|
Whenever Sick Of It All plays a gig, it's always a party. Tonight was
just that. The tiny Knitting Factory was packed like a sardine can. All the
bands were great and ther was a positive vibe in the air.
We missed most of the first band, Most Precious Blood. That wasn't such
a big deal since we have seen MPB many times. One thing that stuck out from
their set was when a friend of ours was crowd surfing and singing into the
microphone and he accidentally kicked the singer of MPB in the mouth. He
ended up cracking his tooth! It was pretty funny when he announced to the
crowd that it was "Paul from Staten Island" who was to blame for cracking his
tooth.
Bane came next. The lead singer apolagized for them getting to the club
late and announced that the set was going to be shortened greatly due to the
fact that they had to make room for SOIA and SAS. Bane got the crowd going
right away. They tore through an energy-packed set, which consisted of lots
of sing-a-longs, pile-ups, dancing, and just general hardcore rowdiness. The
singer kept on saying how great it was to finally get a chance to play with
Sick Of It All. They closed with "Can we start again" from their album It All
Comes Down To This.
Stretch Arm Strong came next. The crowd came alive as SAS opened up
with "For The Record". The place was just going insane as the band and the
crowd were way into it. The singer was constantly in the crowd, with his
microphone shoved in people's faces. The two guitarists and the bass player
were jumping around like madmen, bumping into everyone and everything around
them. A majority of the songs they played were off of their new record, A
Revolution Transmission. Some of those songs were, "When Worlds escape" and
"The Truth About Iowa". It was extremely cool when they dedicated the song
"For Now" from their album Rituals of Life to all of the girls in the crowd.
During that song, all of the guys let the girls get closer to the stage and
sing in the microphone. It was cool that the girls were given the
opportunity to go as crazy as guys do at hardcore shows .
Sick Of It All kicked things off with "Clubbering Time," and the crowd
went absolutely insane. There was stage diving, crowdsurfing, and everything
else imaginable going on in a very limited space. SOIA's set consisted of
tunes, such as: "Scratch The Surface,"(which was dedicated to all of the
girls in the audience!) "Injustice System," "Disco Sucks, Fuck Everything,"
"Call To Arms," "Us Vs. Them," "B.S. Justice," and many other great songs.
In the middle of their set, one guy decided to take all of his clothes off,
run through the crowd, jump on stage and then crowd surf. That was both the
scariest and funniest moment of the show!
SOIA always gives it all they got and they never disapoint the crowd. I
guess that's why they are one of the greatest hardcore bands on the face of
this earth!
Alex Rud is a Staff Columnist. Contact him at arud@rockzone.com.
