Have Heart – Ceremony – Shipwreck – Cruel Hand – Foundation – Bitter End – at Chain Reaction – Anaheim, CA

Chain Reaction has a no reentry policy which can make living conditions pretty brutal at some of their shows, especially during this Summer. This along with the fact that I kept running into old friends in Chain's parking lot ended up meaning that I put off going inside for as long as I could. I saw some bits and pieces of Shipwreck, who were brutal as always. While I'm generally not into the style that they play I can appreciate how heavy they are and they have always put on a good performance.

Ceremony were the first band of the night that I had really been looking forward to seeing. Despite the oppressive heat people were really getting into their set. While Ceremony are sometimes compared to current power violence bands to me their sound is more of a  modern equivalent of gnarly 1980's hardcore bands like Septic Death and Negative FX who pushed boundaries, playing super fast and then slowing things down occasionally to add to the intensity. This sort of song structures lends itself to maximum crowd reactions and people were alternately thrashing in circle pits, slow moshing, bombarding the stage for pile ons and then diving off stage in a synchronized fashion. It was a very organized chaos while Ceremony was playing. I was stoked to see them play their cover of Red C's "Pressure's On" from the "Flex Your Head" comp and "This Is My War," which is my personal favorite Ceremony song. Ceremony's performance was a great example of how intense Punk rock can be.

It kind of bitter sweet to see Have Heart as I knew this would probably be the last time that I was ever going to see them play as this is the band's last tour. However it was really cool to get a chance to see them again and it brought back a lot of memories of seeing them back home in Massachusetts. It was an added bonus that a lot of people from back home were at the show so I had them to share the experience with. The set was a sort of retrospective with songs from all of Have Heart's releases being played. It was so hot and crowded in the room that everyone was literally dripping with sweat and my fingers were pruning from the moisture in the air.

Vocalist, Pat Flynn was in classic form, singing with passion and then in between songs giving very earnest rants about straight edge, hardcore, touring, friendship, family, and trying to be a good person. He made it a point to say that once this tour is over and they have played their last show that he has no interest in doing any reunion shows as feels that it would cheapen the experiences that the band and their fans have shared. In some ways a lot of what he was talking about between songs was pretty standard, almost generic subject matter for a hardcore singer to talk about, but it was unique in that it was clear that none of it had been rehearsed and he was quite literally just saying what was on his mind.

The songs that I enjoyed seeing Have Heart play the most were "Unbreakable," "What Counts," and "Something More Than Ink." It was cool to see that they were still playing songs from their early releases. There were all sorts of guest vocalists jumping on stage, including J.D. from Shipwreck. After Flynn gave a speech about depression they ended their set with "Watch Me Rise," which is probably the band's most intense and uplifting song and almost everyone at Chain Reaction was singing along.

By the end of the night everyone was exhausted and soaking wet from sweat. While it definitely was not the most comfortable atmosphere for a show it is safe to say that most of us were glad that we toughed it out.

 

-Ditch-
Big Wheel Asst. Editor

 

More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 
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