Guess I'll give reviewing the show a go. Gojira was my third show in three days, second one that was roughly 100 miles away...combine that with getting up at 4 every day for work and I was dead tired. I was pretty sure I'd need some energy shots or something for the drive home. Anyway, unlike for SOAD, I arrived right as doors where scheduled to open...which of course did not happen. Probably about 7:20 they start letting people in, and it's about this time I see how small the place is. After about 10 minutes of letting people in, the room was already packed. I took a quick glance at the merch, didn't see a shirt with dates which wasn't surprise so I decided I was going to pick up the hoodie after the show. I walk up to the front and wait for the first band to go up when Jay finds his way in. First group up is a local group called Dwellers...Now I knew something was up when I saw a couple Rose Funeral shirts while I was in line, and it turns out this band is the reason why. Deathcore to the max, they were complaining that the plug in for the something of the drummers wasn't working and how they couldn't do the show without it...yet all it contained was bass drops. The stage is full of amps and drums sets, so all three guitarists as well as the bassist and vocalist were on the floor...nothing like being eye level with a band so they can really see the look of disappointment on your face. I wish I could begin to describe what exactly was going on with the hardcore dancing, but really you just had to be there. Basically it was one kid going fucking nuts with his friend chiming in at times...then this third kid comes out of nowhere and just flails his arms back on fourth every few minutes. Finally these guys are done and they get the fuck out.
Up next we've got Car Bomb...I really wish I'd listened to these guys before the show was announced because I'm sure I would have really enjoyed them. Only song I really knew was Cellophane Stiletto and they knocked it out early. I did recognize a couple songs that I'd heard when I was listening to them throughout the week. Not much to say about them other than they put on a solid show and sounded tight together. Crowd got a little bit of a pit together during their set.
Finally up next is Gojira. Now up until this point I've just stood in front with no problem...but people started packing together now. Somehow this 5'1" if he's lucky Moby looking dude squeezed me out, but since he was so short I didn't really care. Probably worked out for the better because the stage was only about two foot tall so every time we got pushed really good, everyone up front went flying on the stage. A couple of times this resulted in mic stand going flying. As for Gojira themselves, I started getting excited during the soundcheck when they were communicating in french. Excitement only grew when the setlists were taped to the stage...I knew it was about to begin. They came out and just started rocking the place. By the time Space Time was over, things still weren't so rowdy..I was still standing still and hadn't been pushed. That however changed as soon as they jumped into The Heaviest Matter of the Universe. What I really found entertaining was how they made us speak french, or at least say oui to everything. Later in the night Joe gave a couple lessons on pronunciation of Detroit and Pontiac...which was hilarious because he goes "You guys say it wrong, you say PONTIAC" the way he said Pontiac was like he was a black dude trying to give a corny white guy impersonation. That's the best way I can describe it. Back to the show, about midway through they deviated from the setlist, after L'Enfant they went Planned Obsolescence when they were supposed to play Toxic Garbage Island. Afterwards Joe said something along the lines of "Oops I skipped a song..this is Flying Whales" So at this point I'm thrilled to hear Flying Whales, but I'm still wondering what the fuck is up with Toxic Garbage Island because I was pumped to hear this song. Well they fly through the set like nothing happened and after Oroborus Joe issues a challenge. If someone can go onstage and say a sentence in french, they'll play another song. This guys jumps and stage and just starts beasts out an entire statement in french like it's his native tongue. Of course he holds his word and they jumped into Explosia. At this point the setlist says The Axe is what they are closing with..however they still have not played Toxic Garbage Island. Well they went with Toxic Garbage Island and skipped The Axe all together. It looks like they just posted the wrong setlist because we got thirteen songs just as the previous dates did. Although if it's a setlist that another dates gets, it does have 14 songs. Got in a fight over a stick, but it wasn't anything serious. It was kind of funny, we kept going back and forth saying "I'm gonnnnna get it" "No I got it" Eventually it was broken up and I was ready to hand it over even though I was the clear victor..instead they got another stick and I kept the one we were fighting over. A couple people climbed up and grabbed setlists, I think there's one left and Jay says something like "go get it" so I said fucked it and walked over to get it. At that point I bought the hoodie I wanted then made my merry way out. I put a lot of faith in other drivers hoping they would lead me to the expressway, which they did so that was awesome. Started a mile count when I left for SOAD the day before, by the time I got home after Gojira I was just under 500 miles.
