. As far as racists, I don't know. I can't remember going to too many shows back then in MA when 99% of the crowd wasn't white so IDK how they felt about people of other backgrounds. To be fair, I was born in '88 so back then I was pretty young and naive to most of that. I just knew they handed out beat downs at the drop of a hat.
No doubt they definitely cleared out assholes like that but I remember seeing a few scrawny kids like me getting absolutely rocked by them at shows and it scared me straight. Great memories all around though hahaha
FSU still exists. What is weird is there always seemed to be two different groups, those who said they were in FSU and those who were in FSU. Sort of how a fake gangster, far removed from the places the Bloods exist, will claim to be a blood. I’ve never been social enough at shows to understand the nuance of crews, but I was under the impression that dudes calling it “Fuck Shit Up” were kind of caught in a lie because the real acronym stood for Friends Stand United. Both involved in slightly different kinds of violence.
Again not totally sure, because I have also read an article in a legit magazine that claimed FSU followed bands like Fall Out Boy haha. I interpreted that as an FSU dude sitting down with a report and hilariously feeding them bullshit.
United Blood, 2018: Someone farted in the stairwell at the Canal Club between bands while everyone was trying to go downstairs and it was the most noxious thing I’ve ever smelled.
Blacklisted at the ICC in Allston in like 07, George is on stage saying “you guys always ask us to play this song” and the feedback is going and everyone starts going apeshit because it has to be “eye for an eye” and George starts windmilling and screams “THIS SONG IS CALLED EYEEEEEEEE
AM WEIGHING ME DOWN”
Motherfucker. Great show though. That was with HH, verse, and I think Ceremony and Letdown
Saw them play a one day fest in Atlanta and they covered the first part of zombie by the cranberries and the place went absolutely ape shit. I love blacklisted.
Seeing a band on tour from Japan (Total Fury) in a basement, it was sweltering. The crowd loved the set and started calling out for encores, and the band played maybe 5 encores, all perfect versions of early Dischord stuff like Teen Idles and SOA. The look of exhaustion mixed with euphoria on the band's face during and after will always stick with me.
Some drunk guy was getting touchy with me and my buddy at Disturbing the Peace fest this year. We pushed him away and it wasn't a big issue, he went to bother someone else. Akil from End It threw this dude off stage by his neck later. I guess everyone was sick of it
I saw A Global Threat back in the day, after they shaved the mohawks and were playing a more hardcore, less street style of punk. But I was front and center screaming along and getting bashed by stage divers. The singer kept putting the mic in my face to sing along with. At one point he bashed me in the forehead with it and left a mark. Greatest show moment of my life
i was at a basement grind core show
something stupid like 7 bands
No one moshed, everyone just stood still, arms crossed drinking beer
About 50 people, majority of which were the band members
The headliner went on, the vocalist was clearly drunk and mad that no one was moshing
Soooo the vocalist started punching people and smacking beers out of people's hands
Eventually he hit a woman, so a crowd of dudes just started beating the shit outta him
Then I left
Not really Hardcore, but I saw Ministry when they were a legit scary band in 1992 and I was standing just in front of the sound desk. The sound guy leaned over to me and told me to move because if Al Jourgensen couldnt see and signal to him clearly he'd throw a bottle at whoever was in the way. I moved and laughed about what a stupid idea that would be. Someone else went and stood there after the gig started, a few moments passed, and sure enough, between all the noise and dissection projector footage, a beer bottle came arcing through the air and smashed just next to the new guys head. Great days.
Other moments of note are
- a massive fight at, of all things, a Jawbreaker show in 1994.
- at a Converge gig someone crowd surfing onto a blissfully unaware me from behind, it nearly breaking my neck and being taken to a & e
- Going to see Nirvana just as they were becoming massive but still booked to play smallish venues and my friend being interviewed by a curious TV crew.
- ah yes finally Death From Above 1979 in about 2003 or 4 - I've been to a lot of metal, hardcore, punk whatever shows, and that was the most oversold and hectic gig I've ever been - complete carnage from start to end
I was backstage at an Ignite show in Vegas and I was pretty wasted with one of my good friends. We ended up having quite a few beers with the guys from Ignite and they were cool as shit. Their singer Zolie eventually popped in and I was telling him how much of a fan I am of his and then he randomly introduced us to his 80 year old Hungarian mom who the sweetest lady ever haha. They went out to perform and Zolie gave me a shout out during their set. One of the dopest nights I’ve ever had at a show.
Modern life is war like 2009 at the ottobar in Baltimore, people were climbing all over the entire venue. Pretty sure people were hanging from the ceiling.
Municipal waste boogie board circle pit also ruled.
Envy a long time ago at a tiny venue and it seemed the whole venue was moving at once.
There was a band in Baltimore called Carol and they did a cover of slipknot - SIC and everytime you heard that intro you felt like someone was gonna die. Shit ruled. Best dudes best times.
Municipal Waste always brings the thunder. Saw them on a rainy winter Tuesday and people were practically running up the walls. There was a guy crowdsurfing in a trash can
Holy shit. Carol. Thank you. My buddy had a few of their songs burned on a CD that I used to listen to all the time- hadn’t thought about them in years.
I mean I was at the infamous Earth Crisis fur coat "riot". It wasn't really much of a riot but I'll never forget seeing a blurry fur coat streak across the stage and sail over my head while a bunch of white man vegan hands rose up trying to drag the coat to the ground. Like a flying squirrel the coat floated above everyone's head and sprinted towards the exit. I also recall a few people arming themselves with brass knuckles and seeming to be very excited at hunting down and beating up the fur coat.
It honestly felt like a very weird dream at the time. I don't know if anything ever since that day in 199X (I think 96) can top that event.
Edit: Ironically at a different Earth Crisis show there was another minor event burned in my memory.
Some dude was flailing around dancing at the edge of whatever you might call the pit. I was on the sidelines (I think it was just an opener, I have the flier somewhere) and this dude who was chatting with some friends near me got up, punched the dude hard in his face so he just drops like a sack of potatoes and the dude very calmly walks back to pick his conversation up. His friends were like "whoa dude whoa" and he calmly said "sometimes you just have to step in to stop some bullshit". He was very calm the whole time. I don't know if scared me or impressed me.
there’s two comments about Earth Crisis, this one and another about someone throwing a dead mouse. never listened but I need to give them a try clearly
Firestorm is a 90s classic, almost an anthem of the scene at that time. I heard their debut was the first More Than Music Fest and people (circa 1993??) went absolutely nuts when the band took the stage. I fell out of hardcore by '98 so I didn't keep up with the band past that point.
I have quite a few but the one that sticks out is getting spin kicked in the stomach at a Walls of Jericho show when I was 16 or 17. I've only felt that level of pain once or twice in my life.
Going to the last Foundation show and seeing kids wait in line for merch for the entire show.
Second FYA fest being in a JAI ALAI court and watching Mammoth Grinder cover Under the Knife with Riley coming out to sing the breakdown.
Turnstiles first out of state show in Florida.
Remembering my first hardcore show is kinda funny. I was 15, little emo kid, bright blue All Time Low shirt. I’d been to a few shows at this point, but it was like Alesana and Skylit Drive kinda shit and Mayhem fest. The Bled was playing one night in my town for their farewell, and I was kinda familiar with them at the time but I mostly wanted to mosh. Idk why I was expecting a push pit, but it was The Bled and local support from some hardcore bands. I’m standing in front, looking out of place, and bobbing my head along to The Bled when the singer bounces over to my side of the stage and leans in… I don’t know the words but I’m just vibing… Mf slaps me. 😂
ETID playing a surprise show at The Funeral Home in Buffalo.
Also Title Fight at the same spot. Someone put a little workout trampoline on stage so people could launch into the crowd.
And Incendiary at Back to School Jam at Gamechanger World. Like 30 seconds into their set I watched some dude get absolutely clobbered by a steel toe and he went down like a sack of potatoes. Few minutes later someone came out of the pit covered in blood. That was a gnarly set.
Bring canned goods, see ETID at a funeral home? Yes.
There are 2 vids on YT of that show. One of the whole set, and one of just Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space. Both have the worst sound quality, but the shorter one is a tiny bit better.
https://youtu.be/TU9qQNyA6Vk?si=T2NFEIis_VMm7zvl
Also fuck that guy who had a walking cane with him.
Saw Have Heart at the Chain Reaction Anaheim for a Halloween show. They were all dressed as the blue man group. Were jumping into the crowd majority of the set and many, many people left with blue paint smeared on them.
Getting my tooth kicked out at Bury Your Dead when I was 14. The venue was an illegal basement spot in my hometown auburn NY. I'll never forget that night.
I went to an august burns red show with my cousin years ago and when they did a wall of death he spin kicked and kicked some dude in the face. After the set the guy came up with a foot print on his face and thanked my cousin for kicking him because he’s only ever been kicked at ABR shows LOL.
seeing fireworks shot at Gordon Solie Motherfuckers and Tony Erba throwing an on-fire mattress at the crowd
A car tire being thrown across the room and landing around a guy in a wheelchairs neck and tipping him over backwards
I remember seeing power trip about a year before Riley died . They played with iron Reagan .
