So, that was a fucking crazy weekend. We all have tales to tell, lessons learned about various things and, I'm sure, band/set reviews. Let's get to it. PREPARE FOR THE GIANT POST.
First crazy thing was (and I'm sure he will corroborate this story later) that Jeremy's car had an issue with it, so we had to take he and Grant with us down to MD. Once we arrived (after about 10 hours due to that detour, fucking up directions a couple times somehow, insane rush hour traffic ov death in New York, some rain that slowed down the proceedings), we met the IL metal contingent and finally checked in (like 4 hours later than we had originally wished to).
First band I saw was Absu. Pretty sure I was just standing with David/Mort Divine (who was my de facto band-buddy for a lot of the weekend, cheers dude), as everyone quickly went their separate ways. They were great; much better than when they last played the outdoor stage a few years ago. I like them as a 3 piece but you miss out on some of the more nuanced riffs because of that fact. Still, Proscriptor was his usual wacky self and this was an enjoyable beginning to the fest for me, personally.
Skipped Eyehategod to go back to the room and figure out living arrangements and unpack and shit. Went back for Agallloch and rocked out with Schmidt and David. They played strictly stuff from the first couple albums, along with some demo/EP stuff. They were quite great, and also had one of the two "why the fuck are people circle-pitting to this" moments I witnessed this weekend. Seriously, fuck metal fans sometimes.
I am, as most people know, not really the biggest Autopsy fan, so I'm pretty sure I hung around outside during them, though the fest was not properly set up during the Thursday night sets, so eventually the people who were uninterested went back to the room. I think someone got one of Reifert's sticks and their setlist, which is always kewl. Stayed up late this night partying with everyone. Schmidt, Guy and I stayed up until 5 AM or something singing a bunch of doom and heavy metal songs,
Saturday began hilariously; Cody/KafkaX woke us up at like 12 by knocking on the door as loudly as possible and shouting "WAKE UP!! BEER!!". Groggily letting him in, I was greeted by he and his friend Brendan throwing Natty Boh at every single one of us, including most people still in bed/on the floor. This was great because even though it restricted the amount of sleep we got, it relieved me of the duty of waking people up and got us going (fairly) early. Went down to check out a bit of Castevet. Apparently Dan was there too but I was hanging out with Swist/Zeph at this point. We dug them, but I sorta wished the vocalist would've shut up sometimes. I didn't particularly give a shit about anything until Demigod, but we did get upfront for them. Guy, Schmidt and I were really fucking rocking out; they played most of Slumber of Sullen Eyes and, even though originally their sound was rocky and overly-bassy, they eventually corrected most of the issues. One of the guitarists was extremely quiet even after this though.
We were going to watch a bit of Macabre but their sound seemed bad (holy fuck that kick drum), so most of us went to McDonald's for some pre-Godflesh/rest-of-the-night dinner. Eventually went down to check a bit of Negură Bunget, but I personally thought they were a bit flat and monotonous. I was never a huge fan anyway, though. Forgot to mention that right before them we caught a bit of Artillery, who many from this forum did not bother to go see. Even though they sorta suck now, holy crap did they put on a good show. MDF should put more good thrashy bands on... their new vocalist was great and their sound was clear and sharp. David and I were digging it a lot; we were a bit sorry we didn't come down earlier.
We watched a little bit of Napalm Death from afar, but I mainly was psyched for Godflesh. We must have all been hanging out before them, but I don't quite remember. Probably all watching some retarded Youtube videos or something (20th Century Fox: Flute Edition was a favorite of the weekend, for sure). Godflesh were fucking INCREDIBLE. Heaviest live band I've ever seen. Words cannot do it justice. Justin ended the set by manipulating feedback from his guitar; very noisy, just how I like it. David and I went to see Unsane after. Fucking awesome as well. This one-two punch was some of my favorite stuff of the whole weekend. Ruined my voice raw singing along to their cover of Flipper's "Ha Ha Ha". After the show, Schmidt, Bleull, David and I went to an awesome higher-class craft beer bar and got amazing beer; we will definitely be hitting this place up every year. Great times. We partied back in the room after and David, Guy and I ended up staying up until 8 AM (woops) talking about various shit and crushing beers.
