“Scene Report – Sunday Matinee featuring First Blood and Alcatraz from San Francisco, California 01/17/10”
By Mel D.
I was about to meet Peter and Jade at South Supermarket at Los Banos, and I’m a bit groggy at that time, coming out at work, I went straight partying with my friends the night before but still pushed my might to get up early coz’ I’ve been waiting this killer show for months hehehe. First Blood and Alcatraz, two of San Francisco Bay Area's hardest bands, was about to play in Sunday Matinee @ TenO2 Bar, QC brought to us by Major Malfunction and Take 4 Collective, same guys who brought up Have Heart, Vitamin X and a whole lot of others. As usual we arrived late due to traffic. Arriving about pass 1:00 PM, the show was barely starting; and we missed the opening acts from Curse/Gift and Tame the Tikbalang. Fuck no! I’d never seen Curse/Gift live and I heard this will gonna be one of their last shows??! I hope it’s not. (FYI, Curse/Gift was the band of now defunct Sauna) The show was fully-packed as expected. TenO2 was just a small bar and filling it with less than 200 angry kids was unimaginable. Anyways, the new set up of Ten02 was really awesome, stage was adjusted from the other side to the center, tables and chairs were cleared, giving the band more space and more room for the kids to do their thing. Usual faces on the scene was present, you can see hardcore, skins, punks, metal kids all exist in the same place and showed their all way support, which was cool. Anyways, Justin and Carl from Alcatraz were in charge of their merchandise. They still got plenty of stuffs (shirts, longsleeves, hoodies) since Philippines was their second leg of their Asian tour, plenty were sold. Kids love that shit. Even I bought few of their merchandise. It’s definitely much cheaper than zipping it in your card and spending large amount on shipment. But the sad thing was they didn’t brought some CD’s and vinyls. Anyways, usual local acts Isvarah, Divided We Fall, Nuclear Punishment, Play, Staid, Bystorm, Prayer of Endurance and a lot of others showed up as expected. Prayer of Endurance’s set was awesome, coming all the way from The City of Pines. POE gives you European-style metal hardcore with total mind-blowing lyrics that will surely pummel your brains out. Heaven Shall Burn and Arkangel come first in my mind when I first handed and heard them from New Names for Old Desires 4 Way split CD. I have the chance to know these guys (..and a gal) better last Lakefest, they stayed a couple of hours on my pad in San Pablo, and had a good time with them. Just your average guys next door. Haha! They’ve ended their set with Biofeedback’s “The Real Strength”. Solid! Isvarah from Manila also showed up that’s for sure, built from the ashes of Bulldozed, Sauna and As Angels Fall, Isvarah delivers you some raging Metal/hardcore/thrash driven by alcohol and hatred, no questions asked. Started their set with their blasting and catchy intro (it sounded like some fusion of Sabbath/Integrity/Slayer). “Digging Graves”, “Fire” and their own version of Biofeedback’s “Fear is the Limit”, among my favorite Isvarah songs, was on their set list. Cool. Staid from Manila, was there. Easy was out of the country so for now, so for the meantime, Rashid (Talk Sick) fills the bass, and did a really good job. Kids on 90’s youth crew should definitely into this. They played their originals including “Proxy nation”, “One Step Ahead”, “Tricks of the Trade” and a couple of new songs, I wonder they did not played their Ten Yard Fight’s cover “We Want the Truth”. Bulacan’s Play was tight as always. Giving you some WxHxNx-ish ultra-fast hardcore/punk/thrash guaranteed to make you point your finger and circle to death. Everybody loves Play. Next was Demolition of False Progression’s set, pit bull-core as I always called these warlords from QC, giving us some of their punishing riffs and relentless breaks that will surely make you hit the floor and do your karate moves. Anyways, I wasn’t able to watch all the bands. I, myself was also busy manning our merchandise table and hanging around with friends. Perhaps, this was also my only chance to chat and meet with my friends in the scene, so I better maximize it. I failed to see Nuclear, Punishment, By storm and Divided We Fall. Finally it was the set for Alcatraz. Everybody went inside as the gatekeepers was about to close the doors. Organizers reminded the kids to be cautious on stepping on the platform/stage, remember the incident at the Have Heart’s Manila show? When the stage was totally screwed up after HxH’s set, the organizers have to pay a big charge for the damage, which was obviously not fun. It’s ok to jump around, have fun or go ape-shit at the shows, but just be cautious on breaking things or fights. Anyways, some kids just can’t be controlled so just be it. Ran handed my camera then I went on the front row to experience Alcatraz. Guitars sounded fine, so it’s about time to start. They’ve opened their set with a blasting intro. “S**t Happens”, “Own the Show”,”This Is What You Get”, “Sucka Free” among my favorites and a couple of songs in their demo. Alcatraz had been around the California hardcore scene for quite a while now and had been touring with bands like Terror, Madball, Powerhouse and a bunch of others. Some tracks in their self titled album has some hip-hop elements, but I guess they’ve just incorporated their rough-edged hardcore and LA hip-hop influence to make it sound unique, which I think was pretty cool. Only a handful of bands in West coast had done that. Check out their record out to see what I mean. I recommend this for fans of Cold World, Trapped Under Ice and Death Threat. After the set, you could see the devastation on people’s faces. Their set leaved the ceiling spotlight all screwed up and a bruise on my chin, I was hit by a flying elbow of some crazy kid, so I went outside and get some fresh air. But anyways, it was all part of the fun. It was only 5:30pm, you could still see the the daylight outside. The guest of honor, First Blood now was up stage for the last set of the evening. They didn’t longer checked the sound, they just interchanged the member and played. FB features Carl Schwartz on vocals, who also played for Sworn Vengeance and Terror and recorded with “One With the Underdogs” album (I even make him sign my Terror CD ha-ha!) and also was a half Filipino. I couldn’t stay any longer on the front row of the pit, it was suffocating so I just stayed on the corner and keep my camera with me. Started their “First Blood” song, a couple of their originals; “Suffocate”, “Execution”, “Next Time I See You You’re Dead”, and a whole bunch of others, and what can I say about their cover from SOIA “Just Look Around”?, Everyone just went fucking nuts and sang along. Here are some photos I’ve took on their set:
They’ve ended their set with “Victim”, this song has one of the deadliest breakdowns I’ve ever heard. The fucking show blew me away and tore TenO2 apart as well. After their set they went straight to the airport, they still got a plane to catch @ 9:30 PM. The show ended early, it was only pass 6:00PM, which was cool, I can still make my plans for that night and meet my high school friends. Ha-ha! Long live matinee shows! Everyone just hanged around outside for a while after the show. That’s the good thing about early shows; you wouldn’t have to worry about how you can get home or catch the last trip of the bus, and you can still meet your plans after the show. I didn’t had the chance to take photos with FB and Alcatraz because they are really running out time. Anyways, It’s OK. The show was all worth it and was a hell of a good start for this year. Kudos to all the organizers and to those extended their effort and spent their hard earned money on this unforgettable show. It was all good! Until next time! - Mel D.
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