UNITED BLOOD 2010

It's never too early to start planning your trips to this years glut of hardcore festivals. Untied Blood, which will be held on March 26 and 27 in Richmond, Virginia is starting to take shape. The first wave of bands has been announced and the second will be following shortly. Here's the list so far:

-Madball
-Dry Spell
-Backtrack
-True Colors
-Donnybrook
-Mother of Mercy
-Rise and Fall
-Blacklisted
-Cruel Hand
-Naysayer
-Harms Way
-Steel Nation
-Alpha and Omega
-Maximum Penalty
-Bracewar
We'll keep you up to date as it gets closer, but feel free to head over to their official blog to get all the official info.
United Blood 2010

POLL RESULTS: ALBEE SQUARE IS YOUR FAVORITE VENUE OF THE 2000s

You can't mention hardcore from the beginning of the 2000s without bringing up Albee Square. Just yesterday, a close friend of mine took a Facebook poll that asked him how he and I met and his answer was, "Probably at a show at Albee."  Blake and Scott brought in so many great bands (Integrity, Ringworm, Amendment 18... the list could go on for days) and there was always a sense that the venue was alive for all the right reasons. Salt Lake bands like Aftermath of a Trainwreck, Cherem, and Skeiff d' Bargg played some of their most historic shows in that big, lofty space.

The Vortex came in second. This makes a lot of sense since The Vortex was very much the Albee Square of the second half of the 2000s. Blake and Sias brought dozens and dozens of great bands and made just as many memories for locals. Salt Lake acts like Tamerlane, Up River, Cool Your Jets, Shutout, XReflectX, and City to City really got their start in that, once again, big, lofty space. And  the new generation of Ogden Hardcore bands journeyed south for the first times to play shows there. 

Thankfully, everyone remembers the Junction(s) in the correct light and chose not to vote for them. (Though there were some amazing shows at those places... Bad Luck 13?)

Here's the Top 3:

Albee Square - 31 (29%)

Vortex - 21 (20%)

DV8 - 18 (17%)

What are your thoughts?

SLHC MUSIC ARCHIVE: PARALLAX

To date, I've spent most my life in Happy Valley. My family moved to Provo from upstate New York when I was just a kid. Growing up, I played in a number of punk and hardcore bands -- even a short-lived, Op-Ivy-rip-off, ska band called Special Guest. Most never left the practice spaces, basements, and warehouse venues of  Provo and Orem. I moved to SLC when I was 18 but those experiences still mean more than I can express in words.

You see, when you grow up in a place like "Happy Valley," you follow one of two paths: 1) You buy into the conservative socio-econo-poli-sexual-spiritual role that the culture hands down to its youth and go on to live a life of squandered potential and repressed passion, or 2) You realize very quickly that roles are meant to be broken.

While I was never close with the guys from Utah Valley hardcore act Parallax, their band came to embody this second path for me. Elliot's progressive take on writing heavy music and Blake's powerful lyrics continue to influence me... as well as the sound and shape of Utah hardcore.

It's been five years since Blake's death and Parallax's demise, but the band's music and messages are every bit as vital as they were when I was a 14-year-old kid playing in a shitty band called Special Guest.

Parallax - On Dead Tracks - Download

Parallax - Mediums and Messages - Download

Also, head over to the Salt Lake Hardcore Blog to download a rare Parallax Ep.

NIRGAGA?

TONIGHT IN SLC: 01/05/2010

Not much going on as the post-holiday recovery week is in full effect.

Science Movie Night @ SLC Library
Supervolcano: It's Under Yellowstone. And It's Overdue. (2005)

Based on scientific data and the planning and evacuation strategies of various government agencies, this "docufiction" portrays the potential eruption of the volcanic caldera under Yellowstone National Park. The film also explores the effects an eruption may have across the globe environmentally, politically, economically, and socially as the massive ash cloud drifts into the upper atmosphere. Join Jamie Farrell of the University of Utah Department of Geology and Geophysics for a discussion of his research on the seismicity and volcanic hazards of the Yellowstone hotspot. More Info.