We missed everything until like 5 PM on Saturday, but it was cool because MORBID FUCKING SAINT ripped everything apart. They played Spectrum of Death front to back and tore it up majorly. Great stuff. After them we rocked out to The Devil's Blood, who were one of my highlights for the fest. Pretty sure they were one of Dan's favorites too. An absolutely awesome live band... have a few videos I might put up too. Schmidt, David and I stayed inside for Archgoat right after, and they were really killer. I was pretty drunk at this point, but maintained composure by headbanging as stupidly as possible to some kvlt and bestial Finnish blackdeathfuck metal. I have no idea what happened after this, but we must've gone back to the hotel because I missed Confessor entirely.
We came back down for Morbid Angel who were insanely fucking bad. They weren't even like comical, just a band who is the artistic shell of their former self. They played all old songs that they figure people "want them to play", which means their artistic integrity really IS all gone. If they had played HARDKORE RADIKULT and killed some fucking cop-cops (this was a great running joke all weekend, btw), we would have been really pumped because Schmidt and Guy made shirts with stuff like "$traight Outta Tampa" on them, but man, this was horrid. Skipped out on a lot of their shit and went inside for Tsjuder, who were awesome. No-fucks-given true Norwegian black metal. Just great. Went back to the hotel after them and prepared to go out to another bar. This time we chose a place quite far away and walked almost a half-hour. This is where our trip got interesting.
The bar was good; we got a little pizza and all had a few beers, discussing various things (I think it was Schmidt, me, Bleull, David, Dan and Vince) and generally being psyched as fuck. Bleull decided he would get a shot of something ridiculous and got schwasted, which began a series of hilarious and horrible events (in that order). The half-hour walk back was made amazing by Bleull's drunken antics which included being the friendliest and most charismatic drunk person I've ever seen. Every person he passed he asked if they were having a good night or not, then high fived them. Awesome as fuck. Motherfucker also did like 50 cartwheels, and even succeeded at some.
We passed 7-11 on the way back to the hotel; it's been one of our favorite stomping grounds for late-night camaraderie in years past, so we figured why not. Only David, Bleull, Vince and I decided to go in (or we took a long time or something), and when we left, insanity occurred. Crossing the street, we were accosted by a black dude who punched Bleull in the chest and showed a can of pepper spray, asking for all of his and David's money. I noticed another man was with him, but he seemed to be just an accomplice or something.
Vince and I immediately saw a way out by crossing the street, and when we were safely over, I tried waving the others down. I could see quite clearly that they were being robbed/mugged, so I called 911 and gave all the details of the situation. I had Vince go back to the hotel at this point, and followed the men up the street (though from the safety of being across the street and parallel to them). Within a minute (probably even like 30 seconds), we saw several cruisers pull up and we soon reconvened there. We told all the details of the situation to the officers, and explained that David's wallet and phone were stolen. At this point, we were asked to help the officers find the culprits, so we got in the cop car and drove a few blocks around. Eventually I spotted them both, several blocks from where the mugging happened, and they arrested the fuck out of them. We were all a bit scared at this point, but it was also exciting (much less for David whose stuff was stolen, though, I assume). We had to file witness reports and shit, and I imagine these guys will go scot-free because we can't go back down there to court, but David cancelled all his cards and shit, so it could've gone a lot worse. Overall, holy fucking crap.
By the time we got back to the hotel and I took a shower, it was like 4 AM. All the same, a bunch of us (almost everyone, really) decided to go to a nearby hotel where our friends were staying and ascend to the rooftop, which was stupidly unlocked and unprotected. We stayed up there drinking and talking until 6 AM (I think I have some pictures of this too, including several of Guy making unsavory gesticulations), at which point I went back to the hotel with Grant and slept for a few hours. At this point I was totally exhausted, but there was still a whole other day of fucking metal, so I had to gather myself and go for it.