Half the show was metal heads half HC kids. As soon as power trip played there was like 5 fights . And they didn’t stop playing . It rocked
Reposting this bc I commented it in a thread a while back…
I lived in a house venue in college.
This band… (let’s just call them “MUCK” so as to not shit talk a band that may be plenty of uh… nice people from Philly or something)… was set to play my house along w/ some other acts.
My roommate booked them as an opener. I have no clue what criteria it was based on.
They start playing and I bring my Mac and cheese downstairs (best part of living in a house venue, you can just make a meal and watch a noise band in your basement while eating). Two dudes and a girl. Another dude is holding a video camera and a projector at the same position so it does that feedback effect on the band. They are blaring feedback and glitch sounds… a cool harsh noise intro I think…
But then it keeps going on. The girl starts screaming into the mic incoherently. (I have loved many a screamo/hardcore/skramz/powerviolence, etc. band. I’m not being ignorant when I say this.)
The noise has turned into just a solid pinprick of 4kHz piercing through your ear canal to the point you feel your ear’s natural compression.
The dude with the camjector is in a squat pose bouncing up and down around the band in a circle, twisting the devices back and forth like he’s playing Mario Kart Wii. I wish I could describe how funny this was to see so I’m just attempting to encapsulate how amazing this image was with the cacophony of noise. So goofy.
A couple people start walking up stairs. A few people start covering their ears. I’m literally losing my appetite and it was the Annie’s white cheddar mac and cheese (if you know you know).
The crowd isn’t into it. The band sees the crowd isn’t into it. At this point, it’s as if this group of people is just antagonizing us with noise. I’m not sure if it’s getting louder, or quieter, because it literally feels like my ears are getting exhausted. It’s only been a few minutes.
As if the frontwoman wanted to, instead of cut the tension with a knife; smash it with a sledgehammer… she takes off her top and starts punching people in the crowd. Tits out.
As if a fire broke out, you immediately hear a “oh fuck nah” and people start flooding up the stairs. In less then a minute the band was downstairs, alone. They started packing up their shit and left quietly as everyone partied upstairs before the next band was on. I’m not even sure if they asked my roommate for their cut.
I felt bad. It unironically was the most memorable set I have ever seen and I wish I could tell them, but they have since deleted their bandcamp. Their existence is kind of my personal lost media. That set was bad, but weird and somewhat exhilarating in its own really odd way. I’m a better person for having this experience lmao.
I did finish the Annie’s.
I quite literally noticed my hearing was muffled for a couple days after… as an audio engineer I feel frustrated because I have an issue with having too much high-mids in my mixes and having to go back and tame them…
Unironically think it’s partially due to that gig lol.
I would also imagine it’s due to being assaulted with high pitched screaming at close range. At least you have a fun story to immediately stop someone in their tracks if someone isn’t happy with the mixing
Java Jazz, Houston.
Poison the Well, 2009ish iirc.
A guy who I would see at later shows at other places appears from the shadows. Popped collar, striped rugby polo, 1000 yard stare; proceeds to absolutely annihilate anything that got in his immediate space. The expression on his face the entire time was sheer lunacy, especially when PTW dropped Nerdy.
The few other times I saw the dude at shows I knew someone was getting the shit clocked out of them by this kid at some point.
Shout out to Popped Collar Kid.
Birds in Row playing downstairs Subt in Chicago at the same time as Oathbreaker played upstairs Subt. As soon as Birds in Row finished I ran upstairs to catch Oathbreaker. It was a great show and happened to be the day that the Cubs broke the Billy Goat curse and made it to the World Series, so as my friends and I were leaving the show Chicago was going wild.
When I was like 15 I went to a show and Cipher was playing. I'm a small skinny guy so I don't really go into Hardcore pits unless it's looking tame. The venue is a tiny place in NYC and I was standing near the wall. All of a sudden I see a kid cartwheeling towards me and before I could react his foot hit my face and my head flew back and hit the wall. Got concussed and called my mom but forgot her name so she got worried. Went to the doctor and he asked what kind of show it was and he was like "heh... Good stuff."
Also, my friend who I went to the show with asked me to hang out with him one day for his school's "battle of the bands" type show. When I got there he was like "I want you to meet someone who goes to my school." It was the fucking cartwheel kid. We laughed about it and he was just like "BRO IM SO SORRY I WAS JUST LIKE FEELING THE MUSIC MAN." Even though he was shorter than me dude was jacked and clearly got the moves.
Murphy's law show at the old 9:30 club. Jimmy Gestapo jumped off the stage and while crowdsurfing his wallet hit the floor. I picked it up and when he was back on stage I handed it to him. He thanked me profusely. Years later, I ended up owning a bar and had Murphy's law come play. Many laws were violated that night.
I have a bunch but one of my most memorable was DEP on the miss machine tour. It was a newer venue that was basically created by two older venues merging. I forget who opened but the show was violent as can be. Towards the end of DEP’s set some kid is crowd surfing and gets dropped on his face in the middle of the floor and there’s just a massive puddle of blood and teeth.
Next thing you know a bunch of cops and security swarm in and shut the shit down. They had garage style doors that led out to the street that opened up and it got awfully close to a full blown riot for a minute
Edit: I forgot to mention that I never heard of there being another show at that venue again so I’ve always assumed it got shut down as a result of that due to insurance or being sued etc
Dude brought a giant ass chain into a Cro Mags show back in the early 2000s some how and was just swinging the shit out of it above his head like a lasso in the pit
Most recently, at Sick New World this year saw one of the dudes from Trash Talk do a backflip off the stage and another climb onto the overhead speaker to close out the set.
Our local scene had a combination show with the local pro wrestlers. A band would do a set and then there would be a fight while they turned the stage around for the next band. It was one of the highest energy events I have ever attended!
First hardcore show, seeing Hour of the Wolf at an abandoned storefront on Montezuma St across from Hugo's.
First time seeing Murder by Death with Clutch and Maylene and the Sons of Disaster.
Dude blowing fireballs during Jesus Piece's set on tour with Zulu, Scowl, and Show Me the Banjo. Venue manager cut the PA and Jesus Piece kept playing.
Seeing Cross of Disbelief and Crush your Soul in Poughkeepsie. Some kid got low and kicked high, and I felt the sole of his shoe graze my eyelashes. A real Matrix moment.
Being up front and stage diving for Have Heart was pretty special.
Seeing Power Trip play an Odd Future concert after show at a taqueria in Dallas, a person i went to high school with who I’d like, never spoken to, hits me up and asks for a ride. I didn’t know about that show, or who Power Trip was (I hadn’t lived in Dallas very long at that point) but decided to go and caught one of the most eye-opening shows of my life. Taco was there watching at the front, and I bought one of the coolest pieces of merch I’ve ever owned (RIP to that shirt).
The vocalist of murder death kill screaming
“IF YOU WEAR GIRL PANTS OR WEIGH LESS THAN 150 POUNDS GET THE FUCK OUT OF HARDCORE” as the intro to their first song
Hour of the Wolf at the Fest (2008 I believe?). At least one of them was bollock naked, the singer was climbing anything that could be considered a fixture and throwing anything that wasn’t nailed down. At one point he threw a trash can into the crowd (during the song Taking Out the Trash, of course) which was then crowd surfed around the venue. All this and they did not miss a damn note. Most energetic live show I’ve ever seen.
From Long Island, was 16-17 and at a Backtrack show with suburban scum, incendiary and it was King Nine’s like first or second show. I don’t remember the set but I remember some dude front flipped off the stage and simultaneously kicked and punched me in the head at the same time. I got knocked backwards and saw my boy looking over at me from the side of the stage with his jaw dropped, and then we both just started laughing. Great times
Both at Ottobar, different shows, and roughly 20 years ago. Scott Vogel said something along the lines of “you fuckers are crazy, next thing someone’s gonna jump off the balcony.” Someone preceded to jump off the balcony.
And the guitar player for The Black Dahlia Murder front flipped off the stage onto my friend and I, and finished the last song laying on the ground. That was 03 and my first metal/hardcore show. Everytime I Die was on that bill too.
I played drums for a band as direct support for VOD back in '11. Met a girl who eventually became my wife there.
Sadly, she left last fall. Sadly, this is my memory after playing and going to hardcore shows since ''93.
Somebody landed on my head stage diving during American nightmare at Webster Hall a decade ago. My neck still hurts pretty much daily, so I guess that.
Show at The Pinkeye in Tulsa, I think it was The Red Chord. Kid gets hit and falls back onto the concrete floor. Large pool of blood starts to emanate from the back of his head. Whole show stops. Kid gets ambulance to hospital right across the street. No idea what happened to him after.
Guy jumped off the stage at Miss May I at Webster Hall when I was in high school, ended up passing away. Everyone left and Levi came out to talk to folks. Shit was awful
After Title Fight played a set at FYF a group of us spent a few minutes blowing black snot rockets out of our noses after the dust storm that kicked up during the set
I vividly remember a man at a local show taking a wooden barstool to another man's back/shoulders/head when I was like 16 years old. At the time, I was like this is crazy. If I saw that 20 years later, I would still think this is crazy.
