| venue: Ojai Womens Club date: 8-4-01 bands: Up Hill Battle, Champion, Rise Against, Reach the Sky Okay so I feel like a dirtbag because I forgot the name of the first band, they weren't originally on the show but they got on because Carry On canceled. So they [i will refer to them as they] are from Simi Valley. So they started off and I missed their first song so I came in during the middle of their second song, its hard to describe their style really, its not hardcore persay but i guess the closest style they play to is emo/hardcore possibly.................. They dont play super fast or super tough, like I said they style is different. Their music is knid of soothing hardcore, if that is possible. They had semi-breakdowns but no one was occupating the dance floor, everyone was kid of in chill mode. The one thing that they do not lack is heart and emotion on stage. I mean you could just see that they were spilling their hearts out to the audience, and I really enjoyed listening to and watching them. I would tell you who they remind me off or who they soound like but I can't really think of any bands to compare them to. Definetely a must if you are into emo/hardcore that is kind of easy listening stuff. Anyways up next was Up Hill Battle, I had never heard or seen Up Hill Battle before but I was kid of looking forward to them because I had heard good stuff about them. I was kind of dissapointed. First off let me tell you I am not a real big fan of grindcore. Now that would precisley be what Up Hill Battle is, grindcore. Fast metal I guess you could say with screaming vocals. Doesn't really interest me but fans of grindcore would enjoy Up Hill Battle a lot. Up next was probably the best band from Seattle right now, Champion. They weren't originally on the show but Throwdown cancelled and so did Carry On so they got a spot, and good thing because they are a fucking amazing band. So I had seen the one time before this show, when they played at Ojai before with WIT. Champion plays your normal hardcore but then they add in some pretty crucial mosh and some very well timed melodic parts, which makes for an amazing hardcore band, oh and did I mention that they are EDGE!! They lyrics consist of well thought out songs about life friends and basically the hardcore scene in general. They played all the songs I think off of their CD/ep "Come out swinging", which by the way in my opinion is one of the best hardcore releases this year by far!! There was alot of circle pit action and some good mosh and a lot of singing a-long. And on top of all that they are probably the nicest guys ever! And they go oout and try to watch every band they can, which is rad. I can't really say enough about how stoked I am on Champion. If you dind't get to see them or you have never heard them you are really missing out on something really special. Go to www.championedge.org thats their website. Up next was Rise Against, I don't really know much about this band except they have members from 88 fingers louie. I had never heard their music before this show, and I was kind of bummed out because they didn't have any music to sell, just shirts, huh. But anyways their music was really good actually for what it was, melodic/punk. Their singer was actually really good, he sang that style very well, and their music tto, was very enjoyable. A must of fans of Strike Anywhere and any melodic punk stuff. After them was one of my favorite bands right now, Reach the Sky. Hailing from Boston Mass., RTS plays a very melodic style of hardcore, while keeping the hardcore alive. So they played like 4 songs from their old CD and the rest from their new CD. They are really good, and it seams that every word that Ian says is from somwhere special. There wasn't as many people as there was before which was kind of lame because RTS is an amazing band that has been around for a while and I would have hoped there would have been more people but, for how many people who were there they got a good reaction. Anyways until next time late. |