UK - South Wales 4

This show at Fuel showed four local bands to update things a bit...

Forsaken

Ancestors

Judgement

Interrogation

Fearless Management seem to be doing a great job across a range of styles too...

Also it's worth mentioning that Cardiff is probably the only city to have three venues that put on hardcore shows in one small street! There's also a 'fashion quarter'...

Clwb Ifor Bach

Full Moon

UK - DIY Documentary

Tour - BearTrap/Witch Cult - UK & home

Day 60/Show 53/ Glasgow, Scotland Woke up really cold today. It sucked leaving Belfast in shitty weather cause I liked it so much the day before. We got to the ferry early to avoid getting fucked with really hard by officials. When we got to check in there was no line, no one checked our passports, everyone was super nice and we got on an earlier ferry that was only an hour long instead of 2 hours. It was a nice change of pace. The ferry ride was awesome too. The Irish Ocean is beautiful and the ferry was going super fast so it was cool. The drive from the ferry port to Glasgow was also very beautiful and the weather was super nice. The coolest part of this tour for me has been seeing animals grazing with their young in beautiful green fields. You don’t see that in America anymore. We got to Glasgow early and hung around near the venue, The 13th Note. It is a vegan café upstairs and a show space down stairs. Hashim booked the show and he is a super nice dude. We had dinner at the venue and I had ice cream for dinner. The show started around 8. Three bands played before us and a lot of kids watched the first one and then left. COOL. Other than that the show was pretty good. We both played alright. After the show we went to where we were sleeping, my favorite part of the day.

Day 61/ Show 54/ Aberdeen, Scotland Woke up today in a really nice apartment in downtown Glasgow. We had a good breakfest thanks to Bobby, the dude we stayed with. Then we walked around the city and Glasgow is a pretty cool place. As soon as we got in the van to drive to Aberdeen the weather got shitty. The first thing you see when you pull in to Aberdeen is a massive graveyard. It was cold, it was grey, and it looked like it would last the rest of my life. Pretty grim looking. We got to the venue, Cellar 35, and it was a small bar in a basement of a building. We waited around for the show to start. 2 locals played before us, and 2 other touring bands played after us, in a small town like this 4 touring bands doesn’t do anyone any good. We both played and it was decent. Again tonight it seemed like way more people watched the first band then left. Scotland is 2-0 for that, let's see what tomorrow is like. Then we packed up and drove to the place where all 4 bands were sleeping.

Day 62/Show 55/ Edinburgh, Scotland Woke up today and headed to Edinburgh. I heard it was really nice. The drive was ok, but the weather was eratic per usual. I felt sick on the ride there and it lasted all day. Instead of going out and checking out the city I layed down and tried to sleep all day. The cool thing about that is the venue, The Banshee Labyrinth, has a movie theater in it. I watched The Lost Boys and then slept for a little bit until I was kicked out because there was an acoustic show happening in there. I continued to feel like shit all night. The venue is really cool tho. It’s a series of different rooms / bars connected by tunnels. It is also the most haunted bar in Scotland. The show started around 830 and 3 bands played before us. I zoned out with my earplugs in trying to feel better. We both played and it was cool. A lot of people came out and it didn’t seem like they left after the first band. Scotland is 1-3 with that. After the show we went to the place we are sleeping. Tomorrow is the last show of tour, then a day off then I fly home.

Day 63/Show 56/ Manchester, UK Woke up and left right away for Manchester. The promoter, Elena, was making us food at her house before the show. Pizza and brownies and they were awesome. We watched High Fidelity and then headed to the show. It was in a spot called the Kraak Gallery. It was a pretty cool place in an alleyway in downtown Manchester. Waited awhile for the show to start. The first band was a kinda black metal influenced hardcore band and they were good. Then Witch Cult played and people dug it which is weird because a lot of people shit talked them on the facebook event. Internet warriors who said they would be at the show but didn’t go, COOL. Then BearTrap played and it was cool. It was the last night of tour so we were in a hurry to get shit out the door and head home, a 4 hour drive. Got in around 4 am and slept like a baby.

Day 64 Day off at Alastair's house Woke up today and watched Mad Men. Then we ate and went to the currency exchange place. WE DIDN’T LOSE MONEY ON THIS TOUR!! Then we went back to Alastair's and relaxed all day. We had a last supper together at a sushi place. We have to wake up super early tomorrow (6 am) to catch an 11 am flight, and we land in Boston at 11 am. This will suck.

Day 65 Fly Home Woke up super early. When we got to the airport we said our goodbyes and tried not to get emotional. And then there were 3 Americans. We got to the airport 3 hours early and sat around and did nothing. The flight wasn’t that bad. My tv was broken so I didn’t really get to watch anything. Slept for 3 hours and then we landed. I went home and within 5 minutes I had to get out. Then I slept for about 15 hours. And that’s how the tour ended.

