It’s been over two months since I’ve written anything. Until recently, I didn’t think anybody noticed that, but I had three different people come up to me and say “Dude, you haven’t posted anything since November 16th. What’s going on?” or some variation of that statement. Truth is, I haven’t really had much drive to write about anything. I made plans to write things several times, and just never got the motivation to do it. I thought things had gotten a little stagnant, but now I’ve gotten the motivation again, and I have a lot of stuff planned for the near future. Now that all of this is out of the way, on to the actual reason for this post……
This past weekend was filled with kick ass shows. It was also a weekend where I left my comfort zone, and went to places that I’ve never been to for a show. Both venues were great, but very different environments.
Friday night I FINALLY made a trip down to the Polish Club in Phoenixville (PA) for a show. I have gotten to know a few people from down that way from them making the trip up to the Burner’s to either play or see shows that Walt and Dukes were putting on, so it wasn’t a completely foreign environment to me. That being said, the Polish Club is a pretty great spot to see a show. The floor area is large, and the sound is good. Start to finish it was a good show, that had a great lineup. My Turn to Win played a great set, Vision was a helluva lot of fun to watch (as usual), and Death Threat killed it.
Saturday night Dukes and I made the trek to the Moose Lodge in Brick Township (NJ), another great spot to see a show. It was nowhere near as large as the Polish Club, but it was more intimate. The show floor was literally the size of a pretty standard living room, so everyone was piled in with the band. Again, all the bands put on a great show. From the first band, Changes, it was balls to the walls. Sicker Than Most played a great set, and Razorblade Handgrenade was even better in Jersey than they were the few times I’ve seen them in PA. Seeing Wisdom in Chains in such a small setting, was absolutely the highlight. Unfortunately we didn’t stay for Social Decay or Maximum Penalty, but that was only because it was a 2 hour drive back home, and Dukes had places he wanted to be (that’s the sound of the bus running him over by the way).
Both of these places had great crowds, which was awesome, but both of these venues were not in anywhere near as heavily a populated area as the Burners. The scene in the Valley pales in comparison to the thriving scenes in Jersey and the Philly area. It’s a shame because great shows are put on at the Burners, but the turn out is sometimes weak.
I have one more point that I want to make. I’ve heard mention of the Philly/Baltimore dancing mentality being rough and “fists flying everywhere”, but didn’t really pay attention to it. I’ve gone to a lot of shows in Philly, but not in Jersey/New York to compare it to. Saturday I saw the difference. Friday night when Death Threat played, the Polish Club went nuts. It went from basically no dancing for the other bands, to fists and feet flying everywhere. It was pretty much guaranteed that if you were near the front you were getting hit and kicked. I’m not bitching, it’s part of the expectation when I go to a show that I’m going to get knocked around a little. Saturday was a completely different story. It was an extremely confined space, and there was dancing, but it was not nearly as violent. Anytime someone was dancing towards the crowd, they flew into the crowd back first, instead of fist first. It was a noticeable difference.
It was great getting away from the area this weekend to go to some awesome shows. I can’t wait till winter is over and more shows start going on at the Burner’s. If this weekend was any indication, it’s going to be a great fucking year.
