COLLAPSE 1-SHOW TOUR VIDEO

XIBALBA TO TERRORIZE THE WEST COAST... AND UTAH

Everyone's favorite maya-inspired, down-tuned, apocalypse-heralding, California hardcore act, Xibalba, will be gracing our fine state on April 4th. You'll find 'em at Mojo's in Ogden alongside The Wrath, Collapse, Outlet and XDelegateX.

If you haven't caught 'em in the land of Zion before, well, it usually goes something like this:

NEW MUSIC: PARASITIC SKIES

Seattle vegan-straightedge act Parasitic Skies have posted two news songs from their upcoming Seventh Dagger release. Check 'em out on the band's MySpace page.

Parasitic Skies will be playing at Mojo's in Ogden on Friday, April 23 with Collapse, XDelegateX and The Current.

NEXT MONDAY: IRON RAIN IN OGDEN, BE THERE

LISTEN HERE

POLL RESULTS: BEST GCA SHOW OF 2009

And the winner is... Tamerlane, City to City, Collapse and Dogwelder at Baxter's Cafe on April 8th.

4/8 - Tamerlane/City to City - 29 (35%)
9/18 - Broadway Calls/Reviver - 17 (20%)
5/8 - Life or Death/Dismantled - 13 (16%)
8/13 - Xibalba/Tamerlane - 12 (14%)
7/9 - Unrestrained/Parasitic Skies - 6 (7%)
4/19 - Braveyoung/Collapse - 4 (4%)

JANUARY 11TH, IRON RAIN, CHECK IT OUT.

LISTEN HERE

HUGE GCA UPDATE! THE MIX TAPE COMETH AND MORE...

The first GCA Mix Tape will be up this coming Monday, December 7th at Noon! That's 11 unreleased tracks from Utah's finest. FREE!

1. Tamerlane - Dreams

2. One Clean Life - Hey World

3. Dogwelder - Smells Like Mean Spirit

4. To A Close - Up & Black

5. Reviver - New Lows

6. Collapse - Quicksand

7. Right On Track - You Were There

8. Dead As Lions - W.A.R.

9. Reach - Before It's Lost

10. City to City - 9th & Broadway

11. Glacial - Behind Your Beard

In other GCA news, Monday will also see the launch of 3 regular columns here on the site. First, the Salt Lake Hardcore 101 section will receive a major jump start. Every Monday you'll find a new article on a classic Salt Lake City band, label, shop, zine, or venue! Look out for Deadfall 101 Monday morning!

Second, we're launching the Salt Lake Hardcore Music Archive. Updated every Wednesday, this section will host a constantly expanding database of downloadable Salt Lake Hardcore classics... past to present. Tune in next Wednesday for the chance to acquire one of Salt Lake's most-overlooked/important/excellent records, the Better Way Demo!

And finally, every single Friday you'll find a new article by the name of One Voice. It will feature a 5 question mini-interview with those who've helped shape Salt Lake Hardcore Punk. Our first voice will be from Troy Trujillo (11th Street Electric Gallery, Opened Up).

NEW MUSIC: COLLAPSE

Cowards Fall

Yeah, I'm in this band, but I'm happy with the way this song turned out and I'd like people to hear it. The two songs on the site will be out on a split 7" with Xibalba hopefully sometime before the end of the year. We'll see.

SOUL CONTROL IN SLC -- TONIGHT

Uprok - 6 p.m. - $6 - Soul Control, Collapse, Dismantled, Ritual Fuck

TWO DAYS UNTIL SOUL CONTROL

Soul Control, Collapse, Dismantled and Ritual Fuck! This show is going to rule. I'm crossing my fingers that SC announces an NYC date in the near future.

Get psyched...





And make sure to request an Inside Out cover:

SALT LAKE HARDCORE 101: SKEIFF D' BARGG

• Skeiff d'Bargg on MySpace

SDB's longest running line-up. Circa 2004.
Jake, Blake, Dan, Robbie, Little E

On a cold Fall evening in 2003, Blake Foard, Dan Fletcher and Eddie Golub sat around a table at the infamous Salt Lake Coffee Break. The subject of discussion? A new Salt Lake Hardcore band. Coming from Aftermath of a Trainwreck, Cherem and Tamerlane respectively, the trio sought to break from the more metallic sound of their other outfits and create something more aligned with the late 80s sounds of Slapshot and Judge. One or two practices later, the project dissolved.