Tour - Beartrap/Witch Cult - UK & Ireland

Day 55/Show 48/ Kent, UK

Woke up today and drove to the ferry. The border cops fucked with us hard. They almost didn’t let us in, but luckily my lies got us thru. They are strict about American bands coming in and getting paid so we told them Zach fills in for the Witch Cult (which is true) and that Mr. Shit and I came along to just travel Europe. They didn’t buy it for a while but finally let us thru. I wish I could just explain that we don’t make money, we lose money, and we are spending the money we have in their country so they should just fucking let us in. We missed the ferry we were supposed to take so they put us on a different one and we had to sit at the border for 2 extra hours. I hope this doesn’t happen with going to and from Ireland. The ferry today was not too long but it sucked. The currency exchange on board said 0 comission so I figured it would be cool, but when I checked the exchange rate online later they also fucked us.


After the ferry the drive was short. We got to the venue which is called Platform 5. The show isn’t actually in the bar, it's in a tent out back, and it's not warm enough out yet for a show in a tent. I was told that there were 9 bands playing, which is about 4 too many. 2 bands dropped off luckily. When the show started I thought there were a lot of people here, then I remembered most of them are in 1 of the 7 bands. Dashwood, Cry Wolf, Self Loathing and Let It Die all played. I missed the first band because we were off getting food. Then BearTrap played and kids went off, and sang along. It always blows my mind. Same happened for Witch Cult. This show could have been a disaster with timing/people getting bored and leaving cause of too many bands, but it actually went really good. Thanks to Josh for booking the show and running it smoothly. After the show we went back to the place we were crashing and I took my first bath since I was about 5. Then we slept because that’s all we do.

Day 56/Show 49/ Leeds, UK

Woke up today and sat around for awhile. Watched some mtv and then drove to Leeds. The drive wasn’t too bad, and the weather didn’t get shitty either. The venue tonight was called Fox and Newt. We heard that “people went crazy in Leeds” but that wasn’t the case. There were 3 bands on before us, and 2 of them left after they played. Closure was the only band that stayed, thanks to them for that. The show was ok, not to many people, and most of them stood far away. After the show we went to one of the dudes from Closure's tattoo shop. Some of us got some work done. Then we went to the promoter's house to sleep. Tomorrow is another ferry and a border so we will have to wake up early to account for the time we will waste being fucked with by cops.


Day 57/Show 50/ Dublin, Ireland

Today we woke up early and got to the ferry early. No one even checked our passports or anything. The nice old lady who was supposed to check our van for drugs or whatever asked if we were a group (band) and if she should know us/were we famous? After we laughed with her about it she let us go and didn’t check a thing. 2 hours later we got on the ferry with no issues. It's crazy how some are so strict and some are so relaxed. After 3 hours of zoning out on the ferry we got off and drove thru Dublin to the venue.


The place was called Thomas House. It was the basement of a bar and a weird set up. Very narrow and at the end was a small rise for bands to play on, but the bar stuck out half way across the stage so Mr. Shit and half the drum set were hidden behind it the entire time. There was an alright amount of people for a Monday night, aside from that nothing went right. After we played and loaded out we figured out where we were staying and drove there. After that we made some pasta and went to sleep. The ferries to and from Ireland are super expensive so I think we are gonna have a loss on our hands.

Day 58/Show 51/ Galway, Ireland

Woke up today cold on a hard wood floor. Perfect end to last night/start of the day. Then we sat around forever with nothing to do. We drove to Galway and the weather was shitty half the drive, and then real bad when we got there. We sat in the venue for about 4 hours till people showed up for the show.


The venue tonight is called Sally Long's. The show is in the bar and I was told this will be the best Ireland show. Jack, who put out our record in Ireland, got us the 3 shows. Thanks to him for that. This show started around 10 and when it started there were a good amount of people there. Vagrants opened the show. They played with us yesterday in Dublin also. They were good. Then Witch Cult played and people moved around and went off. Then for the BearTrap set it was pretty wyld. Kids really appreciate it when bands come over to this side of Ireland I guess. People were going crazy and a bunch were singing along. We sold a lot of shit too. This was one of the best shows of the tour. After the show we went to the place we are sleeping and set up camp in the living room. Then we watched videos of our old and current bands on youtube. Losers.

Day 59/Show 52/ Belfast, Ireland

Today we woke up in Galway, sat around for a little bit and then drove to Belfast. We avoided toll roads so the drive was more scenic and nice. The weather was erratic like every other drive. It would rain real heavy for 10 minutes and then be really sunny and nice the next 10. When we got to Belfast it was really nice out. This city is super nice too. One of my favorite cities so far. We walked to a grocery store, then skated thru the center to an awesome skate park under a bridge.


