One of the most important variables at an all-day outdoor music festival is the one that nobody can control: the weather. On Saturday, the organizers of the Bay View Bash, as well as the attendees, received the gift of perfect weather. The day was nothing but hot sun beaming down and sparse clouds floating by. The inescapable smell of grilled meat and parade of dogs made it feel more like mid-July than mid-September.
The music at the north end Rush Mor Records stage kicked off at noon with the tween trio Negative/Positive. There’s something amazing about seeing middle school aged kids get up on a stage and perform rock songs. To have the confidence at such a young age to go in front of a street festival crowd is applaudable. From the confident singing to the between song banter, there were no signs of shyness. Their melange of hard rock and jangly twee pop songs came off well to an appreciative crowd. If these girls stick around, it signals good things for the local scene for years to come.
Midway through the afternoon, The Pukes took the stage. There has been a pretty solid buzz around town about these guys. Their surf-y rock and roll meets The Hives style is easily digestible and there’s nothing wrong with that. Most people don’t want to be challenged by music. People want tunes that they can immediately hum along to and get stuck in their heads. The combination of early rock and roll and punk energy makes their sound palatable to a wide audience.
Following The Pukes, Bad Grades turned up the intensity level a few notches. The local supergroup is the brainchild of Howl Street Studios’ Shane Hochstetler. Their fast hardcore mixes in metallic bits without ever going full on metal—think Minor Threat with the best parts of DRI thrown in. Guitar rippers Mike Gamm of Population Control and Nick Elert of Northless cranked out wailing solos while Hochstetler and bassist Chris Ortiz of Volcanos held down the low end. Bad Grades raced through their set with an intensity and focus that only true music veterans can. Not that there were any stopwatches going, but theirs was likely the shortest set of the day.
|
|
As the sun was close to setting, Brain-Bats took the stage. For a band playing only their third show, they had a commanding presence. Lead by the unmistakable voice of former Cry Coyote and Burning Sons frontman Dillon Hallen, the band slugged their way through one creepy garage punk number after another. The songs were propelled forward by pummeling drums and eerie synth parts. Meanwhile both guitarists held their ground and produced a racket of their own. The set was a true embodiment of the phrase “a sight to behold.” Words fall short of accurately describing the aura coming from the stage. Brain-Bats are something that needs to be taken in firsthand.
After a long wait, with nightfall upon us, B Justice took the stage. As if a switch had flipped when the sun went down, the crowd was immediately ready to groove. His hype men danced around, took selfies, and worked the crowd up. The hip-hop jams were a welcome change after seven hours of rock and punk music. His lyrics and beats fall in line with mainstream hip-hop trends, but B Justice’s confidence and showmanship raise him above the artists treading similar ground.
Hardcore punk is a young man’s game. There’s no shame in admitting that. It’s a music that harnesses such a youthful burst of energy that it’s hard to capture that same feeling as bands get on in years. So it’s with some skepticism when an old hardcore band reunites. Is it possible that a fat middle aged man can sing about police brutality the same way he did as a teen? Or maybe the band is back with a new lineup. Can a new lineup of “ringers” be authentic enough to pull off the old material? So many questions to be asked.
Urban Waste produced one of the premier New York hardcore EP’s in the early ’80s. The chance of them harnessing that same power 30 years down the line was slim, but the Bash attendees were ready, if by chance lightning would strike again. As they laid into the first song everything sounded off-time and awkward. The idea of the set being a train wreck presented itself. As soon as they dove into “Police Brutality” it was clear that they are a band capable of carrying the weight of their past triumphs. All the old songs were just as blistering as on the record. The new stuff, while not on the same level as their classic record, is not a major drop off in quality. It’s certain that the crowd was feeling this same way, as the slam dancing was near constant throughout the set.
After the Urban Waste set, it was impossible to maintain the same energy level. The bar was raised so high it had to come crashing down. Though the Bash was still in full swing, many people headed for their homes or their cars. What more was there to see? A handful of great new local bands? Check. A kid walking around in a full gorilla costume? Check. A dog wearing a tiny sombrero? Check. Tired of smelling grilled meat, it was time to join the mass exodus.