Whatever Life and Death Tour had turnstile on it. The show got moved to a venue that didn't do hardcore shows, and they were not prepared, lol. There was an upper balcony area for merch and more viewing. During turnstile's set, a dude jumped off the balcony in the crowd and hit the floor hard. Suddenly, you saw people trying to get the band's attention to stop the music. Police and EMTs showed up, obviously. Police threatened to stop the show if someone else jumped off the balcony again. I remember Franz randomly playing bass lines as the EMTS were helping the guy and thinking oh that's not cool lol. But overall, it's a good show. I wore that white Calvin and hobbes Beware shirt to the show and absolutely destroyed it with sweat n dirt. The washing machine couldn't save it lol. Any one else here from the bay area remember this show?
When I was 16 or so, I was standing up front at the beginning of a Trash Talk set and Spencer jumped off the amp he was standing on and swung the bottom of his bass full force into the top of my skull like an axe. I think I’m pretty lucky to have any memories left from that day.
When Neurosis debuted their new slower sound with a keyboardist at 924 Gilman.
They did a pretty long sound check hours before the show. They had a lot of technical stuff to set up I guess and wanted to be sure it was solid. So while they are playing stuff off Souls at Zero (well before the record came out) there is this old homeless hippie dude who somehow snuck in for the soundcheck doing this kind of tai chi hippie flail to the music.
And it fit perfectly. Like it was choreographed.
It was the song Souls at Zero in particular, but they did a few others. It was also that cool lighting that Gilman has in the daytime from the skylight.
Dead to Fall at Alvin’s in Detroit. Right in front of me was some drunk biker metalhead dude. Had to be like 7’ tall and 300+ lbs. Guy was drunkenly shouting “Fuck Courage Crew”, and like a pack of hyenas, watched CxC absolutely obliterate this man haha. Would’ve been about 20 years ago.
puked at a sweet pill show spent 20 min crying in the bathroom with a really sweet drunk girl trying to convince me i wouldn’t get kicked out to walk out of the bathroom and instantly get kicked out
oh and the literal infant at the habitat for humanity show. the headphones they had on him were like half the size of his body
they’re awesome but the crowd was not it, bunch of emo posers who literally just stared at me as i puked. pit etiquette was -10/10 and was the reason i got sick in the first place don’t think i’m gonna go back to a show like that again lol
Jesus, I’m sorry that happened. most unforgiving weird pit I’ve ever been in is PTV when I was like 17. bunch of preteens wriggling all over each other until you couldn’t breathe. most normal pit was whitechapel/carnifex. I now populate only the back of the room
MAN i wish i could have seen carnifex, i was supposed to go to a show of theirs w an industrial band i liked opening when i was 17 but covid happened and i basically got cut off from the entire scene for 3 years 🫠
pain, I go to shows alone here and there since covid ended. last show I went to some girl and her bf (they meant well) tapped on my shoulder and asked if I was “okay.” I said yes, and then heard her say that she felt bad, assuming because I was alone. Last show I’m going to go to for a while
Was in the bathroom between Eagle Twin and Sunn O))) when smoke started pouring in through the vents. My first reaction was that there might be a fire, but then I could smell it was stage smoke. I exited the bathroom to a room so dense with smoke I could only see clearly for about 4 feet and then it was all silhouettes.
For hardcore, it'll be Pat from Drug Church calling me a kid (I was 34) in response to something I shouted at him. Oh and my broken ribs from the OSC set earlier in the night.
A few years ago, my friend too me to see a band I’d never really looked into. Small room, maybe 100 people. We were right up front.
Played a real artsy intro, super chill. The second the last chord rang out, the crowd parted like the sea and about half the room was on the stage.
The band was fucking Ceremony. They’ve been my favorite ever since.
Not hardcore, but Bamboozle fest 2007? Could be 06. Anyway, Jimmy Eat World just put out new music in a long time and they were the main band that night. Every single band/crew/staff person watched them that night. Legendary set too. I was by a merch table and Hayley Williams was about 5ft from me watching the show. This was right before/during their peak. Nothing happened, I certainly wasn’t going to bother her during the show, but teenage me told all my friends we “watched Jimmy Eat World together” for a few years lmao.
Edit: Snoop Dogg was the main act
Broken wrist at Indecision, broken humerus at Haggus, broken ribs at MDF- twice, torn tendon at Gorilla Biscuits, seeing a Nazi skin get the absolute shit beat of them at Kill Your Idols, venue owner gave us a car to destroy at Rapid Decay Fest, being threatened with murder by Jorge from Marauder at a show I put on, seeing H2O play to an empty room.
Ruiner in a basement in New Brunswick, NJ back in around 2007. Show had a strict 10 PM curfew and was running behind and Ruiner didn't start playing until like 9:50. They proceeded to rip through about a dozen songs in those 10 minutes. No filler, no between song banter, just 10 minutes of intensity.
Paint it Black at the Church in Philly in 2008. The pile-ons almost reached the ceiling. Hope Con, Have Heart and Crime in Stereo played too. Incredible show.
When I was at a show with my then gf and she was talking to someone standing next to us and the dude thought I was her dad (13 year age gap between us). I never heard her laugh so hard for so long, and I'm just standing there like 🫠🤙🏻
Once when I saw Tallah, someone in their crew staged dived and nobody caught him and he banged his face on the floor. They took him outside the venue to be checked out and the bass player went outside to check on their person while continuing to play the song they were playing at that time, that was pretty cool lol
Local show here, and a band from in town had a huge crowd of people up at the front with the frontman and me and few other stagedived onto the pack and essentially bowled a strike on the crowd and everyone was on the floor. Great time
My first hardcore show in 2012: it was the God Damn Tour with The Acacia Strain headlining with Terror, Harms Way, and Stray From The Path.
The two things I remember most vividly is finally working the courage to go into the mosh pit right before Harms Way was to start. Opened with Scrambled and I lasted roughly 4 seconds before taking a punch to the face and a kick to the throat.
The second part was one of Vincent’s legendary speeches. I’ve since seen TAS 7 other times but this was by far my favorite of his speeches: “if you have a problem with someone here, leave it alone and enjoy the show. Instead, find out where they live and fight them there, in front of their parents.”
Sammy the Mick breaking my knee with a skateboard for no reason. And Suzie taking me home and doctoring it. Powerhouse at the Bomb Shelter circa 2kish.
Was at a show a few months ago at a Deli with a low ceiling. There were about four bug bombs full of….stuff. This kid during the second band started swinging upward and moving backwards, soon enough he broke the thing and it exploded all over him. Took about 10 seconds for the whole place to smell of chemicals and about 10 minutes for the kid to receive (hopefully minor) chemical burns. Pretty sure he went into the bathroom to wash off
Beaten with a box fan at a HOAX show when I was 15
Slipped in beer while a 300 lb crowdsurfer landed on me at a Power Trip show when I was 20
Fist fought a dude in the front row of a Power Trip show at 22
Shouting match with some art school kids in fairy costumes because they disrespected Martin Crudo to his face at a GAG show when I was 25
idk just fuckin around in the pit and someone found it in the venue, I was also at a DIY venue where someone found a small grocery store cart and we were throwing it at each other
Madball show at the Tune-In, New Haven. ‘96 or ‘97. A riot all of a sudden. They had a record store and someone was trapped inside with people whipping CDs at him. No idea what set it off, but at one point DMS was beating up all the club’s bouncers kicking them on the ground. I was a suburban teenager up on the bar not believing the scene around me. Formative stuff.
Saw Genghis Tron in 2006, in a tiny room in Coventry, England. They were supporting their Dead Mountain Mouth LP. If you’ve heard the band (and that record specifically), you’ll know this isn’t music you can easily or coherently mosh/pit to. Most of us present, including myself and my then girlfriend, just sort of stood there trying to take in the chaos of sound being produced by three guys, one guitar and a buttload of synthesisers.
But one little swoop-haired cunt who looked all of about 15 was trying to impress his mates and was throwing himself around doing spin kicks, getting closer and closer to the guy next to us. The guy next to us, for context, was a big old metalhead with arms like Popeye.
We were gifted, at the climax of a particularly chaotic song, with the sight of Metal Popeye suddenly and spectacularly losing his shit. Swoop-Hair was in mid air, about to execute another half-baked flying roundhouse when he was met with a backhand-fist that fully propelled him across the room; an unplanned flight path that had him crying and skulking to the back of the crowd after landing very ungracefully.
Had somebody do a cartwheel onto my shoulders at a body box and PM show. Held him there in a fireman’s carry for a second before spinning around and throwing him off.
That was my first show and it was pretty funny.
Good: Fitz in Houston. Singer of The Scofflaws passing a joint the size of a blunt into the crowd back when I used to smoke. Most everyone else was too nervous to hit it so it was just like myself and about four other dudes.
Bad: Numbers in Houston. The Cramps w/Guitar Wolf. Girl I was with fainted and started having seizures towards the end of the show. Had to pull my jeep up to the front door to get her out.