After that we went back to the venue for dinner. The venue tonight is Warzone center. The show started around 10. There was an alright amount of people but it didn’t seem too lively in there. They would clap between songs but otherwise seemed pretty uninterested. A few people bought records tho so that’s cool. After the show we went to where we were sleeping. I did my usual calculations and we lost money on ferry tickets so next time play 4 shows instead of 3. Sleep.

Tour - Beartrap - UK Dates

Day 5/first show/London

Alastair woke up the Americans again because we still aren’t sleeping in UK/Europe time yet. We drove around and picked up all the other Witch Cult dudes/their shirts and headed to the show. We got there and the first band started. The show was in Central London in the basement of a small café called Power Lunches. I’m not sure if they do shows/hardcore shows regularly. The promoters band, Dashwood, played 2nd and I dug them. Alex is a super nice dude and I think this was the first show he has booked. He did an awesome job with it and I hope he continues to book shows. After that I zoned out for awhile before we played. The room was super hot/small and everyone was sweating. The show was technically ”sold out” haha. The bands before us (Iron Curtain and Abolition) were on the heavier side of hardcore and us/Witch Cult are on the faster side so most of the people that went for those dudes filtered out of the show after them. Witch Cult started and all the freaks and misfits in the room come to the front and started going wild with us. I’m playing drums for them on this tour so saying “us” might get confusing. We played fast and we played hard and people enjoyed it and went off. Then BearTrap played and it was much the same. Some people sang along which is always pretty shocking to me. A few people bought some stuff and we got payed well and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to start the tour. After the show we drive to Bristol where we will play tomorrow.


Day 6/show 2 Bristol

Last night we got to Bristol and I slept like shit. The blanket I’m using is stolen from the plane we took so it doesn’t fit my whole body and I’m not in UK sleep mode yet. Other than that I’ve drank more tea in the past 6 days than I have in my entire life. We woke up and walked from the apartment to centre city of Bristol. Everything is sooo different over here compared to America, from the architecture to how friendly people are (at least in the northeast USA). We must have walked for 5 miles and took the city in, it was awesome. Then we headed to the show. It was in a venue called The Gryphon. The room we played in was smaller than most basements we have played and I think there were 150 kids total paid. It was our second show of tour and it was “sold out” again haha. The show was the upstairs of a bar and it was an interesting set up. It was basically 2 shows. First, 5 locals of multiple different genres played (a d beat band, a metal band, hc band and 2 others I couldn’t see cause I was watching the illegally parked van). After that, an hour long break. Then we played. I‘m awful with watching the crowd/guessing how many people were there but I was told 150 or something. Enough for me to stage dive off the bar and have my mind blown that people were singing along. Ed Eames booked the show and he is an awesome dude. We got paid well and he was constantly checking in to see how we were doing, something I am not used to in the United States.

Witch Cult played and it was even more wild than the BearTrap set. As for the last 2 bands, after playing 2 sets I was too tapped out and sitting in my underwear (which are called pants over here) to check them out. UNSU from France was one of them and I have heard them before. They were really nice dudes. People flooded downstairs after they were done and had nothing but nice stuff to say about them. After the show we headed to Tim's place in Exeter. I slept like shit again. Tim plays guitar in Witch Cult sometimes and he is currently making us chili in the other room. We are about to leave to go to some skate park in Truro before the show.

My favorite thing about the whole tour so far is the lingo arguments us/Witch Cult have. It's all a joke but yelling at a crowd “Cookies are called cookies, not fucking biscuits” is my favorite way to pass the time so far.

Day 7&8/show 3&4 Truro/Southampton

We ate the chili and then left for the skate park. The skate park was pretty wild. Mr. Shit loved it. I slept in the van for awhile and then we headed to the show. This show was at Live Bar in Truro. Ed from Moshtache Records (who also put out a small run of our record Nailed Shut in the UK) set up the show and he is super nice. We showed up to the venue and there was coconut curry and rice waiting for us which was awesome. Then after that we loaded in. The set up was a bar downstairs and a venue upstairs. It's pretty cool. We waited awhile and the show started. Unlike the other shows, this show only had 3 bands on it. Monilith was a 2 piece bass and drums sludge band and they opened the show. Then we played. A few people sang along again so my mind was blown. Witch Cult played and it was wild as always. This show had the odds stacked up against it because the 2 shows before it were mind blowing. We broke down our equipment in record time and loaded out to head to Ed's house to sleep. We got to his house and there was a bed and a blow up mattress and I finally got a good nights sleep. Woke up today to some fruit, nuts and other assorted goodies. It’s seriously soooo awesome to be eating healthy on this tour. It's equally as awesome that I feel better because the food isn’t pumped with as many disgusting hormones and other shit that fat Americans unknowingly get diseases from. While I was asleep the van was taken to get the brakes looked at and when I woke up I was told we had to leave asap because the shop in that area ordered the wrong part. We had to rush to another shop near the venue tonight. 4 hours later we are here at the venue and we have to wake up early tomorrow to get them worked on. The venue is called The Dorchester pub and it’s a bar with a cool area to play in. We waited around for the show to start. Had some vegan chili and it was awesome. Tom booked the show and was super nice and always checking in on us, again, something I’m not used to. This is Witch Cult's “hometown” area so I had high hopes for the show. The first band was called Shards and they were pretty good. I’d suggest checking them out. Then The Good Wife played. We played and it was awesome. We got a good response again and it blew my mind. Then Witch Cult played and the place went insane. Everyone was super nice and the show was awesome. The coolest thing about this show is that we walked upstairs to the venue and that’s where we are sleeping. So we loaded out and I took a shower and I’m laying in bed. So far the tour has been pretty easy going because Witch Cult is from the UK. Tomorrow we take a train under the sea over to France and that’s when the tour starts in my eyes. We wont have the security of “home” anymore.

