Summerfesthas long been the domain of bright, cheery music, not aphotic hardcore andgrinding metal, so it was a bit of a spectacle Thursday when the Cascio GrooveGarage hosted a line-up of loud area bands, booked by the local punk scene’sbusiest impresario, Kelsey Kaufmann of Cougar Den. Milwaukee’s hardcore scenehas long hosted some of the city’s most visionary bands, so it was a welcomechange to see some of its young warriors finally get their due at Milwaukee’sbiggest music festival.
Flanked bya supportive, receptive crowd of peers that crowded the front of the stage,most groups fit in at the Big Gig better than might be expected. Novel, forinstance, proved they weren’t nearly as menacing as their demonic, gruntedvocals might suggest. Their set flaunted an endless parade of winding metalriffs heavy enough to keep the crowd’s he
Cougar Denwas, as always, uncompromising, their vocals snarled, their soundscapes fuscousand distressed. Whitewater’s Farewell to Twilight, in comparison, felt likethey were vying for the modern-rock radioplay, with their clean, emocore hooksand their Warped Tour showboating. They worked the crowd well, though theirswas also the afternoon’s most obnoxious crowd, thanks to a handful of cretinswhose preferred method of dancing involved clenching their hands and spinningtheir full arms until they hit something, indifferent to whether their fistsland on a willing participant or an inattentive teenage girl. At the risk ofstating the obvious, it’s a reprehensible form of dancing that, unliketraditional, shoulder-driven moshing, leaves bystanders little opportunity todeflect dangerous blows. It speaks volumes about Farewell to Twilight that theynot only didn’t put an immediate, Ian MacKaye-like stop to the fist bashing,but actually encouraged and even incited it as their singer flailed around thestage, spinning his own arms and fists like a drunken ultimate fighter. Stayclassy, guys.