First band I saw Sunday was some of Disma, who seemed quite good and probably had the best sound of the fest (perfect drums and guitars). Went inside soon after to see Cough with Jeremy, though I almost fell asleep standing up during their set. Regardless of that, they were quite good; very close to the album stuff, though most of that work actually sounds "live" anyway. Rwake was not very good live, so we left out on them early, deciding to go outside and get close for Church of Misery. Insane band live, but I was so exhausted already that by a few songs in I had to force myself out of the giant swath of people to go back to the hotel and prepare for Saint Vitus.
I got front row for them with David, Vince, Bleull and Schmidt and they were fantastic. Some chick decided she would rock out with me for a bunch of their set, and I eventually let her get front row in lieu of me, though I squeezed in a few times. All of a sudden it started raining and it got fucking epic as hell. Awesome stuff. Missed most of Electric Wizard to go see Sargeist. They had the second inopportune circle-pit of the fest that I saw; what the fuck is wrong with people. Someone knocked me back and I got beer all over my shirt, so i was forced to strip and rock out to the rest of their set in appropriately-half-naked fashion. Fuck yeargh. Bethlehem were pretty great, but Schmidt and I spent a decent portion of their set checking out CDs while Schmidt got crunk as fvkk. We went outside for a bit to prepare for Mortuary Drape, but at this point we were all so motherfucking exhausted that we had to bow out of the rest of the legendary band's set.
TL;DR: GO TO MDF. GET MUGGED OR SEE SOMEONE GET MUGGED. SEE AWESOME BANDS. DRINK A LOT OF BEER. GO TO A HOTEL ROOFTOP FOR THE SUNRISE. FUCK BITCHES. GET MONEY.
Wow, that took a long time to type. The ride home was decently easy. Hope everyone got home okay. Share stories here. Don't be intimidated by my post's length; it's mainly for posterity. I will upload a lot of photos and possibly some videos soon. CHEERS, FUCKERS.
First crazy thing was (and I'm sure he will corroborate this story later) that Jeremy's car had an issue with it, so we had to take he and Grant with us down to MD. Once we arrived (after about 10 hours due to that detour, fucking up directions a couple times somehow, insane rush hour traffic ov death in New York, some rain that slowed down the proceedings), we met the IL metal contingent and finally checked in (like 4 hours later than we had originally wished to).
First band I saw was Absu. Pretty sure I was just standing with David/Mort Divine (who was my de facto band-buddy for a lot of the weekend, cheers dude), as everyone quickly went their separate ways. They were great; much better than when they last played the outdoor stage a few years ago. I like them as a 3 piece but you miss out on some of the more nuanced riffs because of that fact. Still, Proscriptor was his usual wacky self and this was an enjoyable beginning to the fest for me, personally.
Skipped Eyehategod to go back to the room and figure out living arrangements and unpack and shit. Went back for Agallloch and rocked out with Schmidt and David. They played strictly stuff from the first couple albums, along with some demo/EP stuff. They were quite great, and also had one of the two "why the fuck are people circle-pitting to this" moments I witnessed this weekend. Seriously, fuck metal fans sometimes.
I am, as most people know, not really the biggest Autopsy fan, so I'm pretty sure I hung around outside during them, though the fest was not properly set up during the Thursday night sets, so eventually the people who were uninterested went back to the room. I think someone got one of Reifert's sticks and their setlist, which is always kewl. Stayed up late this night partying with everyone. Schmidt, Guy and I stayed up until 5 AM or something singing a bunch of doom and heavy metal songs,
Saturday began hilariously; Cody/KafkaX woke us up at like 12 by knocking on the door as loudly as possible and shouting "WAKE UP!! BEER!!". Groggily letting him in, I was greeted by he and his friend Brendan throwing Natty Boh at every single one of us, including most people still in bed/on the floor. This was great because even though it restricted the amount of sleep we got, it relieved me of the duty of waking people up and got us going (fairly) early. Went down to check out a bit of Castevet. Apparently Dan was there too but I was hanging out with Swist/Zeph at this point. We dug them, but I sorta wished the vocalist would've shut up sometimes. I didn't particularly give a shit about anything until Demigod, but we did get upfront for them. Guy, Schmidt and I were really fucking rocking out; they played most of Slumber of Sullen Eyes and, even though originally their sound was rocky and overly-bassy, they eventually corrected most of the issues. One of the guitarists was extremely quiet even after this though.