UK - Brighton

“Brighton has always had a strong vibrant underground music and art scene. There are loads of bands, projects, artists, venues and labels but I'm only gonna mention the alternative music scene...

Amongst its most famous exports are what remains of the ashes of Theatre of Hate (London originals but now resident in Brighton) - Spear of Destiny.

Also a Brighton resident is Chelsea's frontman Gene October and he told me they're getting together for a couple of gigs here in town and also the coming Rebellion festival in the summer with the "Evacuate" album line-up. That will be a blast!

Also still doing the rounds are probably the city's most famous Punk band Peter & The Test Tube Babies.

As for that great band Poison Girls - they're sadly missed but obviously not forgotten...

Now for the newest generation of rebels with a cause…


Burnt Cross and Constant State of Terror which fly high the anarcho-punk flag and in the case of the latter a slight crustie influence can be noted in their sound as opposed to the Crass and affiliates type of sound that Burnt Cross diffuse through the several means of communication...


Also we have Dollar Sent that owes its credentials to a more garage/punk genre but are a must to see live...


Now as for The Meow-Meows, ska is the dish being served. Bon-Apetite!

Speaking of Ska but with lashings of hardcore/punk infused in its sound The Junk have been slowly but surely gaining ground along with a faithful fan-base.


Now also of the Punk persuasion but with a comic and funny outtake on life are Los Mendozas, Always dressed as Mexican wrestlers in their gigs, they're a band that you gotta see them to believe it and the sound damn it rips!


For those that like a bit more melody then maybe Corrigan would be the answer.


For the trasher that hides inside you one can always rely on Crypsis to deliver...


For the new hardcore legions of nouveau kiddies then it'll have to be The Fallthrough. These guys don't mess about!


Finally Random Heroes are also worth mentioning...

There are loads more bands about but I think I've given you all the right pointers as if you go to see or hear one of these then you probably hear about others sometime too...

As for venues places like The Hydrant, Prince Albert, Cowley Club and for the bigger gigs the Concorde 2 are the usual rendez-vous.

For the place to buy records, cd's and t-shirts, I have to mention Buz and his store the Punker Bunker as he is also one of the people that organizes events in town and has over the years delighted many folk bringing to town such great acts as The Adicts, the Dickies, NoMeansNo, etc...”

UKHCmorethanmusic

UKHCmorethanmusic is a band and gig directory that will help me (and others hopefully) to connect with activities here in the UK.

Its aim is to help the DIY scene by creating a central place for communication so that news can be spread and gigs organised as efficiently as possible.

If you want your gig or band to be added or if bands have split then email:

hcmorethanmusic@googlemail.com

Sampler - Holy Hell, UK

Holy Roar Records


Available here

New, exclusive tracks as well as a bunch of stuff from this years releases so far.

Tracklisting -

Rosa Valle – Mathemagician (North East)


Slabdragger - Erroneous Maximus (South East)


Witch Cult – Burn (South Coast)


The Ergon Carousel - Dead Banks


Self Loathing – Cut (East)


Crossbreaker - Time Is Making Fools of Us (South Wales)


Rolo Tomassi - ...And Then The Mannequin Spoke (Sheffield)


Antares - to youth and valour (Yorkshire)


Pariso - The Recluse (London)


Kerouac – Fiends (South)


Make Do And Mend - Night's The Only Time of Day


Grazes - Observers Paradox (Sheffield)


Jackals - Mob Mentality (East)


End Reign – Abyss (North East)


Eisberg - Salt In The Wound


Brutality Will Prevail - Heavy Eyes (South Wales)


Daggers – Axes (Brussels, Belgium)


Brontide – Jura


Gallops – Eukodol (North Wales)


Hang The Bastard - The Great Devourer (London)


Abolition – Shadow (London)


Cthulhu Youth - Free Music For Poor Punx (London)