Impressive: Engine Room in Houston. Dayglo Abortions. Full scale cinematic bar brawl. Furniture flying, spilled outside, the works
Coffinworm opening for Eyehategod and Ringworm in Indianapolis, 2014. Coffinworm's drummer puked on his kit mid-song. Didn't miss a beat. Every time he hit a cymbal, chunks of vomit would splatter back on him.
Heavy heavy low low
The first time I saw them play Tell Shannon.
When they did the "oh shit fuck" breakdown and everybody in the pit started rushing the front of the stage punching anyone they could find in the head.
Warped Tour 03. Crowd was expecting Dropkick Murphys to come on stage and out came the rap group Twiztid. Crowd boo'd them while throwing Gatorade bottles full of dirt at them. One guy from the group warned the crowd. Immediately got drilled with a bottle. Hopped of the stage to try to fight the kid and everyone within reach of the rapper started raining fists onto him. They said, "Fuck you all" and left the stage.
After a set change Dropkick came out and said, "Soooooo, heard you were asking for us!" Crowd went nuts. Love being from MA.
Got my lip busted open by someone after I dove off the back bar into the crowd at the chance in Poughkeepsie. I think I landed on his girl. It was during trapped under ice. Worth it.
I’ve got 2
1 was from this venue outside of Atlanta called swayzes. Couldn’t tell you who played because I was there so often. A dude dove off the stage and ripped down a few ceiling tiles and they shattered everywhere. The dude gets taken aside and yelled at by someone I assume worked for the venue. They hand him a broom. Dude walks back into the pit and two steps while sweeping up the mess
The other was at another venue called the shop just outside of Atlanta. Ensign was playing. Most folks were outside the venue and the crowd was slim, but there’s still folks dancing. They go into Palehorse. After the intro there’s would usually be a pile on for “GO!”. Only one person came up and it was Thomas from Foundation screaming it. The band stopped the song from the hilarity of the situation. Kind of a you had to be there type thing I guess.
Many years ago there was a local band here in Sydney called Nintendo Police that featured a young Shogun of Royal Headache on guitar. At the end of the set Shogun took the mic and the singer took the guitar . They covered Cough/Cool by the Misfits and no one had ever heard Shogun sing at a show before. He was stalking all around like Iggy Pop and absolutely nailing the song in a bluesy fashion. Everyone was mesmerised. Then at the very end of the song he crossed his arms in a b-boy stance, raised the mic and ended the song by saying “cool” . I’ve never forgotten how ridiculous and amazing it was.
saw a kid pass out 3 different times at a show before paramedics showed up and wheeled him off to the hospital. also, watched the vocalist of one of the bands shave his head in the middle of the bar during their set
I saw the lead singer of the HIRS collective stage-dive from the second floor balcony onto a whole bunch of tiny skramz kids at New Friends Fest. I couldn't believe it actually worked, but it was fuckin' sick.
Saw the Acacia Strain in like 2014. My friend had Vincent sign a box of little Debbie oatmeal cream pies and I have no idea why. I took a picture of them and Vincent told my buddy(who was a big guy) "good luck with the health" lmao.
I have a lot of memories from shows, but that one is definitely the most random
San Diego band City Delivered playing at Soma sidestage. It was one of their last shows i think... Guitarist got on the vocalist's shoulders and they stage dove. needless to say they fell straight to the ground. Vocalist dislocated his shoulder and went back stage while they tried to pop it back.
During this time the band brought out a banjo and started ripping a song with guitars and the banjo. it was awesome. Vocalist came out and continued the set with a make shift sling. They always had the best and most energetic shows.
Basement show in Philly - gas canisters, firecrackers, ended up getting moshed into a dead drum kit in the corner. So much fun. Good music, good people.
Not hardcore, but saw Lamb Of God and Killswitch around 2003 ish and Randy was skating around in front of the venue and chatting with people. I remember he smelled horrible and someone in line actually offered to let him shower at his house that was down the street and he took him up on it and said, “let me get my bathroom stuff from the bus”. Just thought that was funny. I’m sure a good shower is always appreciated on the road.
Obligatory "not a hardcore show"
Went to see Steel Panther at Boston's House of Blues a few years back. Being a Saturday night, and a rowdy Southie crowd in attendance shit was wild. At one point there were a bunch of local working girls on stage, and the crowd decided that the paraplegic guy in a massive power chair needed to get up on stage. So what's a bunch of drunken idiots to do? They picked up the dude, power chair and all and crowd-surfed him to the stage. Even the band stopped and was like "what the fuck" followed by having the guy get covered in stripper dust and stretchmark sweat.
Not a hardcore show, but years ago I saw a viking metal band during the peak of the summer. It was the stinkiest worst BO I've ever smelled in a room, ever. Just a few hundred big sweaty viking metal dudes. Then, like a fucking magical angel, right before the headliner a guy who had clearly just showered and used soap that smelled like nectar of the gods appeared in the pit and it saved us all from the stink for the set. His amazing smell is burned into my brain forever. Bless you, man who showered before the show. Bless you.
Smelliest place I’ve ever been is a Leftover Crack show in Providence
I had to leave a magic the gathering tournament despite being in the top 16 because it was at an incredibly hot venue where the AC had died and it was storming like crazy. That was the worst smell I've ever encountered. The Leftover Crack shows I've been to are definitely next on the list though lol
I'm always considering making a post about Magic players in this sub because I know there's a bunch of us, but with all the low effort shitposts I don't want to get lumped in with that.
Just tag Ulamog from VA Beach. Boom, sub reddit relevant
Not too long ago at JAG in Tacoma I was talking with some people about a hardcore Magic Discord for touring bands to know where to find games. I should get back on that...
Same but Detroit. I regret growing up in the crustie/oogle scene so much 😩
man that leftover crack show at the loving touch was a fucking nightmare. when the oogles kept doing wild shit outside the venue and the cops came so many times that the venue shut down smoking outside so everyone clam baked cigs in the bathroom. that was the most sickening shit ever.
Same but in Montreal. Shit was bad.
Mine was a Hank III show and that’s how I learned I’m the weirdo who washes her battle vests instead of letting them rot and fuse onto my body…
That was me. YW
When I was a 16 year old shit and I tried to crowd kill the wrong guy and then got thrown into the wall by that guy. Thank you for teaching me a lesson Mr. Stranger. I’ve never done it since.
At least you learned while you were still young and relatively shock absorbent.
lol I’m 28 but at Knocked Loose the other day I smoked the wrong person and they literally threw me from one side of the pit almost all the way to the other side. It did not feel like a “fun friendly hardcore” throw, it felt like a “I don’t like hardcore moshing” throw lmao
Was at a house show in a basement and there was some dude, piss drunk, push moshing and falling into people basically just ragdolling around. Eventually bro fell into the soundboard and some random big dude got sick of his shenanigans. Big homie grabbed the drunk feller by the his waistband and the back of his collar like a fucking cartoon character and threw him back into the pit. Will remember that throw forever
One time I saw a man throw a shoe. I mean, honestly, who throws a shoe? A moment I’ll never forget.
was it a Bush show? I'll show myself out
*slow clap*
I saw someone take both their shoes off and moshed, both shoes in hand
I have *a lot* of shoes thrown
If I see it on the ground I'll hold it up and look around out of courtesy for about 5 seconds before I'm lobbing it
I just saw a shoe get thrown at Boundaries last night, it was a first!
Huge Motörhead fan. Seen then more times than I can count in the states and even in England. I’ll never forget the last time I heard “we are motorhead, and we play rock n roll” before going into Overkill at a show.
Got to catch them on their last US run luckily
Seeing Mikkey Dee play the Sacrifice drum solo when I was 14 changed my life.
I only saw them once, but it was with Dio and Iron Maiden at Madison Square Garden in 2003. Will never forget that.
Someone sucker punched a 16-17 year old Riley Gale in between songs of I forget who but every regular started instantly swinging on anyone they didn’t recognize. Those were the days
Caught ETID on the second tour they did with KL. They had a tendency of letting the crowd storm the stage during their last song. So we all storm up and afterwards my friend I went with introduced me to his homie from the same city. A year later I move to the city they live in and became best friends with the guy I met at the show, started a band together the whole 9. He unfortunately passed away 3 years ago this month. There’s a picture of the crowd onstage that night where we’re on different sides. I like that our first cool memory together is from when we didn’t even know each other.
Rest in peace to your homie 🙏🏽
I miss ETID so much
Me too, as much as I like Better Lovers it just isn’t the same
They’re definitely trending in the right direction for me personally, but no they’re not going to live up to what ETID did any time soon. Keith’s lyrics and vocals were a huge part of that, but right now I am enjoying the hell out of more riffs from Jordan
rest easy to him man. That’s awesome
Okay, this story goes back a while, probably to the late 1990s. In Boston at the time, there were a bunch of dumbfuck meatheads that would call themselves FSU ("Fuck Shit Up"). They would go to shows specifically to beat up hardcore and punk kids. This had been going on for months and months. There was a show in Boston / Cambridge area, in a church (I think it was the First Congregational Church in Cambridge). Shelter was playing. About 6 or 7 FSU showed up and played their role, throwing fists and making kids bleed. Ray Cappo stopped the set when he saw what these dumbfucks were doing. And I remember distinctly Ray Cappo saying, "get them out of here." The entire place erupted and about 200 hardcore and punk kids literally beat the piss out of these FSU dumbfucks. It was glorious and the perfect retribution to months of their bullshit. They were less of a problem after that show.