Some months after that, Dan got a call from Blake. "Hey Dan," Blake said, "I'm doing a show for Integrity... you want to get that band back together and open?" Integrity being one of Dan's favorite bands he agreed, then proceeded to slamdance around his apartment air guitaring the opening riff to "Micha."

The two enlisted Jake of Aftermath of a Trainwreck and Trevor of Cherem on guitar and bass and dragged Skerv down from Ogden to play drums. The plan: to play fast, traditional, old school hardcore in Salt Lake City. This was a crazy idea to say the least considering it had been years since a Salt Lake band had attempted to write a song without a breakdown.

Another chance meeting at the Coffee Break would provide the band with its ridiculous name. Various members of the Salt Lake hardcore scene sat around a ring of couches. One of those in attendance, a guy named Andrew, struck up a conversation with a neighboring group of girls.

"Have you ladies seen the movie, Skeiff d'Bargg," asked Andrew.

"No, what's that?"

"You haven't seen Skeiff d'Bargg? Starring Terrance Jeffreyson and Honyierpo Fishpound?"

"Umm, no, what's it about?"

"Well, it's about a gang of Japanese bikers that go back in time..."

A few days before the Integrity show, the band was without a name. "Let's call it Skeiff d'Bargg," Blake said to Dan. "Okay." And the dumbest name in the history of Salt Lake hardcore was set in stone.

The show went off without a hitch.

Well, except that the band didn't know any of their songs except covers of Sick of it All's "Clobberin' Time" and Judge's "New York Crew" and kids mainly stood around confused over the lack of breakdowns. Oh, and when the band distributed the iron-on merchandise they made in the minutes before the show, Tyler of Aftermath got a purple, XXL turtleneck with kick me screened on the back. The set went better for Skeiff than it did for Tyler.

But Skeiff was born!

Rob Mini-Marts was brought in on drums shortly after and became an integral part of the band--by this I mean, the only part with the motivation to book recording time, make merch, write song and lyrics, etc. etc. Bassists included at one time or another "Kick Me" Tyler, Byron of Creation and Little E.

The band unofficially released a number of demos, most notably 2005's Jean Claude Van Demo, and recorded nearly 30 songs that would become This Is All We Know: The Skeiff d' Bargg Discography--limited to something like 60 or 70. (There would have been more copies but Blake, Jake and Dan decided to spend more time laminating garbage than making sleeves at Kinkos before the show.)

Anthems like "Drug Free for Christ's Sakes" and "Fuck the Cops" won the hearts of many, but continued to leave them motionless and confused by the lack of breakdowns.

Skeiff provided a soundtrack for many infamous Salt Lake Hardcore shows including the DRI riot in the DV8 Basement, the one at Albee Square where the homeless guy died in the street and the New Year's Eve show where the kid went into a seizure.

Perhaps the highlight of the band's career came when they convinced studio genius and hardcore veteran Andy Patterson to record vocals on a cover of the Cro-Mags' "Hard Times." The track was hidden at the end of one of the band's many demos.

Constant line-up changes brought Skeiff to a halt in 2005. Blake continued to play with Aftermath of a Trainwreck and went on to form Cool Your Jets, Gloves Off and Dismantled. Dan continued on with Cherem before doing time with First Blood, Gloves Off and City to City. Jake vanished. Robbie played with Shutout, Asthma Attack and worked on his solo project, the Vanilla Gorilla, before moving to Seattle where he plays in the band Media Mind.

Skeiff's music can be found at their MySpace page.

SOUL CONTROL - SEPTEMBER 28

TONIGHT-7PM SHARP-XIBALBA, TAMERLANE, COLLAPSE, DECISIONS @ UPROK

Show up on time if you want to watch all the bands, the show must be over by 10.


Tamerlane



Xibalba


Collapse

XIBALBA, COLLAPSE, TAMERLANE, DESICIONS, +1 MORE - THURSDAY NIGHT

It's going to be a good show, come party.

TAMERLANE, XIBALBA, COLLAPSE SHOW MOVED TO UPROK - AUGUST 13

MORNING AFTER: GCA ANNIVERSARY SHOW

Again, I can't thank everyone enough—you guys came out and made this show awesome and you guys continue to visit the site and make everything we're doing worthwhile. That said, on to the review.