We were going to watch a bit of Macabre but their sound seemed bad (holy fuck that kick drum), so most of us went to McDonald's for some pre-Godflesh/rest-of-the-night dinner. Eventually went down to check a bit of Negură Bunget, but I personally thought they were a bit flat and monotonous. I was never a huge fan anyway, though. Forgot to mention that right before them we caught a bit of Artillery, who many from this forum did not bother to go see. Even though they sorta suck now, holy crap did they put on a good show. MDF should put more good thrashy bands on... their new vocalist was great and their sound was clear and sharp. David and I were digging it a lot; we were a bit sorry we didn't come down earlier.
We watched a little bit of Napalm Death from afar, but I mainly was psyched for Godflesh. We must have all been hanging out before them, but I don't quite remember. Probably all watching some retarded Youtube videos or something (20th Century Fox: Flute Edition was a favorite of the weekend, for sure). Godflesh were fucking INCREDIBLE. Heaviest live band I've ever seen. Words cannot do it justice. Justin ended the set by manipulating feedback from his guitar; very noisy, just how I like it. David and I went to see Unsane after. Fucking awesome as well. This one-two punch was some of my favorite stuff of the whole weekend. Ruined my voice raw singing along to their cover of Flipper's "Ha Ha Ha". After the show, Schmidt, Bleull, David and I went to an awesome higher-class craft beer bar and got amazing beer; we will definitely be hitting this place up every year. Great times. We partied back in the room after and David, Guy and I ended up staying up until 8 AM (woops) talking about various shit and crushing beers.
We missed everything until like 5 PM on Saturday, but it was cool because MORBID FUCKING SAINT ripped everything apart. They played Spectrum of Death front to back and tore it up majorly. Great stuff. After them we rocked out to The Devil's Blood, who were one of my highlights for the fest. Pretty sure they were one of Dan's favorites too. An absolutely awesome live band... have a few videos I might put up too. Schmidt, David and I stayed inside for Archgoat right after, and they were really killer. I was pretty drunk at this point, but maintained composure by headbanging as stupidly as possible to some kvlt and bestial Finnish blackdeathfuck metal. I have no idea what happened after this, but we must've gone back to the hotel because I missed Confessor entirely.
We came back down for Morbid Angel who were insanely fucking bad. They weren't even like comical, just a band who is the artistic shell of their former self. They played all old songs that they figure people "want them to play", which means their artistic integrity really IS all gone. If they had played HARDKORE RADIKULT and killed some fucking cop-cops (this was a great running joke all weekend, btw), we would have been really pumped because Schmidt and Guy made shirts with stuff like "$traight Outta Tampa" on them, but man, this was horrid. Skipped out on a lot of their shit and went inside for Tsjuder, who were awesome. No-fucks-given true Norwegian black metal. Just great. Went back to the hotel after them and prepared to go out to another bar. This time we chose a place quite far away and walked almost a half-hour. This is where our trip got interesting.
The bar was good; we got a little pizza and all had a few beers, discussing various things (I think it was Schmidt, me, Bleull, David, Dan and Vince) and generally being psyched as fuck. Bleull decided he would get a shot of something ridiculous and got schwasted, which began a series of hilarious and horrible events (in that order). The half-hour walk back was made amazing by Bleull's drunken antics which included being the friendliest and most charismatic drunk person I've ever seen. Every person he passed he asked if they were having a good night or not, then high fived them. Awesome as fuck. Motherfucker also did like 50 cartwheels, and even succeeded at some.
