Revelation 25 w/ Gorilla Biscuits, Youth of Today, Into Another, Sense Field…

Revelation Records‘ 25th anniversary happened last weekend and I went to two of the four shows. Here are some pics that I’m sharing in B&W. As my friend Ben Clark says, that’s how punk rock is supposed to look. Sorry, no Quicksand pics because I didn’t go on Sunday. I suggest you keep an eye on Atiba Jefferson‘s site because his Instagram pics from the shows were pretty hot. Bobby Hundreds covered it on his blog, too.

Night Zero, which was added after the weekend shows were announced had the widest range of sounds and styles. The first two bands, Kiss It Goodbye (Seattle) and In My Eyes (Boston), were of the straight-up, no-bullshit, unfiltered hardcore and straight edge variety.

Gameface (OC) represented raw, honest pop punk in a good way. Ignite (NYC) played super heavy post-hardcore with Sea Shepherd and vegetarian shout-outs.

I used to think that Sense Field (OC) were going to take over the world with their super melodic, practically poetic post hardcore. It didn’t happen in the early ’90s but they were so good that maybe it’ll happen now.

Not quite as big as the Inside Out reunion that everyone was gossiping about, Richie Birkenhead’s post-Underdog band Into Another played its first show since 1996. Holy crap, were they tight, great, powerful, dreamy, hypnotic, heavy… Totally ripped.

Nights One through Three were pretty much different configurations of the same groups. I missed out on Shai Halud and Supertouch, but got to see BOLD (NYC) and Underdog (NYC) warm up Night Two. Fuck yeah! It was very cool to see guys play in different bands on different nights, and underscored that the lineups were parts of a tight community.

Hardcore heavyweights from either coast. Left: Dan O’Mahoney with No For An Answer (OC). Damn. Last time I saw him sing was with 411 opening for Fugazi. Right: Sick Of It All was the only band that has kept rolling since back in the day, and it showed. SOIA opening with a Warzone cover after the video tribute to Raybeez was pretty cool, too.

Youth of Today (NYC) were next. I interviewed Raghu (a.k.a. Ray of Today a.k.a. Ray Cappo) when he was with Shelter for Giant Robot mag and have kept in touch with him ever since. If you ever get to hang out with him offstage, his energy level, positive outlook, and presence is the same as onstage all the time. Incredible. Yes, Youth of Today was rad, and I posted some of the nonstop stage diving here (cover of 7 Seconds’ “Young Until I Die”). And so many bands in the house made it possible to end the set with the Break Down The Walls lineup of Ray, Porcell, Richie Underdog, Drew, and Craig Ahead (!).

Gorilla Biscuits (NYC) headlined two of the three nights and Saturday was one of them. Like the Sex Pistols, they only have one album but like Never Mind the Bollocks, it pretty much changed everything. That, plus a couple of singles is enough to burn their songs into the brains of a generation of hardcore punks. Actually, more than one generation judging from the number of children in the pit. Guys onstage pulled up some of the younger ones to keep them from getting squashed, but they jumped right back in!

Clockwise from top left: Bobby Hundreds (The Hundreds), Bobb Bruno (Best Coast), circle pit during Sick Of It All, Raghu Cappo (Youth of Today, Shelter). Revelation will host a follow-up celebration in New York this fall. Don’t miss it.