I got my shins smashed up against the stage during Explosia, which resulted in a huge bump on my left leg. I narrowly missed faceplanting into the mic stand several times by either bracing myself on the monitor to Joe's left or getting pulled back by a ton of people behind me lol.
Forgot to mention the crowd surfer J mentioned somewhere. Some chick is crowd surfing and as she's making her way to the front, everyone is like "uh...what do?" Eventually they push her back instead of on the stage...and she's on top the crowd for a solid minute or two back there. Like I'd look back and she's still just chilling there lol.
Dirtfest 2012 is a metal/hard rock festival in Birch Run, Michigan that has apparently been around for 15 years, but I didn't even know about it until last year when my friend told me about it. This year, I decided to make the journey out there and check it out for myself. The festival itself is absolutely HUGE. There were about six stages, which also included an acoustic tent with couches and drinks and everything. Most of the bands were unsigned or local, but there were two main stages placed next to each other for the headliners to play back and forth, similar to the side stages at Mayhem. For this review, I am only going to talk about the bands that I actually watched. My crew for this show was me and my friends Kyle, Megan, and Bret. We met my friend Brando and some other people I know when we got there.
*also, if you wanna see all the pictures I got, check my Dirtfest album.
Beast In The Field - BITF were the first band that we watched of the day. They area a two-piece instrumental stoner/doom metal band from around my area. I had heard that this was going to be one of their loudest shows ever, so I was excited. Obviously, the band was extremely loud, which is what they are known for, and their sludgy doom sound made me feel like I was under the influence just from watching them. Kyle was really enjoying them, since sludge is one of his favorite genres. They actually completely blew a fuse while they were playing! Took them a minute to fix it, but that's just how loud they were (I assume). Towards the end of their set, some chick in a purple robe with devil horns was bringing people from the crowd onstage for some kind of baptism ritual. I followed her gesture and walked up onstage, where the drummer put fake blood on my face, screamed some kind of satanic sounding verse in my ear, and then brought me down on my back and stuck my head in an area in the amp that was out while their guitarist was jamming. When I got my head out of the amp, my head and my entire body was reverberating. I stumbled off the stage with a grin. A great start to the day, and a great band to check out if you don't know them. Just remember your earplugs. 8/10
Givensix - I watched maybe two or three songs of these guys. I decided to leave early, because they sounded TERRIBLE. They basically sound like shitty deathcore mixed with Limp Bizkit. They had a turntable player and everything, but deathcore does not mix with that kind of style. 1/10
Slaves on Dope - I've heard the name of this band for years, but I never really got around to checking them out. They area Canadian Nu-Metal band who were playing their first USA show in a long time. I thing their lead singer said it was their first USA date in 10 years, but I'm not sure. Anyways, I thought they did good. They performed well, and they had good stage presence. I will definitely be checking out some of their album work later. It was really cool, because for their last song, they invited a fan onstage to sing with them. I thought that was a pretty cool thing for them to do. 7/10
Hurt - Hurt is the first band of the day that I was really looking forward to seeing. Hurt is one of my all-time favorite bands, and while I would love to see them on a headlining tour, I was happy to see them co-headlining Dirtfest. Vocalist J. Loren has one of my favorite voices of any bands, and rest assured, he sounds just as good live as he does on record. They opened up with Rapture, and went into Caught in the Rain, Fighting Tao, Wars, and closed out with Ten Ton Brick. The highlight of the performance was definitely when J. Loren did an electric violin solo during Fighting Tao, which I was not expecting at all. A great performance, but there were some issues with his microphone and a little feedback during the show, but it wasn't too big of a problem. I even caught a guitar pick! I saw it coming at me in slow motion and I caught it with one swing. I thought they did great, but I wish their set was longer. I can't wait to see them on a headlining tour. 9/10
It Lies Within - The ONLY reason that I was watching these guys was because they were playing on the other main stage while we were waiting for In This Moment. I seriously couldn't stand these guys at all. Take extremely shitty deathcore vocals, throw in every scene/core cliche there is, and add random techno and video game sound effects. You'll have something kind of like these guys. Like Kyle said, they were trying to shove way too many ideas into their sound. None of these ideas, however, were good, and none of them worked together. This was some of the most generic scene music I'd ever heard, and I seriously was getting a headache from trying to tune them out. And their lead singer needs to think of other things to say while onstage - I lost track of how many times he said "I wanna see a circle pit!" after about the tenth time he said it. 0/10