We passed 7-11 on the way back to the hotel; it's been one of our favorite stomping grounds for late-night camaraderie in years past, so we figured why not. Only David, Bleull, Vince and I decided to go in (or we took a long time or something), and when we left, insanity occurred. Crossing the street, we were accosted by a black dude who punched Bleull in the chest and showed a can of pepper spray, asking for all of his and David's money. I noticed another man was with him, but he seemed to be just an accomplice or something.
Vince and I immediately saw a way out by crossing the street, and when we were safely over, I tried waving the others down. I could see quite clearly that they were being robbed/mugged, so I called 911 and gave all the details of the situation. I had Vince go back to the hotel at this point, and followed the men up the street (though from the safety of being across the street and parallel to them). Within a minute (probably even like 30 seconds), we saw several cruisers pull up and we soon reconvened there. We told all the details of the situation to the officers, and explained that David's wallet and phone were stolen. At this point, we were asked to help the officers find the culprits, so we got in the cop car and drove a few blocks around. Eventually I spotted them both, several blocks from where the mugging happened, and they arrested the fuck out of them. We were all a bit scared at this point, but it was also exciting (much less for David whose stuff was stolen, though, I assume). We had to file witness reports and shit, and I imagine these guys will go scot-free because we can't go back down there to court, but David cancelled all his cards and shit, so it could've gone a lot worse. Overall, holy fucking crap.
By the time we got back to the hotel and I took a shower, it was like 4 AM. All the same, a bunch of us (almost everyone, really) decided to go to a nearby hotel where our friends were staying and ascend to the rooftop, which was stupidly unlocked and unprotected. We stayed up there drinking and talking until 6 AM (I think I have some pictures of this too, including several of Guy making unsavory gesticulations), at which point I went back to the hotel with Grant and slept for a few hours. At this point I was totally exhausted, but there was still a whole other day of fucking metal, so I had to gather myself and go for it.
First band I saw Sunday was some of Disma, who seemed quite good and probably had the best sound of the fest (perfect drums and guitars). Went inside soon after to see Cough with Jeremy, though I almost fell asleep standing up during their set. Regardless of that, they were quite good; very close to the album stuff, though most of that work actually sounds "live" anyway. Rwake was not very good live, so we left out on them early, deciding to go outside and get close for Church of Misery. Insane band live, but I was so exhausted already that by a few songs in I had to force myself out of the giant swath of people to go back to the hotel and prepare for Saint Vitus.
I got front row for them with David, Vince, Bleull and Schmidt and they were fantastic. Some chick decided she would rock out with me for a bunch of their set, and I eventually let her get front row in lieu of me, though I squeezed in a few times. All of a sudden it started raining and it got fucking epic as hell. Awesome stuff. Missed most of Electric Wizard to go see Sargeist. They had the second inopportune circle-pit of the fest that I saw; what the fuck is wrong with people
. Someone knocked me back and I got beer all over my shirt, so i was forced to strip and rock out to the rest of their set in appropriately-half-naked fashion. Fuck yeargh. Bethlehem were pretty great, but Schmidt and I spent a decent portion of their set checking out CDs while Schmidt got crunk as fvkk. We went outside for a bit to prepare for Mortuary Drape, but at this point we were all so motherfucking exhausted that we had to bow out of the rest of the legendary band's set.TL;DR: GO TO MDF. GET MUGGED OR SEE SOMEONE GET MUGGED. SEE AWESOME BANDS. DRINK A LOT OF BEER. GO TO A HOTEL ROOFTOP FOR THE SUNRISE. FUCK BITCHES. GET MONEY.
Wow, that took a long time to type. The ride home was decently easy. Hope everyone got home okay. Share stories here. Don't be intimidated by my post's length; it's mainly for posterity. I will upload a lot of photos and possibly some videos soon. CHEERS, FUCKERS.
