“The decline of the hardcore civilization as we know it…”

…or is it a beginning? As far as the distinction between what is good and what is not, as oppose to what is on the horizon. Tonight was a good indicator of this trend, as there seems to be a recent shift in the world of hardcore as observed by an outsider to the culture. What amazes me about the hardcore culture is the amount of passion these kids offer to their beloved heroes at shows as oppose to their otherwise brooding/hateful outlook on life. The kids were not in short supply of love for their idols tonight either. However, there was a small breakdown towards the end of the night. Not sure if the Bottom Lounge emptied out during headlining Silverstein’s set because the audience had grown tired from the hours in attendance at the show or… You can be the judge! There were some talented bands on tonight’s bill and then…well I will get into that later.

Lineup: Nick – Bass; Jake D. – Drums; Angel – Guitar; Jake W. – Guitar; Wil - Vocals

First up on tonight’s bill was Seattle’s Aiden. A recent addition to Chicago’s Victory Records, formed in 2003 as a considerable buzz has surrounded this band for the last six months. The last couple of hardcore shows we attended, Aiden were all the rage amongst the hardcore kids, now I understand what all the hype was about. This band rocked the crowd! Wil, the band’s fearless leader, is reminiscent of Joaquin Phoenix meets Davey Havok (AFI). He is one entertaining frontman with good vocal range, not to mention a ton of charisma. They make scary cool, lovable even. Hold on to your coffin Jack Scary, there’s a new nightmare in town! Poised to release their debut CD around Hallow’s Eve, October 4^th, and to appropriately fit the occasion, it’s entitled, Nightmare Anatomy. Keeping in the Nightmare Before Christmas theme, a sound bite from the movie, “This is Halloween…” pumped through the PA at the beginning of their set, the perfect way to set an ominous tone for the band’s entrance. The lights dimmed to black, the lights came up and Aiden made their dramatic, grand arrival commanding and captivating the audience’s attention from that point forward.

Aiden wowed the crowd indeed. Early in their set Wil announced the release date of their CD to the crowd after “The Last Sunrise”. The once modest audience erupted. He then called for a circle pit and the fold blissfully obliged with a healthy sized body filled monsoon. The fashionable singer brandishing a Misfits tee screamed to the crowd, “You are a sexy fucking crowd!” Some people in front of the house instantly started to chuckle. He then retorted, “Seriously!” This show was not all about the Wil show let me tell you! The band ROCKS! One thing that seriously stood out was Nick’s awesome bass lines. You could honestly hear him, an oddity at a live show indeed. He’s wonderful! Jake D. kept the rhythm in time with his spectacular drum work. Guitarists Jake D. and Angel's blazing solos were stellar. The band got the audience fired up more with the My Chemical Romance clap in which they kept it up for a while. The crowd sung with the vocalist, “With our hearts and in our minds…” Talk about audience participation! Oh, I sense a good segue. Okay, now back to Wil, at the end of their set, he graciously thanked the audience for coming out, and then doused the front by spitting out berry flavored vitamin water. Is this a new way to thank the audience for their involvement? And if so, I must not have gotten that memo.

The band has their song title “Burn Your Friends” stenciled on their one of their amps which brings me to my next point, Aiden will burn an indelible place into the hearts and minds of all they encounter! They are going places so see YOU in hell because obviously it has frozen over…Aiden are an undeniable emerging talent that requires your immediate attention!

Aiden Setlist: Knife Blood Nightmare, The Last Sunrise, Die Romantic, Pledge Resistance, Good Bye We’re Falling Fast, I Set My Friends on Fire, World By Storm

Lineup: Josh James – Guitar / BGV’s; Drew Carey – Vocals; Craig Chaney – Guitar / Vocals; Kyle Mims – Drums; Jason Southwell - Bass

The hyped audience was ready and waiting for Evergreen Terrace, Jacksonville, Florida’s pride and joy. I too looked forward to seeing the guys play especially after weeks of playing the hell out their new CD, Sincerity Is An Easy Disguise In This Business. My concern was that I would not be able to hear the rich oratory emanations of clean vocalist and guitarist Craig Chaney. To much of my dismay, previous concerns unfortunately came to fruition. Chaney’s vocals were not as clear as one hoped them to be. However, that was the only down side of the band’s searing performance. <<<PPPSSTT>>>> It was downright hot, the band delivered more than what the crowd expected.

While the band warmed up, someone in the audience screamed, “You’re awesome guys!” The band beamed as vocalist Andrew Carey said, “Thank you!” He then screamed into the mic, “Let’s fuck this place up!” And that they did, this band was on FIRE! They never let up, talk about captivating a performance!! The fans on the rails knew every word to every song. It was more than heartwarming to see; audience participation was at an all time high. Before they began song number two, “New Friend Request”, Carey informed the crowd that Scary Kids Scaring Kids would not perform as the band had ran into van troubles. He encouraged the crowd to visit the merch booth and purchase the band’s CD. Going the extra mile he shouted, “I know the majority of you are online, write something positive for the band as opposed to something negative!” Chaney’s congregation burst into instantaneous wild ovation.

This brand is fresh, it's the shot of adrenaline this lifeless genre needs. Carey screamed along with Chaney’s deep and spirited vocals accompanied by fellow guitarist Josh James backing Carey up on the screaming tip that is. James and Chaney’s guitar work was pristine, scorching, and staggering best displayed on songs like “Gerald Did What” and “Smell of Summer”. Rounding out the band is rhythm section, bassist Jason Southwell and newbie to the band, Kyle Mims. Southwell shined on “Brave Reality”, “Gerald Did What”, and especially “New Friend Request”, he even has a solo in the break! Mims is a perfect fit for the band not to mention he is damn good drummer. His performance was stirring in comparison to the last time I saw him perform with his former band Love Is Red during the Heavyweights of Hardcore Tour. There is something to be said when a musician has found a home with a band they love playing with.