In This Moment - Now THIS is more like it. Watching the roadies set up for ITM's set was way more entertaining than watching It Lies Within. I was a little sketchy on this performance, because I've heard Maria Brink sucks live (like, her voice breaks and whatnot). Honestly though, I thought she sounded great! There were just several moments when the guitars overpowered the vocals. Could have been a better balance, but I didn't pay too much attention to it. As far as actual music, they played their songs very solidly. I was enjoying myself a lot. In front of me, I saw these kids that couldn't have been much older than 12 trying to mosh, but the crowd wasn't really getting into it with them (That's another thing - the overall crowd of Dirtfest was way too laid back). So that's when I did a giant eye roll and jumped into the pit myself and started pushing and shoving and getting things going. Things took off from there, and mosh pits broke out everywhere. The pits all combined into one giant circle pit during their last song, which was Welcome to the Gun Show, and I saw my friend Brent (not to be confused with Bret). Brent is a pretty big dude, but I threw down with him anyway. Of course, I got knocked down a bunch of times, but it wasn't all the crowd - the sod was starting to turn to mud. The weather was gloomy and rainy, and all the people moshing and jumping was taking a toll on it. But no matter, this would prove to be VERY important for later. Overall, ITM performed well and played a good set. Would definitely watch again. 8/10
Comments
Up next we've got Car Bomb...I really wish I'd listened to these guys before the show was announced because I'm sure I would have really enjoyed them. Only song I really knew was Cellophane Stiletto and they knocked it out early. I did recognize a couple songs that I'd heard when I was listening to them throughout the week. Not much to say about them other than they put on a solid show and sounded tight together. Crowd got a little bit of a pit together during their set.
Finally up next is Gojira. Now up until this point I've just stood in front with no problem...but people started packing together now. Somehow this 5'1" if he's lucky Moby looking dude squeezed me out, but since he was so short I didn't really care. Probably worked out for the better because the stage was only about two foot tall so every time we got pushed really good, everyone up front went flying on the stage. A couple of times this resulted in mic stand going flying. As for Gojira themselves, I started getting excited during the soundcheck when they were communicating in french. Excitement only grew when the setlists were taped to the stage...I knew it was about to begin. They came out and just started rocking the place. By the time Space Time was over, things still weren't so rowdy..I was still standing still and hadn't been pushed. That however changed as soon as they jumped into The Heaviest Matter of the Universe. What I really found entertaining was how they made us speak french, or at least say oui to everything. Later in the night Joe gave a couple lessons on pronunciation of Detroit and Pontiac...which was hilarious because he goes "You guys say it wrong, you say PONTIAC" the way he said Pontiac was like he was a black dude trying to give a corny white guy impersonation. That's the best way I can describe it. Back to the show, about midway through they deviated from the setlist, after L'Enfant they went Planned Obsolescence when they were supposed to play Toxic Garbage Island. Afterwards Joe said something along the lines of "Oops I skipped a song..this is Flying Whales" So at this point I'm thrilled to hear Flying Whales, but I'm still wondering what the fuck is up with Toxic Garbage Island because I was pumped to hear this song. Well they fly through the set like nothing happened and after Oroborus Joe issues a challenge. If someone can go onstage and say a sentence in french, they'll play another song. This guys jumps and stage and just starts beasts out an entire statement in french like it's his native tongue. Of course he holds his word and they jumped into Explosia. At this point the setlist says The Axe is what they are closing with..however they still have not played Toxic Garbage Island. Well they went with Toxic Garbage Island and skipped The Axe all together. It looks like they just posted the wrong setlist because we got thirteen songs just as the previous dates did. Although if it's a setlist that another dates gets, it does have 14 songs. Got in a fight over a stick, but it wasn't anything serious. It was kind of funny, we kept going back and forth saying "I'm gonnnnna get it" "No I got it" Eventually it was broken up and I was ready to hand it over even though I was the clear victor..instead they got another stick and I kept the one we were fighting over. A couple people climbed up and grabbed setlists, I think there's one left and Jay says something like "go get it" so I said fucked it and walked over to get it. At that point I bought the hoodie I wanted then made my merry way out. I put a lot of faith in other drivers hoping they would lead me to the expressway, which they did so that was awesome. Started a mile count when I left for SOAD the day before, by the time I got home after Gojira I was just under 500 miles.
We were supposed to get the Axe too. I would have loved for them to close with Toxic Garbage Island.
*also, if you wanna see all the pictures I got, check my Dirtfest album.
