"The Pure Hostility Tour proved to be a Sunday night beat down to the onlookers at Chicago's Metro!"

On a semi-warmish night on September 10^th, the Pure Hostility Tour touched down on a less than full Metro. It was the scene to a plethora of hardcore kids and the dreaded scenesters to boot. To those that wanted to see their favorite bands and perhaps check out some new ones, it was just the fix to start the upcoming week off right. Since it was not a packed house, it was the perfect setting for those present to spread out on the vacant floor to start a monster pit from the openers on. One thing that I will say is that I was VERY impressed with Maylene & the Sons of Disaster as the band definitely perked me up with their special twang of Southern Hardcore. It was a refreshing change from your typical sounds of senseless machismo hardcore. The band is not only pretty unique with their sound but they also have three (3) guitarists. All I know is that it was a LOT of folks on stage! Showing some “Southern Hospitality” if you will, the band dedicated the Tears For Fears’ cover, “Mad World” to Zao. The band did a credible hardcore rendition of the 80’s tune. A handful (present company included) rocked out to song, it was apparent the vast majority of the audience had no clue it was a cover. Sigh! In a sort of strange karmic payback, Zao dedicated one of their tunes to the deceased and Chicago phenom Wesley Willis.

This review shall be short and sweet since Maggie & were collectively beat from the previous week. Having said that, there will not be a review for Throwdown since it was a school night, we needed to leave early! However, check out a previous review the last time the band played at the Metro from their headlining tour with The Black Dahlia Murder & The Red Chord…. Now for brief synopses on the bands we witnessed. -- KEO

Ignite The Will Lineup: Seth Campbell – drums; Paul Hoeppner – bass; Matt Johnson – vocals; Chris Burrough – guitar

Iowa’s Ignite The Will was actually entertaining. From what we found out, the band’s singer, Matt Johnson, just so happens to be moonlighting as Throwdown’s tour manager. Again, since it was pretty naked in the venue, the kids on the floor took FULL advantage of all of the space and started a cavernous pit from the first song on. The band happily played to the smallish crowd as if they were playing to thousands. The band recently inked a deal to Double or Nothing Records and has a full length scheduled to come out in early 2007. Overall, the band was brutal, as one would expect from a typical hardcore band, nothing special and no extra frills. Just 100% pure hardcore! The kids in the pit enjoyed it, so that’s really all that counts! --KEO

Evergreen Terrace Lineup: Josh James – guitar/background vocals; Drew Carey – vocals; Craig Chaney – guitar / vocals; Kyle Mims – drums; Jason Southwell – bass

Coming off the heels of this years’ Sounds of the Underground tour, this quintet was on fire tonight. Good thing because we were starting to fall asleep! The band’s setlist mimicked that of the SOTU show we caught at the Rave. The background vocals of bassist Josh James (also singer for Casey Jones) and clean vocals of guitarist Craig Chaney were on point, which supported the screams of frontman Drew Carey to a tee! Not to leave the rhythm section out, drummer Kyle Mims & bassist Jason Southwell were amazing too. Southwell broke out during “New Friend Request”, as Carey announced the song as a statement denouncing the phonies in the world, but a direct reflection on our social behaviors i.e. MySpace.

At the conclusion of their set, Carey jumped into the crowd where the concertgoers supported the lanky singer as he sang the last bars of the song. At first we thought, “Oh the love” until Carey announced, “Someone stole my wallet! Peace out!” Come on folks, what’s the deal here? Know you know it’s not like it belonged to James Hetfield or some shit like that so whomever was the dirty scoundrel here, shame on you for stealing from a struggling artist. Do you have a soul? Again, here’s to hoping some Good Samaritan returned it. ET put on another amazing show, can’t wait to see what these gents again! --KEO

I only have one thing to add about Evergreen Terrace – they are awesome live, and Drew is one adorable screamer!! -- MS

Maylene & Sons of Disaster Lineup: Dallas Taylor – vocals; Roman Havaland – bass; Scott Collum – guitar; Lee Turner – drums; Josh Cornutt – guitar; Josh Williams – guitar

These Alabama kings – AWESOME! I am a huge fan of M&TSoD and this being the first time I’d gotten to watch them live, blew me away! Southern hardcore at it’s best! Dallas Taylor’s shaggy look made him the ideal frontman and his stage presence allowed him to command the crowd to do whatever he pleased – not to mention his vocals were in great condition. With six (6) people on stage at once, there was an awful lot of feet, yet they had seemed to be trained in the footwork category and rarely had to step over each other to get to monitors or other sections of the stage. Everything seemed to be a little hotter and hospitable when the band came out, and they gladly welcomed everyone into their arms of brutal (and beautiful) Southern hardcore. -- MS

Partial Setlist: Tough As John Jacobs, Caution: Dangerous Curves Ahead, Gusty Like the Wind, The Road Home to Panther Creek.

I would like to thank RH at Maylene & The Sons of Disaster’s camp for being such an awesome help!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX3PACVqVF0 ß Video of Maylene & The Sons of Disaster playing “Tough as John Jacobs” 

Zao Lineup: Daniel Weyandt – vocals; Scott Mellinger - guitar & vocals; Marty Lunn – bass; Jeff Gretz - drums

Unfortunately, I do not remember a whole lot for this performance other than what Karma mentioned about their technical difficulties at the beginning of their set, and the point when I grabbed the camera of the kid behind me and took pictures for him because I felt sympathetic towards his rib-cracking position. Everyone on the band was getting over colds and sickness, except Dan, who was still extremely sick with a stomach ailment. Unless he told you, you wouldn’t have known with as well as he was doing vocal-wise. Guitarist Scott Mellinger always cracks me up when I see him play live because he simply props one foot on the monitor and lets everyone bath in his riffing glory; that position could be the portrait of his life, haha! -- MS

Partial Setlist: Cancer Eater, My Love My Love (We’ve Come Back from the Dead), Breath of the Black Muse, Truly, Truly This is The End, The Rising End
 

The Pure Hostility 2006 Tour Dates

THROWDOWN with supporting acts: Zao, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, Ignite the Will

8/18 San Diego, CA @ SOMA
8/19 Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theater
8/21 San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
8/22 Houston, TX @ The Studio (Wherehouse Live)
8/25 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
8/27 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
8/29 Levittown, NY @ Ritual
8/31 Providence, RI @ The Living Room
9/7 Toledo, OH @ Headliner's
9/9 Indianapolis, IN @ Emerson Theater
9/10 Chicago, IL @ Metro
9/15 Boise, ID @ The Venue
9/17 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
9/18 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater

All photos Copyright © 2006. Pictures may not be used without the written consent/permission of FourteenG