The time constraints at New Song Underground are kind of a bummer, but it all worked out in the end.

Collapse started the evening off and tore through five songs in a little under 20 minutes. Hopefully we'll have the recording up soon because we're excited for you to hear it.

Seattle's xParasitic Skiesx was next and they added a welcome twist to the vegan-straight edge sound that everyone is accustomed to. They've got a 7" coming out on Seventh Dagger soon, so keep an eye out for that.

After that was Unrestrained from Portland, OR. These guys picked up the pieces of The Dead Unknown and took them to the next level. Their love of 90s hardcore shined through and made them one of the highlights of the evening.

Connecticut's Signs of Hope were after that, making their first stop in Utah since a Wild Mushroom Pizza show way back in the summer of 2006. The fast, traditional hardcore was the perfect anthem for the sing-a-longs and (could it be true?) circle pits.

Last, but certainly not least, was Salt Lake's own xReflectx. With this being their second to last show ever, the boys were in fine form—despite a few technical difficulties that were easily overcome. The band put on a solid show (as usual) and only showed how big of a void will be left in the Salt Lake City Hardcore scene once they're gone.

GCA ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY SHOW DETAILS

New Song Underground (850 South 800 East) has some time constraints due to their location, and since we're kind of lacking in available venues right now we're going to have to abide by their curfew to stay on their good side.

That means the show will start at 6 PM and end at 9 PM. Here's the breakdown of how things will go tonight:

DOORS - 5:30 PM - $8
COLLAPSE - 6:00 to 6:20
SIGNS OF HOPE - 6:35 - 7:00
PARASITIC SKIES - 7:15 - 7:40
UNRESTRAINED - 7:55 - 8:20
xREFLECTx - 8:35 - 9:00

xREFLECTx only has two shows left, so make sure you come out and show your support to one of the best local bands Salt Lake City has ever had. Sucks they're breaking up, but a wise man once said it's better to burn out than to fade away.

Up River CD's will be available so you'll be able to pick one of those up.

And did we mention free cupcakes? A few regular, a few vegan and all of them delicious.

See you tonight.

COLLAPSE!

Who's stoked to hear these new recordings they're keeping under lock and key?

I can't wait.

MORNING AFTER: BRAVEYOUNG

Collapse rules. We've all seen them enough times to know that this is true. But where's the recorded proof? Well, the band is entering the studio May 9th and from the sounds of their live shows, we've got a lot to look forward to. Always progressing, always perfecting, Collapse has got great things ahead of them.

Gaza was up next, making their Baxter's Cafe debut and playing one of their first all-ages shows in over a year. They played a brutal mix of songs both new and old—including a few tracks from their upcoming album "He's Never Coming Back." Blown guitar heads aside, Gaza proved why they're one of the most promising young bands on the metal scene—both local and national.

Braveyoung closed the show with some of the most beautifully epic songs imaginable. They drove 14 hours straight from Seattle—stopping only to pick up lead guitarist Derrick from the airport—just to make the show. They were gracious and humble and still proved to be one of the most talented bands around.

Thanks to everyone that came out and everyone that stuck around. Don't forget that May 8 is Life or Death, Outlet and Dismantled at Baxter's Cafe. Everyone come check it out and have a good time.

And check out the videos below (sorry for the sound quality, Gaza and Braveyoung both brought more power than our PA and my video camera's microphone were ready for).

Collapse

Collapse - Baxter's Cafe - 4/19/09 from Grudge City Activities on Vimeo.

Gaza

Gaza - Baxter's Cafe - 4/19/09 from Grudge City Activities on Vimeo.

Braveyoung

Braveyoung - "Calvin" - 4/19/09 from Grudge City Activities on Vimeo.

THANKS FOR COMING OUT LAST NIGHT

The show was a lot of fun and thanks for everyone for sticking around.

Thanks to the guys in Collapse (that aren't me), all the guys in Gaza and the dudes in Braveyoung—who drove 14 hours straight from Seattle, stopping only to pick up Derrick from the airport.

The MORNING AFTER and GCAcast 03 will be up *hopefully* early Wednesday. Keep your eyes peeled.

Next GCA show is May 8 - Life or Death, Dismantled and Outlet. Get stoked.