Kevin Bronson on August 25th, 2014

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Reviews: Blood Brothers, Murder City Devils, The Bronx, Presidents of the USA, Twin Peaks

BLOOD BROTHERS

You Should Have Been Here Because: FYF has a wonderful tradition of booking reunited hardcore and punk bands from yesteryear, artists who have been broken up or dormant for some time, scheduling them late in the day for maximum effect. Every one loves a nostalgic mosh pit, and 2014’s honorary nostalgic mosh pit was that of the Blood Brothers, the kind of pit your lawyer friend goes sprinting up into five seconds into the first song and doesn’t reappear for the rest of the set. The Seattle five-piece charged through a collection of classics, as dueling vocalists Johnny Whitney and Jordan Blilie screamed their way through it after a seven-year hiatus.
Downside: The stage had a very sparse crowd for the final band, Deafheaven, who were competing with main-stagers the Strokes but induced some of the early departures to stick around for a while.
Postscript: By far the largest female power mosh-dance contingent of the weekend.
– Andrew Veeder

MURDER CITY DEVILS

You Should Have Been Here Because: You hadn’t moshed enough earlier in the day. If you had any more violent aggression that needed to be worked out, this was the forum to do it. Underneath the trees, Seattle’s own Murder City Devils kicked off the night with “I Don’t Want to Work for Scum, Anymore.” There were no frills to this set, just meat and potatoes punk rock full of rage and fury. Lead singer Spencer Moody looked very respectable in a buttoned up chambray shirt and glasses, but the second he took the microphone, that went out the window as did his lungs. It’s amazing his vocal cords stayed intact for the whole set. Some of us were taking bets to see if they would give out. The man’s bellows were ferocious. The bassist and guitarist seemed to be attached by bungee cords connected to the drum kit, constantly bounced to the edge of the stage and then back to it. These guys belong to the school of the louder, the faster, the better. The mosh pit was a writhing mass of bodies with a new crowd surfer popping up every five seconds. It was impressive, like watching a human tornado.
Downside: Outside of the pit the fans there were very few revelers. Most were silently nodding their heads or glued to their phones.
Postscript: Three young kids who looked about 6 were sitting in tree with no headphones out way past their bedtime while their parents danced. Model parenting right there.
– Molly Bergen

THE BRONX

You Should Have Been Here Because: Alumni of Fuck Yeah Fest 3 (2006), the hard-driving, long-running L.A. punk/hardcore/metal troublemakers had the crowd with Matt Caughthran’s first banshee scream. “We’ve been waiting for this moment for a hot minute,” the vocalist said, in between playing songs from early in (“White Guilt”), the middle of (“Your Shitty Future”) and later in (“Youth Wasted”) in their four-album catalog. Caughthran’s voice can still shred, especially contrasted with the band’s turn the day before in their Mariachi El Bronx guise. The quintet loosed guitarist Ken Horne for some good ol’ heavy-metal solos, which shredded too, and the mosh pit was a scrum after Caughthran went surfing early on. The frontman extolled the virtues of the FYF setting and the city itself, even while asking in “They Will Kills Us All (Without Mercy)”: “What’s left of California? / What’s left of Los Angeles?” Plenty, as FYF and this set showed.
Downside:  The scheduling conflict with Built to Spill broke a certain dude’s heart.
Postscript: Thanks to the kid who held a certain dude’s bag when headed for the pit after Caughthran shouted out “to the OGs” and launched into “Heart Attack American.”
– Kevin Bronson

PRESIDENTS OF THE USA

You Should Have Been Here Because: “Welcome to Nostalgia Central,” a friend said, greeting an arrival with a knowing smile. Indeed, if you grew up in a certain era, you couldn’t avoid PUSA, and that demographic was repped strong in a crowd that pogoed mightily, knew every word and nailed every call-and-response cue. “Raise your hand if you’re starting a Presidents cover band,” frontman Chris Ballew said, before acknowledging “We’ve been doing this long enough that we feel like a Presidents cover band.” They covered their 18-year-old hit “Peaches” perfectly – “Kitty,” “Dune Buggy,” “Tiki God,” and their covers of “Video Killed the Radio Star” and “Kick Out the Jams” also turned up among charmingly puerile antics and goofball banter, a lot of it centering on the fact that, more than two decades into their career, PUSA still feel like tryers. “Whenever they make a list of the top 10 … no 100 … no 1,000 … no 10,000 best bands of the ’90s,” Ballew said, “we’re never on it.”
Downside: If you did not grow up in a certain era, you felt like an outsider.
Postscript: Wait, PUSA has a new album? Indeed, and they played “She’s a Nurse” from “Kudos to You!” (which came out in February.
–Kevin Bronson

TWIN PEAKS

You Should Have Been Here Because: These young Chicagoans had the first mosh pit of the day, and the ironic fact that all band members were born after the cancellation of the show “Twin Peaks” is too funny to avoid a chuckle. However as young as they may be, the traits of being a seasoned tour band showed as they pummeled through a half-hour set. Melodies were sung but also wailed half the time, which was appropriate since a sea of bodies continued to crowd surf until their very last note. There are props to be given to both the band and to all the young’uns arriving early enough for a 2:30 p.m. set.
Downside: This blogger’s only distraction was seeing someone with an iced coffee and desperately wondering where it came from. You need a supplemental source for energy when you aren’t one of the young’uns.
Postscript: Iced coffee was found. Thank you to Stumptown for making the second one of the day free, too.
– Seraphina Lotkhamnga

Photos by Zane Roessell, except La Dispute courtesy of Concert Photography by Scott Dudelson