Hardcore: Terror, Cro-Mags and Haywire.
Scott Vogel of Terror - All photos courtesy of Paul Holstein.
It’s always exciting to go to a show with both a stacked lineup and with bands that I haven’t seen live before. This was a Sunday night, but the show was starting early, and it was at one of my favorite Detroit venues, The Tangent Gallery. This was the same night that NOFX was playing their final show, but there was no mention of that – this was pure hardcore.
I missed the first two bands, but arrived in time to catch the Haywire set. They have a new album out this year, “Conditioned for Demolition” (which features Adam Voss from Conservative Military Image on track “Like A Train," Chubby and the Gang on track “Love Song," and Colin Campbell from Colin of Arabia on track “Poser Disposer”). If you aren’t familiar with those bands, they are hardcore royalty in the current scene. Their set was intense, and there was so much moshing and stage diving that I wasn’t able to get any photos. In many ways, that’s a good thing, the crowd was definitely into them, and I was as well.
I repositioned myself to the other side of the stage for the next set. Just as I would have expected, Harley Flanagan took the stage wearing a New York City T-shirt with the sleeves cut off (which didn’t stay on long), a backwards baseball hat donning the word "Hard-Core," and with a lit joint whose smoke wafted across the front row. He strapped on his bass guitar and growled to the crowd to move up closer. Harley and I are the same age, and I have to say that I’m a little jealous of his top physical condition. It’s been a trademark of his over the years, the bulging muscles, shaved head, and premium tattoos—and he has not let up.
The Cro-Mags weren’t quite as hardcore as the other bands, but they still killed it, and Harley had all of the energy that would be expected of a hardcore band. I owned a copy of their classic LP “Age of Quarrel” back in the 1980s and was glad to hear them finish with “Hard Times.”. I was initially surprised that they weren’t headlining, given their 38+ year career and timeless songs, but I could tell later on that the crowd was really into Terror (and so am I after this show).
Harley Flanagan of The Cro-Mags
@jaxjacote singing with Terror
There was a fun moment when I picked up a guitar pick from the stage. A young kid (@jaxjacote) was right next to me and saw me do it, so I gave him the pick. Later, the guitar player (who hadn’t noticed that interaction) came over and handed him a pick. The kid generously dug the pick I had given him out of his pocket and gave it back to me. Apparently he was a big Terror fan, as he knew the words to their songs and not much later in the evening would be up on stage singing a song with them.
Terror opened with “One With The Underdogs” and my favorite “Spit My Rage”, and wound the crowd up into a frenzy. Throughout the show, singer Scott Vogel kept trying to get everyone to move up front (which worked for a while, but the crazy pit kept pushing them back again). I probably dodged more stage divers at this show, than any other show this year. By the end, I was wiped out and glad to step out into the cool air. Another great show, and a perfect end to a fall weekend in Detroit.
