Now this was a great show. I'd finally get to see Hands Tied for the first time and Better Than a Thousand in DC, but more importantly I'd actually get to see Burn perform live. I got into hardcore not long after they broke up but I got their 7" pretty early on and was 100% all about it. It was so much different than everything else I had heard at the time (which was mostly either the Victory and Equal Vision catalogs of the time or the early Revelation stuff), and so incredibly heavy and powerful and fresh. I couldn't believe I'd actually get to see them live.I was never all that into For the Living. Great guys, for sure, but when compared to most of the other youth crew bands of the time, they just didn't rank all that high in my book. Sorry guys. I'm sure none of them would deny the fact that all their bands that would follow were loads better and loads more important in the general scheme of things. Actually, the Primary demo was pretty good too. I definitely didn't care for Fahrenheit 451 and they pulled one of my biggest pet peeves in covering Fugazi's "Waiting Room". The song itself isn't the pet peeve, it's when out of town bands feel they have to cover a band from that town to win over the crowd. Weak. Hands Tied were pretty good but I remember feeling a little bit let down. I think my expectations were just too high as I loved the 7" and was really looking forward to seeing them. They were fine, but just didn't blow me away.
Burn fucking killed it. I'm always wary of old bands getting back together and playing again but they were tight and intense and I loved every second of it. They obviously played the 7" and "New Morality" but beyond that I can't remember what the rest of the set was. They definitely played more than 5 songs that night. It wouldn't have mattered to me cuz those 5 would have been the only ones I would have heard at that time. The reunions they did a few years later were great, but did not compare to the energy at this show.
Better Than a Thousand were a great live band and a lot of fun on this night. It was cool seeing Ray in a more traditional hardcore band. I saw Shelter play a bunch of times, and while I liked them, they just didn't have the energy that BT1K or Youth of Today had. This is the type of band he really shines in.
All in all, solid show.
2 comments:
It's sad that I was in a band who played this show and I don't remember Burn even playing but strangely enough, I remember 451 doing the waiting room cover and laughing. Mike, no sweat about FTL, I felt the same way and even more so in hindsight. But, from the ashes of that band, did come a lot of better things for DC.
I had scheduled an interview with Ray Cappo before this show, but something got bolloxed up with the arrangements, so I ended up missing everything except Burn & BT1K. This was the first show I ever watched from "backstage", and I pulled off one of my best stage dives ever.
I also think it's hilarious and sad how many shows you & I attended simultaneously, Mike. Yet we never really hung out until 2000/2001.
That is all.
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