Title Fight-Get Real-Night Birds-Full Speed Ahead-Stick Together-The Little Rascals-Blind Justice-Heavy Chains-Krust-Stag Party @ Howell NJ 6-28-14

When Bob Shedd puts on a gig, you know it is going to be good. Full Speed Ahead are playing a few shows this summer. I missed their last reunion gig in 2006 (?), so I knew I had to head out to this show. This was also my first gig of the year.

One of the great things about living in Mount Holly is the commute. To either of our main campuses, it is basically 15 minutes each way. This is great during the school year; many of my colleagues have very short drives to one campus and then longer ones to the other. Going to shows from Mount Holly is pretty straight forward too. Philadelphia is a straight 30-35 minute shot. Heading down the shore is very easy as well, as is going home to see my parents, and this show was a breezy drive down Monmouth Road to 195, which dropped you off right in front of the venue more or less.

The venue was some kind of gaming and “event” place that has done a few shows. It could be a cool place for gigs, but the people running it were a bit much. The sound guy was a real know it all who vetoed a few band’s sound choices. Did I mention the shitty hair metal they played between bands? I felt like I was at a strip club as bullshit like Motley Crue blasted (I mean it; I kept my earplugs in it was so loud) through the venue.

There was also a Super Tecmo Bowl tournament going on at the same time as the show. It was hilarious watching this weird combo of dorks and meatheads (one walking around with the “championship belt”) playing. I guess it ended because suddenly they all cleared out of the place. Weird.

I did not watch much of Heavy Chains or Blind Justice, but both bands seemed a little too chuggy-chugg for me. Bands today seem try and combine youth crew jams with Sheer Terror and “beatdown” mosh parts and it really does not work for me at all. Genre is so blended these days in not only hardcore, but all music and the way this gets thrown into a blender often provides poor results. Other people dug them though, so whatever.

Stag Party is Swank’s new band and they were pretty cool. I heard some Black Flag influence, but I need to hear their recordings, which I forgot to pick up on my way out. Doh.

The Little Rascals, as a million people pointed out during the day, are not so little any more and played their last show to a great reaction from the locals. I liked their seven inch about ten years ago and they blasted through those songs plus Mental, Floorpunch, and Gorilla Biscuits covers.

I missed most of Stick Together and Night Birds because I was outside catching up with some friends and a few students of mine. Both bands are good, but I was starting to get tired of watching bands at this point. I needed to head outside to recharge a bit.

Full Speed Ahead were great. A lot of the usual suspects went off for them while much of the crowd just stared at them. It was like 1999 all over again.

Title Fight got this totally odd reaction. There was a lot of diving and huge pileons for them. Huh? They are this super emo band that sounds like Sunny Day Real Estate. A bunch of my students love them.

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