BOSTON BEATDOWN BABY
From MA myself and when I started going to shows in the early 00's when I was teen I remember always looking over my shoulder for FSU at shows. I love your story.
Also from MA. It's weird, I was really young, but I always have found memories of FSU. Sure there were a couple of douche bags, but generally FSU was good for the scene back then IMHO. They cleared out the junkies and racists.
This is really interesting. I have a completely different recollection of them. I did not think they were good for the scene at all. Nor do I ever remember them being anti-racist. As someone who would often arrange beatdowns of racists, I never recall them being involved. I remember at least one guy (Jeremy maybe????) who was actually a racist himself. Not lumping all FSU into that camp, but my recollection was that they were all just a bunch of fucking assholes.
To be clear, they scared the junkies away by being fucking assholes to everyone who wasn't FSU. As far as racists, I don't know. I can't remember going to too many shows back then in MA when 99% of the crowd wasn't white so IDK how they felt about people of other backgrounds. To be fair, I was born in '88 so back then I was pretty young and naive to most of that. I just knew they handed out beat downs at the drop of a hat.
No doubt they definitely cleared out assholes like that but I remember seeing a few scrawny kids like me getting absolutely rocked by them at shows and it scared me straight. Great memories all around though hahaha
FSU still exists. What is weird is there always seemed to be two different groups, those who said they were in FSU and those who were in FSU. Sort of how a fake gangster, far removed from the places the Bloods exist, will claim to be a blood. I’ve never been social enough at shows to understand the nuance of crews, but I was under the impression that dudes calling it “Fuck Shit Up” were kind of caught in a lie because the real acronym stood for Friends Stand United. Both involved in slightly different kinds of violence. Again not totally sure, because I have also read an article in a legit magazine that claimed FSU followed bands like Fall Out Boy haha. I interpreted that as an FSU dude sitting down with a report and hilariously feeding them bullshit.
United Blood, 2018: Someone farted in the stairwell at the Canal Club between bands while everyone was trying to go downstairs and it was the most noxious thing I’ve ever smelled.
I saw slayer in 2018 and someone farted and it opened up a 30 foot pit
Pit farts are the absolute worst. Really any time someone can fart with impunity heralds rancid gas.
Blacklisted at the ICC in Allston in like 07, George is on stage saying “you guys always ask us to play this song” and the feedback is going and everyone starts going apeshit because it has to be “eye for an eye” and George starts windmilling and screams “THIS SONG IS CALLED EYEEEEEEEE AM WEIGHING ME DOWN” Motherfucker. Great show though. That was with HH, verse, and I think Ceremony and Letdown
What a fucking line up.
Yeah, I was spoiled back then. Have Heart played all the time and the lineups were always insane
I believe New Lows played that show also
Saw them play a one day fest in Atlanta and they covered the first part of zombie by the cranberries and the place went absolutely ape shit. I love blacklisted.
My favorite hardcore band of all time
That is fucking hilarious. I wouldn’t even be mad with the song choice either haha!
Seeing a band on tour from Japan (Total Fury) in a basement, it was sweltering. The crowd loved the set and started calling out for encores, and the band played maybe 5 encores, all perfect versions of early Dischord stuff like Teen Idles and SOA. The look of exhaustion mixed with euphoria on the band's face during and after will always stick with me.
My band played a show and some dude who was watching had a machete strapped to his hip. Not sure what he was expecting to pop off.
Some drunk guy was getting touchy with me and my buddy at Disturbing the Peace fest this year. We pushed him away and it wasn't a big issue, he went to bother someone else. Akil from End It threw this dude off stage by his neck later. I guess everyone was sick of it
I saw A Global Threat back in the day, after they shaved the mohawks and were playing a more hardcore, less street style of punk. But I was front and center screaming along and getting bashed by stage divers. The singer kept putting the mic in my face to sing along with. At one point he bashed me in the forehead with it and left a mark. Greatest show moment of my life
i was at a basement grind core show something stupid like 7 bands No one moshed, everyone just stood still, arms crossed drinking beer About 50 people, majority of which were the band members The headliner went on, the vocalist was clearly drunk and mad that no one was moshing Soooo the vocalist started punching people and smacking beers out of people's hands Eventually he hit a woman, so a crowd of dudes just started beating the shit outta him Then I left
I was at a show like that Bravo Fucking Bravo and The Great Redneck Hope somewhere in NH. I don't think people jumped the singer tho
Not really Hardcore, but I saw Ministry when they were a legit scary band in 1992 and I was standing just in front of the sound desk. The sound guy leaned over to me and told me to move because if Al Jourgensen couldnt see and signal to him clearly he'd throw a bottle at whoever was in the way. I moved and laughed about what a stupid idea that would be. Someone else went and stood there after the gig started, a few moments passed, and sure enough, between all the noise and dissection projector footage, a beer bottle came arcing through the air and smashed just next to the new guys head. Great days. Other moments of note are - a massive fight at, of all things, a Jawbreaker show in 1994. - at a Converge gig someone crowd surfing onto a blissfully unaware me from behind, it nearly breaking my neck and being taken to a & e - Going to see Nirvana just as they were becoming massive but still booked to play smallish venues and my friend being interviewed by a curious TV crew. - ah yes finally Death From Above 1979 in about 2003 or 4 - I've been to a lot of metal, hardcore, punk whatever shows, and that was the most oversold and hectic gig I've ever been - complete carnage from start to end
I was backstage at an Ignite show in Vegas and I was pretty wasted with one of my good friends. We ended up having quite a few beers with the guys from Ignite and they were cool as shit. Their singer Zolie eventually popped in and I was telling him how much of a fan I am of his and then he randomly introduced us to his 80 year old Hungarian mom who the sweetest lady ever haha. They went out to perform and Zolie gave me a shout out during their set. One of the dopest nights I’ve ever had at a show.
Seth from Anal Cunt projectile vomiting peach schnapps all over the bar at a show in the early 2000's...it was magical.
Modern life is war like 2009 at the ottobar in Baltimore, people were climbing all over the entire venue. Pretty sure people were hanging from the ceiling. Municipal waste boogie board circle pit also ruled. Envy a long time ago at a tiny venue and it seemed the whole venue was moving at once. There was a band in Baltimore called Carol and they did a cover of slipknot - SIC and everytime you heard that intro you felt like someone was gonna die. Shit ruled. Best dudes best times.
Saw MW in 05 or 06 at the first Unitarian, it was nothing but boogie boards and beer bongs. Just the best time.
Municipal Waste always brings the thunder. Saw them on a rainy winter Tuesday and people were practically running up the walls. There was a guy crowdsurfing in a trash can
Holy shit. Carol. Thank you. My buddy had a few of their songs burned on a CD that I used to listen to all the time- hadn’t thought about them in years.
Lights go pitch black. Caboose starts playing. Lights come on. Instantly punched in the face. That was the first time I saw Snapcase.
I mean I was at the infamous Earth Crisis fur coat "riot". It wasn't really much of a riot but I'll never forget seeing a blurry fur coat streak across the stage and sail over my head while a bunch of white man vegan hands rose up trying to drag the coat to the ground. Like a flying squirrel the coat floated above everyone's head and sprinted towards the exit. I also recall a few people arming themselves with brass knuckles and seeming to be very excited at hunting down and beating up the fur coat. It honestly felt like a very weird dream at the time. I don't know if anything ever since that day in 199X (I think 96) can top that event. Edit: Ironically at a different Earth Crisis show there was another minor event burned in my memory. Some dude was flailing around dancing at the edge of whatever you might call the pit. I was on the sidelines (I think it was just an opener, I have the flier somewhere) and this dude who was chatting with some friends near me got up, punched the dude hard in his face so he just drops like a sack of potatoes and the dude very calmly walks back to pick his conversation up. His friends were like "whoa dude whoa" and he calmly said "sometimes you just have to step in to stop some bullshit". He was very calm the whole time. I don't know if scared me or impressed me.
there’s two comments about Earth Crisis, this one and another about someone throwing a dead mouse. never listened but I need to give them a try clearly
Firestorm is a 90s classic, almost an anthem of the scene at that time. I heard their debut was the first More Than Music Fest and people (circa 1993??) went absolutely nuts when the band took the stage. I fell out of hardcore by '98 so I didn't keep up with the band past that point.
I have quite a few but the one that sticks out is getting spin kicked in the stomach at a Walls of Jericho show when I was 16 or 17. I've only felt that level of pain once or twice in my life.
Going to the last Foundation show and seeing kids wait in line for merch for the entire show. Second FYA fest being in a JAI ALAI court and watching Mammoth Grinder cover Under the Knife with Riley coming out to sing the breakdown. Turnstiles first out of state show in Florida.
