a cloud of contempt hanging over me

Station's Creation, Hate, Sick/Tired, Ceremony @ Ronny's, 8/15/2010

Few shows this year have I been waiting so intently for. To my ignorant, noob ears, Ceremony sounds exactly like a hardcore band should nowadays, a perfect fusion of the genre's varying styles. The lyrics and music seethe an unparalleled bitterness, replete with all the frustrations of some alienated kids just trying to be heard in a perpetually noisier society trying to drown us all out. And I just knew a band with lyrics like "fuck! fuck! fuck! fuck! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!" would provide maximum fun and violence.

Peach and I got there around 3 (4pm start, for whatever reason) to find we couldn't get in the doors yet, so in the oppressive heat we stood for awhile, smoking and whatnot. Two people begat conversation with us over my Seraphim shirt, this one guy Trevor who's actually from their hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi, which I would never relate to hardcore, but Seraphim is one of the best bands I've heard recently. We caught them at the Nachos record release a few weeks prior, and I believe the 15 or so of us that actually watched them are now all serious fans. They're a strange mix (never thought I'd see keyboards at the Albion house) of Mouth of the Architect-style trance metal, post-rock melodics, and sludgy, raging hardcore. I was told they drove from Georgia to Chicago that day and drove back after the show, just to play that one set. That's fucking dedication. Get their EP's. Right now.

After awhile, Varg comes walking up, in those ridiculous hot pink shorts that I'm pretty sure he's been wearing every time I've seen him this summer. We all had some time to kill before the show, and I was a little stoned and a little spun, so I figured might as well throw some alcohol in the mix. We sat at the bar sipping on PBR waiting for Station's to go on. They were actually added on kinda last minute as Punch had to cancel due to the singer's broken foot.

Walked into the boilerroom that is Ronny's and saw very few recognizable faces, Caution and Robbie was about it. My guess is most of these people only come out for "big" names like Ceremony but ignore all the local shit. Now I'm still pretty new to all this so I'm not going to be a judgemental prick and decry people for being selective in their attendance. But it's always good to see more and new faces at the smaller house shows.

Anyhow, SC was up first. They're from Dekalb and play a more basic hardcore, eschewing the more trendy powerviolence aesthetics and spastic fury that's so common in Chicago nowadays in favor of a a more melodic sound. Some of the anonymous punks were getting into it, moshing in that goonish style of just throwing each other and having shoving contests apparently. There was some actual moshing, too, right near the end of "Scene Stealer" when the music stops and Connor belts out "You stole my fucking sceeeeeeeeennnnneee!" It was a good set, and say whatever you want about this band, but one thing that shouldn't be doubted is (singer) Connor's commitment to hardcore; he's reliable as fuck.

Their set ended, so I checked out the merch table and grabbed me the new Ceremony shirt that says "every day i'm suffering". I felt that was apt. I also picked up issues 3&4 of Left Four Dead and the free Sawchuk demo (which was surprisingly good). Back to the bar we went for another PBR.

Hate from Chicago (not Poland) were up next. I remember seeing them over the winter @ Albion and not enjoying their set very much. It just seemed like a wall of noise with nothing interesting musically going on underneath it all. Looking back, I just wasn't hearing it right, because Hate tore shit apart at Ronny's. The singer's voice is demonic to say the least and the music behind it was just savage. There was decent moshing all around up until the last song. The singer announced that last time they played a cover "no one moved, and it sucked". He unleashed a vicious scream then started up "Guilty of Being White" and the crowd just lost their fucking mind, stagedives and a rumble for the one mic that got thrown everywhere. This crowd especially got some amazing dives and people so precariously balancing on one another without collapsing was a sight to see. Peach got this all on video btw. TheCthulhuCalling on youtube. Search that shit, fuckers. This set totally changed my mind on Hate. Quality band.

Vargles and I proceeded back to the bar. I wished I could've gotten wasted, especially for sick/tired, but my funds were limited, so I just tried to maintain my half a buzz. Being belligerently drunk for sick/tired just makes sense, though. This was my 5th time seeing Dekalb's finest grindcore band in action. Those first two times at the 7th Street Space in Dekalb were both absolutely insane, beer and destruction everywhere. They opened for Capitalist Casualties a few months back and they arguably stole the show that night. But no one moved for their last Chicago show and no one did here either. Which is total bullshit, this band rips. I'm still dumbfounded by Bello's relentlessly abrasive vocals, Converge-style, but I swear I never see that kid without a cigarette. How are you not coughing up blood onstage? The guitarist Gonzo looks like he's being electrocuted while he's playing, twitching his head all over the place. They closed with "Banishment", which didn't sound so great in the venue, but on vinyl is becoming one of my favorite metal songs ever. Get their album, too.

I think I grabbed one more beer and chugged it right down because I was not missing any of Ceremony. I thought maybe a few more familiar faces might show up, but I was in the pit with no one I knew except Varg. As they were tuning up, the guitarist put on some very effeminate arm stockings (I guess) and the bassist a ridiculous multi-colored leather jacket with a huge "8" on the back. They opened with "Sick" and immediately the moshing began. After a few runs I stood to the side of the pit, where people diving was pretty much nonstop....until no one caught that one guy at the very end of the song. He hit the top of his head on the ground from about 6 feet up. He was out cold for a few seconds and the set stopped, the band came down and Joe Lifeline called an ambulance. People gathered around him, of course wanting to see what happened. After a minute or two he sat up, that empty expression in his eyes. Then we could all see the gash going across his nearly-bald head. That was definitely a concussion, maybe brain damage. He stood up and looked like he wanted to stay in the pit, but Ceremony's drummer told him he needed to leave, and that it was alright. Out he went and the show went on. It was constant brutality on the floor and they played all the best cuts from "Violence Violence": "Pressure's Always On", "This is My War", etc. The singer got way into it, going out in the crowd, handing off the mic, even holding people and serenading them during the "slow song". They ended with "Kersed" and everyone just lost it. At one point, I actually had two people, one on each shoulder, and I was somehow able to balance them for that few moments. I got up onstage as everyone was grabbing for the mic screaming in unison "their words will never be a part of this cursed fucking town/so we stand amongst ourselves, watch it burn to the ground". I was trying to get at the mic when the singer grabbed my head and shoved my face right up to it. In that moment, right as the words finished, I had gotten the crazy idea in my head to stagedive for the first time, but right as I was about to, the crowd shifted and I knew I would have fucked myself up real bad, so I just ran down instead and barreled through 5 or 6 people. Too bad Varg ended up right next to me at that point, because if he was on the other side I was just going to run full speed at him and kill the crowd surrounding him. Next time, hopefully. And to the dude wearing the Duress shirt over his face like a terrorist: I back that.

Overall, awesome show. Ceremony was just as good, if not better, than I thought they were going to be. The other 3 bands were not disappointing in the slightest. Ronny's isn't all that great though. It's WAY too hot in there, you can't bring booze in even though the bar is connected, they're uptight about where you smoke outside, and it's too fucking hot in there (it bore repeating). Of course there's no bouncers though, so anything goes pitwise. I can't wait to see all these bands again.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheCthulhucalling#p/a Videos soon. Peach, I see you.