Beast In The Field - BITF were the first band that we watched of the day. They area a two-piece instrumental stoner/doom metal band from around my area. I had heard that this was going to be one of their loudest shows ever, so I was excited. Obviously, the band was extremely loud, which is what they are known for, and their sludgy doom sound made me feel like I was under the influence just from watching them. Kyle was really enjoying them, since sludge is one of his favorite genres. They actually completely blew a fuse while they were playing! Took them a minute to fix it, but that's just how loud they were (I assume). Towards the end of their set, some chick in a purple robe with devil horns was bringing people from the crowd onstage for some kind of baptism ritual. I followed her gesture and walked up onstage, where the drummer put fake blood on my face, screamed some kind of satanic sounding verse in my ear, and then brought me down on my back and stuck my head in an area in the amp that was out while their guitarist was jamming. When I got my head out of the amp, my head and my entire body was reverberating. I stumbled off the stage with a grin. A great start to the day, and a great band to check out if you don't know them. Just remember your earplugs. 8/10
Givensix - I watched maybe two or three songs of these guys. I decided to leave early, because they sounded TERRIBLE. They basically sound like shitty deathcore mixed with Limp Bizkit. They had a turntable player and everything, but deathcore does not mix with that kind of style. 1/10
Slaves on Dope - I've heard the name of this band for years, but I never really got around to checking them out. They area Canadian Nu-Metal band who were playing their first USA show in a long time. I thing their lead singer said it was their first USA date in 10 years, but I'm not sure. Anyways, I thought they did good. They performed well, and they had good stage presence. I will definitely be checking out some of their album work later. It was really cool, because for their last song, they invited a fan onstage to sing with them. I thought that was a pretty cool thing for them to do. 7/10
Hurt - Hurt is the first band of the day that I was really looking forward to seeing. Hurt is one of my all-time favorite bands, and while I would love to see them on a headlining tour, I was happy to see them co-headlining Dirtfest. Vocalist J. Loren has one of my favorite voices of any bands, and rest assured, he sounds just as good live as he does on record. They opened up with Rapture, and went into Caught in the Rain, Fighting Tao, Wars, and closed out with Ten Ton Brick. The highlight of the performance was definitely when J. Loren did an electric violin solo during Fighting Tao, which I was not expecting at all. A great performance, but there were some issues with his microphone and a little feedback during the show, but it wasn't too big of a problem. I even caught a guitar pick! I saw it coming at me in slow motion and I caught it with one swing. I thought they did great, but I wish their set was longer. I can't wait to see them on a headlining tour. 9/10
It Lies Within - The ONLY reason that I was watching these guys was because they were playing on the other main stage while we were waiting for In This Moment. I seriously couldn't stand these guys at all. Take extremely shitty deathcore vocals, throw in every scene/core cliche there is, and add random techno and video game sound effects. You'll have something kind of like these guys. Like Kyle said, they were trying to shove way too many ideas into their sound. None of these ideas, however, were good, and none of them worked together. This was some of the most generic scene music I'd ever heard, and I seriously was getting a headache from trying to tune them out. And their lead singer needs to think of other things to say while onstage - I lost track of how many times he said "I wanna see a circle pit!" after about the tenth time he said it. 0/10
In This Moment - Now THIS is more like it. Watching the roadies set up for ITM's set was way more entertaining than watching It Lies Within. I was a little sketchy on this performance, because I've heard Maria Brink sucks live (like, her voice breaks and whatnot). Honestly though, I thought she sounded great! There were just several moments when the guitars overpowered the vocals. Could have been a better balance, but I didn't pay too much attention to it. As far as actual music, they played their songs very solidly. I was enjoying myself a lot. In front of me, I saw these kids that couldn't have been much older than 12 trying to mosh, but the crowd wasn't really getting into it with them (That's another thing - the overall crowd of Dirtfest was way too laid back). So that's when I did a giant eye roll and jumped into the pit myself and started pushing and shoving and getting things going. Things took off from there, and mosh pits broke out everywhere. The pits all combined into one giant circle pit during their last song, which was Welcome to the Gun Show, and I saw my friend Brent (not to be confused with Bret). Brent is a pretty big dude, but I threw down with him anyway. Of course, I got knocked down a bunch of times, but it wasn't all the crowd - the sod was starting to turn to mud. The weather was gloomy and rainy, and all the people moshing and jumping was taking a toll on it. But no matter, this would prove to be VERY important for later. Overall, ITM performed well and played a good set. Would definitely watch again. 8/10