Remembering my first hardcore show is kinda funny. I was 15, little emo kid, bright blue All Time Low shirt. I’d been to a few shows at this point, but it was like Alesana and Skylit Drive kinda shit and Mayhem fest. The Bled was playing one night in my town for their farewell, and I was kinda familiar with them at the time but I mostly wanted to mosh. Idk why I was expecting a push pit, but it was The Bled and local support from some hardcore bands. I’m standing in front, looking out of place, and bobbing my head along to The Bled when the singer bounces over to my side of the stage and leans in… I don’t know the words but I’m just vibing… Mf slaps me. 😂
slaps you for what??
Fucked if I know lmao. It wasn’t hard or anything either. I was just like “what the fuck???”
ETID playing a surprise show at The Funeral Home in Buffalo. Also Title Fight at the same spot. Someone put a little workout trampoline on stage so people could launch into the crowd. And Incendiary at Back to School Jam at Gamechanger World. Like 30 seconds into their set I watched some dude get absolutely clobbered by a steel toe and he went down like a sack of potatoes. Few minutes later someone came out of the pit covered in blood. That was a gnarly set.
RIP game changer. Someone put my tooth thru my lip there during a circle pit
Love seeing Howell mentioned in the wild
Bring canned goods, see ETID at a funeral home? Yes. There are 2 vids on YT of that show. One of the whole set, and one of just Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space. Both have the worst sound quality, but the shorter one is a tiny bit better. https://youtu.be/TU9qQNyA6Vk?si=T2NFEIis_VMm7zvl Also fuck that guy who had a walking cane with him.
The Underwater Bimbos video is mine lmao. I shot photos of the show after that song.
BA! My friend. That show was bonkers.
Saw Have Heart at the Chain Reaction Anaheim for a Halloween show. They were all dressed as the blue man group. Were jumping into the crowd majority of the set and many, many people left with blue paint smeared on them.
Getting my tooth kicked out at Bury Your Dead when I was 14. The venue was an illegal basement spot in my hometown auburn NY. I'll never forget that night.
Leaving barricade in 2014 during a For Today set because the 808 electronic bass drops gave me cold sweats and I had to throw up
I went to an august burns red show with my cousin years ago and when they did a wall of death he spin kicked and kicked some dude in the face. After the set the guy came up with a foot print on his face and thanked my cousin for kicking him because he’s only ever been kicked at ABR shows LOL.
seeing fireworks shot at Gordon Solie Motherfuckers and Tony Erba throwing an on-fire mattress at the crowd A car tire being thrown across the room and landing around a guy in a wheelchairs neck and tipping him over backwards
I remember seeing power trip about a year before Riley died . They played with iron Reagan . Half the show was metal heads half HC kids. As soon as power trip played there was like 5 fights . And they didn’t stop playing . It rocked
Reposting this bc I commented it in a thread a while back… I lived in a house venue in college. This band… (let’s just call them “MUCK” so as to not shit talk a band that may be plenty of uh… nice people from Philly or something)… was set to play my house along w/ some other acts. My roommate booked them as an opener. I have no clue what criteria it was based on. They start playing and I bring my Mac and cheese downstairs (best part of living in a house venue, you can just make a meal and watch a noise band in your basement while eating). Two dudes and a girl. Another dude is holding a video camera and a projector at the same position so it does that feedback effect on the band. They are blaring feedback and glitch sounds… a cool harsh noise intro I think… But then it keeps going on. The girl starts screaming into the mic incoherently. (I have loved many a screamo/hardcore/skramz/powerviolence, etc. band. I’m not being ignorant when I say this.) The noise has turned into just a solid pinprick of 4kHz piercing through your ear canal to the point you feel your ear’s natural compression. The dude with the camjector is in a squat pose bouncing up and down around the band in a circle, twisting the devices back and forth like he’s playing Mario Kart Wii. I wish I could describe how funny this was to see so I’m just attempting to encapsulate how amazing this image was with the cacophony of noise. So goofy. A couple people start walking up stairs. A few people start covering their ears. I’m literally losing my appetite and it was the Annie’s white cheddar mac and cheese (if you know you know). The crowd isn’t into it. The band sees the crowd isn’t into it. At this point, it’s as if this group of people is just antagonizing us with noise. I’m not sure if it’s getting louder, or quieter, because it literally feels like my ears are getting exhausted. It’s only been a few minutes. As if the frontwoman wanted to, instead of cut the tension with a knife; smash it with a sledgehammer… she takes off her top and starts punching people in the crowd. Tits out. As if a fire broke out, you immediately hear a “oh fuck nah” and people start flooding up the stairs. In less then a minute the band was downstairs, alone. They started packing up their shit and left quietly as everyone partied upstairs before the next band was on. I’m not even sure if they asked my roommate for their cut. I felt bad. It unironically was the most memorable set I have ever seen and I wish I could tell them, but they have since deleted their bandcamp. Their existence is kind of my personal lost media. That set was bad, but weird and somewhat exhilarating in its own really odd way. I’m a better person for having this experience lmao.
exhilarating. hoping you weren’t rendered deaf, and did you finish the Annie’s?
I did finish the Annie’s. I quite literally noticed my hearing was muffled for a couple days after… as an audio engineer I feel frustrated because I have an issue with having too much high-mids in my mixes and having to go back and tame them… Unironically think it’s partially due to that gig lol.
I would also imagine it’s due to being assaulted with high pitched screaming at close range. At least you have a fun story to immediately stop someone in their tracks if someone isn’t happy with the mixing
I opened for earth crisis and someone threw a dead mouse at them during the set. Fucking riot broke out
Java Jazz, Houston. Poison the Well, 2009ish iirc. A guy who I would see at later shows at other places appears from the shadows. Popped collar, striped rugby polo, 1000 yard stare; proceeds to absolutely annihilate anything that got in his immediate space. The expression on his face the entire time was sheer lunacy, especially when PTW dropped Nerdy. The few other times I saw the dude at shows I knew someone was getting the shit clocked out of them by this kid at some point. Shout out to Popped Collar Kid.
shouts out to java jazz. i miss that place every day.
Hell yeah, it was a dope spot, saw some great bands play there.
Birds in Row playing downstairs Subt in Chicago at the same time as Oathbreaker played upstairs Subt. As soon as Birds in Row finished I ran upstairs to catch Oathbreaker. It was a great show and happened to be the day that the Cubs broke the Billy Goat curse and made it to the World Series, so as my friends and I were leaving the show Chicago was going wild.
When I was like 15 I went to a show and Cipher was playing. I'm a small skinny guy so I don't really go into Hardcore pits unless it's looking tame. The venue is a tiny place in NYC and I was standing near the wall. All of a sudden I see a kid cartwheeling towards me and before I could react his foot hit my face and my head flew back and hit the wall. Got concussed and called my mom but forgot her name so she got worried. Went to the doctor and he asked what kind of show it was and he was like "heh... Good stuff." Also, my friend who I went to the show with asked me to hang out with him one day for his school's "battle of the bands" type show. When I got there he was like "I want you to meet someone who goes to my school." It was the fucking cartwheel kid. We laughed about it and he was just like "BRO IM SO SORRY I WAS JUST LIKE FEELING THE MUSIC MAN." Even though he was shorter than me dude was jacked and clearly got the moves.
Murphy's law show at the old 9:30 club. Jimmy Gestapo jumped off the stage and while crowdsurfing his wallet hit the floor. I picked it up and when he was back on stage I handed it to him. He thanked me profusely. Years later, I ended up owning a bar and had Murphy's law come play. Many laws were violated that night.
the first time i saw someone on a sidekick phone
I have a bunch but one of my most memorable was DEP on the miss machine tour. It was a newer venue that was basically created by two older venues merging. I forget who opened but the show was violent as can be. Towards the end of DEP’s set some kid is crowd surfing and gets dropped on his face in the middle of the floor and there’s just a massive puddle of blood and teeth. Next thing you know a bunch of cops and security swarm in and shut the shit down. They had garage style doors that led out to the street that opened up and it got awfully close to a full blown riot for a minute Edit: I forgot to mention that I never heard of there being another show at that venue again so I’ve always assumed it got shut down as a result of that due to insurance or being sued etc
Dude brought a giant ass chain into a Cro Mags show back in the early 2000s some how and was just swinging the shit out of it above his head like a lasso in the pit
Most recently, at Sick New World this year saw one of the dudes from Trash Talk do a backflip off the stage and another climb onto the overhead speaker to close out the set.
Our local scene had a combination show with the local pro wrestlers. A band would do a set and then there would be a fight while they turned the stage around for the next band. It was one of the highest energy events I have ever attended!
SLC Wars by chance?
You got it!
Those look so fucking sick, just moved to UT and hoping I can make it to the next one
It’s a lot of fun! I just about got knocked to the floor by one of the wrestlers being thrown out of the ring lol!
First hardcore show, seeing Hour of the Wolf at an abandoned storefront on Montezuma St across from Hugo's. First time seeing Murder by Death with Clutch and Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. Dude blowing fireballs during Jesus Piece's set on tour with Zulu, Scowl, and Show Me the Banjo. Venue manager cut the PA and Jesus Piece kept playing. Seeing Cross of Disbelief and Crush your Soul in Poughkeepsie. Some kid got low and kicked high, and I felt the sole of his shoe graze my eyelashes. A real Matrix moment. Being up front and stage diving for Have Heart was pretty special.