During “Brave Reality”, Carey called for a pit, his flock gleefully accommodated his request as the pit erupted and grew wider. Before the band’s rendition of the Smashing Pumpkins song, “Zero”, Chaney addressed the crowd, “It’s the first time we are playing in Chicago!” How sweet of the band to give us a great cover of a now defunct Chicago staple but not forgotten local heroes (RIP)! The audience appreciated the band’s offering down to the very last note. After the conclusion of the song, James happily encouraged the predominately under 25-year old crowd to visit the back of the room announcing the band’s CD was available for purchase along with other merch. He then quickly launched into giving the sounds guy and promoters of the show props. In which close to the end of their performance, the club managed to turn Chaney’s mic up…to no avail. Again, it still did not stop Evergreen Terrace from putting on an amazing performance. Check these young men out next time they roll through your neck of the woods.

Evergreen Terrace Setlist: No Donnie, New Friend Request, Give ‘Em The Sleeper, Brave Reality, Burned Alive, Dogfight, Smell of Summer, Zero, Gerald Did What, Dear Live Journal

Lineup: Peter Costa – drummer; Chad Crawford – guitars and backing vocals; DJ Wilson – guitars; Tyson Stevens – vocals, bass; Puyan – keyboards; Steve - guitar

Despite the band’s name, raising an eyebrow or two, this band was good, down right impressive. This was my first encounter with the Arizonan sextet. Their sound is a concoction of Thursday meets Still Remains with the rocking keyboard player and cool melody lines mixed with manic vocals. Tonight the band was almost unable to perform, again, Silverstein allowed the band to go on prior to their performance. It was shades of Chicago's Sounds of the Underground all over again. The crowd was expecting to see Silverstein however SKSK had gone from the van to the stage. Scary Kids were nothing of the sort, they held their own. The band squashed their crowd’s reservations, others were happy to see this band’s performance. Earlier in the evening, a many of kid sulked around the venue not believing their “luck” thinking that their favorite band was not going to perform. By the end of SKSK’s set, the whole place perked up. Not bad for a last minute throw in!

The band recently released The City Sleeps In Flames on Immortal Records, either pick up a copy or see the band for yourself. They are heading back on the road with Silverstein, June, and Underminded.

Click here for more photos of SKSK

Lineup: Shane Told - Vocals; Neil Boshart - Guitar; Josh Bradford - Guitar; Bill Hamilton - Bass; Paul Koehler - Drums

Victory Record’s Silverstein opened to a packed house, the warmed up crowd sung along to each word during the band’s first song. In the beginning the audience was eager to embark on the 50-minute journey of sonic sound unfortunately the crowd ran out of gas halfway through the set. By the time the second song started, the band started to see audience participation dwindle. In efforts to spark the crowd’s attention, vocalist Shane Told addressed the restless fold, “How are doing tonight?” The response was semi-favorable. After this point, the trip went south of the border, not that the band did not put on a credible performance because they did, they made the best of it whilst on stage. Allowing Scary Kids Scaring Kids to perform ahead of them may have hurt them in the end. Wish the outcome had been more favorable for this quintet, hailing from Burlington, Ontario (“outskirts” of Toronto). Literally, by the time the band ended their set, there were only 30-people maybe still in attendance.

Told’s vocals were good yet were drowned out by the band’s instrumentation. From the parts that could be heard, it seemed his vocal range was decent. As for the rest of the band, they were good, not spectacular, but entertaining nonetheless. The sound guy should score some major points in the bass department. Out of all of the band’s on the bill tonight, the bass could be heard clearly and succinctly, too bad the same cannot be said for 100% of the respective band’s vocals, unless they screamed.

Here’s the thing with Silverstein, they are a descent band, cannot take that away from them however their post hardcore / punk-pop sound has been done before. Alas, there is not much that separates them from the fold. The band is in support of their latest effort Discovering The Waterfront. Coming off the heels of the Van’s Warped Tour, this band has done some pretty extensive touring with the likes of Hawthorne Heights, Fall Out Boy, just to name a few. Despite it all, the band should be pleased with their performance tonight, even though the venue thinned out before the masses could see the conclusion. Then again, can the disappearance of the majority of the crowd be a bigger indicator of mass appeal? Who knows, only time will tell?

Click here for interview with Shane Told

Here for Review / Photos from the 2006 Warped Tour

Evergreen Terrace dates w/Silverstein, I Am The Avalanche, Scary Kids Scaring Kids
8/15 Buffalo, NY @ Buffalo Icon
8/16 Farmingdale, NY @ Downtown
8/17 Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East
8/18 Philadelphia, PA @ North Star
8/19 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
8/20 Trenton, NY @ Hellfest (cancelled)
8/22 Detroit, MI @ Alvin's
8/23 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge

Evergreen Terrace dates w/ Winter Solstice, As Cities Burn, and The Burning Season
8/27 Milwaukee, WI @ Mad Planet
8/28 Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
8/29 Omaha, NE @ Sokol Underground
8/30 Kansas City, MO @ El Torreon
8/31 St. Louis, MO @ Creepy Crawl
9/2 Oklahoma City, OK @ Conservatory
9/3 Dallas, TX @ Club Clearview
9/4 San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
9/5 Houston, TX @ Mary Jane’s Fat Cat
9/8 Birmingham, AL @ Cave 9
9/9 Tallahassee, FL @ Club Downunder

All photos Copyright © 2005. Pictures may not be used without the written consent/permission of FourteenG