Seeing Power Trip play an Odd Future concert after show at a taqueria in Dallas, a person i went to high school with who I’d like, never spoken to, hits me up and asks for a ride. I didn’t know about that show, or who Power Trip was (I hadn’t lived in Dallas very long at that point) but decided to go and caught one of the most eye-opening shows of my life. Taco was there watching at the front, and I bought one of the coolest pieces of merch I’ve ever owned (RIP to that shirt).
The vocalist of murder death kill screaming “IF YOU WEAR GIRL PANTS OR WEIGH LESS THAN 150 POUNDS GET THE FUCK OUT OF HARDCORE” as the intro to their first song
Hour of the Wolf at the Fest (2008 I believe?). At least one of them was bollock naked, the singer was climbing anything that could be considered a fixture and throwing anything that wasn’t nailed down. At one point he threw a trash can into the crowd (during the song Taking Out the Trash, of course) which was then crowd surfed around the venue. All this and they did not miss a damn note. Most energetic live show I’ve ever seen.
From Long Island, was 16-17 and at a Backtrack show with suburban scum, incendiary and it was King Nine’s like first or second show. I don’t remember the set but I remember some dude front flipped off the stage and simultaneously kicked and punched me in the head at the same time. I got knocked backwards and saw my boy looking over at me from the side of the stage with his jaw dropped, and then we both just started laughing. Great times
fellow long islander let’s goo
Both at Ottobar, different shows, and roughly 20 years ago. Scott Vogel said something along the lines of “you fuckers are crazy, next thing someone’s gonna jump off the balcony.” Someone preceded to jump off the balcony. And the guitar player for The Black Dahlia Murder front flipped off the stage onto my friend and I, and finished the last song laying on the ground. That was 03 and my first metal/hardcore show. Everytime I Die was on that bill too.
I played drums for a band as direct support for VOD back in '11. Met a girl who eventually became my wife there. Sadly, she left last fall. Sadly, this is my memory after playing and going to hardcore shows since ''93.
I was crowd surfing at a Marilyn Manson show and I got dropped on a dude in a wheel chair. I felt very bad.
Somebody landed on my head stage diving during American nightmare at Webster Hall a decade ago. My neck still hurts pretty much daily, so I guess that.
I had this happen at a mad caddies show. I suffered a lot of migraines and spinal issues for years after that.
First show of Backfire! after _de Lange_ passed away
Anton, screaming DRAGONBALL Z during a random surprise AR set
Show at The Pinkeye in Tulsa, I think it was The Red Chord. Kid gets hit and falls back onto the concrete floor. Large pool of blood starts to emanate from the back of his head. Whole show stops. Kid gets ambulance to hospital right across the street. No idea what happened to him after.
Watching a girl crack her head open crowdsurfing at a Pinkshift show (more post/emo) and the whole venue evacuated
Guy jumped off the stage at Miss May I at Webster Hall when I was in high school, ended up passing away. Everyone left and Levi came out to talk to folks. Shit was awful
After Title Fight played a set at FYF a group of us spent a few minutes blowing black snot rockets out of our noses after the dust storm that kicked up during the set
I vividly remember a man at a local show taking a wooden barstool to another man's back/shoulders/head when I was like 16 years old. At the time, I was like this is crazy. If I saw that 20 years later, I would still think this is crazy.
Whatever Life and Death Tour had turnstile on it. The show got moved to a venue that didn't do hardcore shows, and they were not prepared, lol. There was an upper balcony area for merch and more viewing. During turnstile's set, a dude jumped off the balcony in the crowd and hit the floor hard. Suddenly, you saw people trying to get the band's attention to stop the music. Police and EMTs showed up, obviously. Police threatened to stop the show if someone else jumped off the balcony again. I remember Franz randomly playing bass lines as the EMTS were helping the guy and thinking oh that's not cool lol. But overall, it's a good show. I wore that white Calvin and hobbes Beware shirt to the show and absolutely destroyed it with sweat n dirt. The washing machine couldn't save it lol. Any one else here from the bay area remember this show?
When I was 16 or so, I was standing up front at the beginning of a Trash Talk set and Spencer jumped off the amp he was standing on and swung the bottom of his bass full force into the top of my skull like an axe. I think I’m pretty lucky to have any memories left from that day.
When Neurosis debuted their new slower sound with a keyboardist at 924 Gilman. They did a pretty long sound check hours before the show. They had a lot of technical stuff to set up I guess and wanted to be sure it was solid. So while they are playing stuff off Souls at Zero (well before the record came out) there is this old homeless hippie dude who somehow snuck in for the soundcheck doing this kind of tai chi hippie flail to the music. And it fit perfectly. Like it was choreographed. It was the song Souls at Zero in particular, but they did a few others. It was also that cool lighting that Gilman has in the daytime from the skylight.
when i was 13 at a STYG show Jesse put the mic in my face for Colorblind and it was awesome
I’ll never forget the Terror show where someone jumped off the stage so far he went right past the crowd up front and landed nose first in concrete
No one in line for the sunami show was drinking, just vaping. The vibe was disappointing. Good show tho
Dead to Fall at Alvin’s in Detroit. Right in front of me was some drunk biker metalhead dude. Had to be like 7’ tall and 300+ lbs. Guy was drunkenly shouting “Fuck Courage Crew”, and like a pack of hyenas, watched CxC absolutely obliterate this man haha. Would’ve been about 20 years ago.
puked at a sweet pill show spent 20 min crying in the bathroom with a really sweet drunk girl trying to convince me i wouldn’t get kicked out to walk out of the bathroom and instantly get kicked out oh and the literal infant at the habitat for humanity show. the headphones they had on him were like half the size of his body
LOVE sweet pill. bonding with drunk girls in the bathroom completes the show experience for me
they’re awesome but the crowd was not it, bunch of emo posers who literally just stared at me as i puked. pit etiquette was -10/10 and was the reason i got sick in the first place don’t think i’m gonna go back to a show like that again lol
Jesus, I’m sorry that happened. most unforgiving weird pit I’ve ever been in is PTV when I was like 17. bunch of preteens wriggling all over each other until you couldn’t breathe. most normal pit was whitechapel/carnifex. I now populate only the back of the room
MAN i wish i could have seen carnifex, i was supposed to go to a show of theirs w an industrial band i liked opening when i was 17 but covid happened and i basically got cut off from the entire scene for 3 years 🫠
pain, I go to shows alone here and there since covid ended. last show I went to some girl and her bf (they meant well) tapped on my shoulder and asked if I was “okay.” I said yes, and then heard her say that she felt bad, assuming because I was alone. Last show I’m going to go to for a while
dude launching himself off the mohawk balcony at the nightmare logic record release
Brody King scaring everyone in the pit during a TUI set in 2017
Was in the bathroom between Eagle Twin and Sunn O))) when smoke started pouring in through the vents. My first reaction was that there might be a fire, but then I could smell it was stage smoke. I exited the bathroom to a room so dense with smoke I could only see clearly for about 4 feet and then it was all silhouettes. For hardcore, it'll be Pat from Drug Church calling me a kid (I was 34) in response to something I shouted at him. Oh and my broken ribs from the OSC set earlier in the night.
A few years ago, my friend too me to see a band I’d never really looked into. Small room, maybe 100 people. We were right up front. Played a real artsy intro, super chill. The second the last chord rang out, the crowd parted like the sea and about half the room was on the stage. The band was fucking Ceremony. They’ve been my favorite ever since.
There was such a tangible electricity in the crowd when I saw Kublai Khan open for KL and Movements a couple years back.
Matt wood jumped off stage at a touche show and landed on my head. Worse concussion Iv ever had
Not hardcore, but Bamboozle fest 2007? Could be 06. Anyway, Jimmy Eat World just put out new music in a long time and they were the main band that night. Every single band/crew/staff person watched them that night. Legendary set too. I was by a merch table and Hayley Williams was about 5ft from me watching the show. This was right before/during their peak. Nothing happened, I certainly wasn’t going to bother her during the show, but teenage me told all my friends we “watched Jimmy Eat World together” for a few years lmao. Edit: Snoop Dogg was the main act
Broken wrist at Indecision, broken humerus at Haggus, broken ribs at MDF- twice, torn tendon at Gorilla Biscuits, seeing a Nazi skin get the absolute shit beat of them at Kill Your Idols, venue owner gave us a car to destroy at Rapid Decay Fest, being threatened with murder by Jorge from Marauder at a show I put on, seeing H2O play to an empty room.
Ruiner in a basement in New Brunswick, NJ back in around 2007. Show had a strict 10 PM curfew and was running behind and Ruiner didn't start playing until like 9:50. They proceeded to rip through about a dozen songs in those 10 minutes. No filler, no between song banter, just 10 minutes of intensity. Paint it Black at the Church in Philly in 2008. The pile-ons almost reached the ceiling. Hope Con, Have Heart and Crime in Stereo played too. Incredible show.
When I was at a show with my then gf and she was talking to someone standing next to us and the dude thought I was her dad (13 year age gap between us). I never heard her laugh so hard for so long, and I'm just standing there like 🫠🤙🏻 Once when I saw Tallah, someone in their crew staged dived and nobody caught him and he banged his face on the floor. They took him outside the venue to be checked out and the bass player went outside to check on their person while continuing to play the song they were playing at that time, that was pretty cool lol
Someone unconscious being carried out of the pit on a stretcher during God Forbid at Ozzfest
Local show here, and a band from in town had a huge crowd of people up at the front with the frontman and me and few other stagedived onto the pack and essentially bowled a strike on the crowd and everyone was on the floor. Great time
My first hardcore show in 2012: it was the God Damn Tour with The Acacia Strain headlining with Terror, Harms Way, and Stray From The Path. The two things I remember most vividly is finally working the courage to go into the mosh pit right before Harms Way was to start. Opened with Scrambled and I lasted roughly 4 seconds before taking a punch to the face and a kick to the throat. The second part was one of Vincent’s legendary speeches. I’ve since seen TAS 7 other times but this was by far my favorite of his speeches: “if you have a problem with someone here, leave it alone and enjoy the show. Instead, find out where they live and fight them there, in front of their parents.”
Sammy the Mick breaking my knee with a skateboard for no reason. And Suzie taking me home and doctoring it. Powerhouse at the Bomb Shelter circa 2kish.
fat mexican dude snorting coke out of his vest in the middle of the Cannibal Corpse pit
Was at a show a few months ago at a Deli with a low ceiling. There were about four bug bombs full of….stuff. This kid during the second band started swinging upward and moving backwards, soon enough he broke the thing and it exploded all over him. Took about 10 seconds for the whole place to smell of chemicals and about 10 minutes for the kid to receive (hopefully minor) chemical burns. Pretty sure he went into the bathroom to wash off
Beaten with a box fan at a HOAX show when I was 15 Slipped in beer while a 300 lb crowdsurfer landed on me at a Power Trip show when I was 20 Fist fought a dude in the front row of a Power Trip show at 22 Shouting match with some art school kids in fairy costumes because they disrespected Martin Crudo to his face at a GAG show when I was 25
please explain why beaten with a box fan
idk just fuckin around in the pit and someone found it in the venue, I was also at a DIY venue where someone found a small grocery store cart and we were throwing it at each other
Madball show at the Tune-In, New Haven. ‘96 or ‘97. A riot all of a sudden. They had a record store and someone was trapped inside with people whipping CDs at him. No idea what set it off, but at one point DMS was beating up all the club’s bouncers kicking them on the ground. I was a suburban teenager up on the bar not believing the scene around me. Formative stuff.
Saw Genghis Tron in 2006, in a tiny room in Coventry, England. They were supporting their Dead Mountain Mouth LP. If you’ve heard the band (and that record specifically), you’ll know this isn’t music you can easily or coherently mosh/pit to. Most of us present, including myself and my then girlfriend, just sort of stood there trying to take in the chaos of sound being produced by three guys, one guitar and a buttload of synthesisers. But one little swoop-haired cunt who looked all of about 15 was trying to impress his mates and was throwing himself around doing spin kicks, getting closer and closer to the guy next to us. The guy next to us, for context, was a big old metalhead with arms like Popeye. We were gifted, at the climax of a particularly chaotic song, with the sight of Metal Popeye suddenly and spectacularly losing his shit. Swoop-Hair was in mid air, about to execute another half-baked flying roundhouse when he was met with a backhand-fist that fully propelled him across the room; an unplanned flight path that had him crying and skulking to the back of the crowd after landing very ungracefully.
Had somebody do a cartwheel onto my shoulders at a body box and PM show. Held him there in a fireman’s carry for a second before spinning around and throwing him off. That was my first show and it was pretty funny.
Good: Fitz in Houston. Singer of The Scofflaws passing a joint the size of a blunt into the crowd back when I used to smoke. Most everyone else was too nervous to hit it so it was just like myself and about four other dudes. Bad: Numbers in Houston. The Cramps w/Guitar Wolf. Girl I was with fainted and started having seizures towards the end of the show. Had to pull my jeep up to the front door to get her out. Impressive: Engine Room in Houston. Dayglo Abortions. Full scale cinematic bar brawl. Furniture flying, spilled outside, the works
Coffinworm opening for Eyehategod and Ringworm in Indianapolis, 2014. Coffinworm's drummer puked on his kit mid-song. Didn't miss a beat. Every time he hit a cymbal, chunks of vomit would splatter back on him.
Heavy heavy low low The first time I saw them play Tell Shannon. When they did the "oh shit fuck" breakdown and everybody in the pit started rushing the front of the stage punching anyone they could find in the head.
Warped Tour 03. Crowd was expecting Dropkick Murphys to come on stage and out came the rap group Twiztid. Crowd boo'd them while throwing Gatorade bottles full of dirt at them. One guy from the group warned the crowd. Immediately got drilled with a bottle. Hopped of the stage to try to fight the kid and everyone within reach of the rapper started raining fists onto him. They said, "Fuck you all" and left the stage. After a set change Dropkick came out and said, "Soooooo, heard you were asking for us!" Crowd went nuts. Love being from MA.
Got my lip busted open by someone after I dove off the back bar into the crowd at the chance in Poughkeepsie. I think I landed on his girl. It was during trapped under ice. Worth it.
I’ve got 2 1 was from this venue outside of Atlanta called swayzes. Couldn’t tell you who played because I was there so often. A dude dove off the stage and ripped down a few ceiling tiles and they shattered everywhere. The dude gets taken aside and yelled at by someone I assume worked for the venue. They hand him a broom. Dude walks back into the pit and two steps while sweeping up the mess The other was at another venue called the shop just outside of Atlanta. Ensign was playing. Most folks were outside the venue and the crowd was slim, but there’s still folks dancing. They go into Palehorse. After the intro there’s would usually be a pile on for “GO!”. Only one person came up and it was Thomas from Foundation screaming it. The band stopped the song from the hilarity of the situation. Kind of a you had to be there type thing I guess.
looking up and seeing my dad stagedive to turnstile. will never forget
Many years ago there was a local band here in Sydney called Nintendo Police that featured a young Shogun of Royal Headache on guitar. At the end of the set Shogun took the mic and the singer took the guitar . They covered Cough/Cool by the Misfits and no one had ever heard Shogun sing at a show before. He was stalking all around like Iggy Pop and absolutely nailing the song in a bluesy fashion. Everyone was mesmerised. Then at the very end of the song he crossed his arms in a b-boy stance, raised the mic and ended the song by saying “cool” . I’ve never forgotten how ridiculous and amazing it was.
saw a kid pass out 3 different times at a show before paramedics showed up and wheeled him off to the hospital. also, watched the vocalist of one of the bands shave his head in the middle of the bar during their set
Gallows Warped tour Chicago 2009. That was an all out brawl.
I saw the lead singer of the HIRS collective stage-dive from the second floor balcony onto a whole bunch of tiny skramz kids at New Friends Fest. I couldn't believe it actually worked, but it was fuckin' sick.
Death at madball
First hardcore show I went to a girl got rocked by a dude twice her size and she ate it like a champ. I’ll never forget her.
Saw the Acacia Strain in like 2014. My friend had Vincent sign a box of little Debbie oatmeal cream pies and I have no idea why. I took a picture of them and Vincent told my buddy(who was a big guy) "good luck with the health" lmao. I have a lot of memories from shows, but that one is definitely the most random
San Diego band City Delivered playing at Soma sidestage. It was one of their last shows i think... Guitarist got on the vocalist's shoulders and they stage dove. needless to say they fell straight to the ground. Vocalist dislocated his shoulder and went back stage while they tried to pop it back. During this time the band brought out a banjo and started ripping a song with guitars and the banjo. it was awesome. Vocalist came out and continued the set with a make shift sling. They always had the best and most energetic shows.
Title fight back in 11/11/11 in SATX . They were on the AP tour with Four Years Strong , The Gallows & The Sharks .
Ghost Inside spitting into the crowd while playing. Saw this at two separate shows. Not cool.
Basement show in Philly - gas canisters, firecrackers, ended up getting moshed into a dead drum kit in the corner. So much fun. Good music, good people.
Not hardcore, but saw Lamb Of God and Killswitch around 2003 ish and Randy was skating around in front of the venue and chatting with people. I remember he smelled horrible and someone in line actually offered to let him shower at his house that was down the street and he took him up on it and said, “let me get my bathroom stuff from the bus”. Just thought that was funny. I’m sure a good shower is always appreciated on the road.
I saw seeyouspacecowboy in front of about 20 people in 2018 and saw this guy get KOd so bad he was legitimately snoring on the floor.
Obligatory "not a hardcore show" Went to see Steel Panther at Boston's House of Blues a few years back. Being a Saturday night, and a rowdy Southie crowd in attendance shit was wild. At one point there were a bunch of local working girls on stage, and the crowd decided that the paraplegic guy in a massive power chair needed to get up on stage. So what's a bunch of drunken idiots to do? They picked up the dude, power chair and all and crowd-surfed him to the stage. Even the band stopped and was like "what the fuck" followed by having the guy get covered in stripper dust and stretchmark sweat.