AGNOSTIC FRONT, DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR, ALL SHALL PARISH
LOVELAND, PORTLAND, OREGON, MAY 6TH, 2005
By Alex Cook
The Loveland was near capacity at the start of this show - wait - there were only twenty people there. That's okay, it was still early when All Shall Parish went on stage, so a small crowd is somewhat expected. This band is not typical hardcore or typical metal, but a transition between the two. Before the show, a band member described the sound to me quite accurately as "fast death metal with melodic/hardcore breakdowns." Although I'm not the biggest metal fan, I did enjoy this band's performance, which was definitely full of talent and potential. Expect All Shall Parish to be headlining in the near future.
By the time Death Before Dishonor started to play, the crowd had not picked up much. There were possibly forty people in the club at this time. Those who were in attendance, however, were in for a treat. DBD's Boston Hardcore sound immediately won over the crowd, which featured about ten hardcore kids hoping for exactly what they were given: fast, loud, angry, and danceable songs, one after the other, for thirty minutes. The singer brings a touch of metal to the band, creating a unique sound somewhere between the lines of A.18 and Hatebreed with an anger control problem that can only be sufficed by pounding out heartfelt agressiveness.
The third and final act was Agnostic Front, the godfathers of hardcore. Let me vent a bit here...
Gas to drive to and from Portland for the show: $20
Finding out your photographer isn't on the guest list: $14
Merchandise to support one of the greatest bands out there: $12
Seeing less than 100 people show up to see Agnostic Front: Pricelessly dissapointing
Started by Vinny Stigma in 1982, AF is considered by most to be the pioneer band of hardcore punk. After a few months, Stigma (who is also a NY Hardcore tattoo artist) and Roger Miret were locked in as the heart and soul of the band. 23 years and a prison sentence later, Cuban-born Miret is still riling up crowds just as he did in the 80s, except with even more passion and vigor than ever before. So, for the 10 skins, 10 punks, and 10 hardcore kids in attendance, they did what they do best: rock the hell out of the place.
They played all of the classics, a lot of new material, and somewhat of a cover; Roger Miret and the Disasters' "Riot Riot," not to be confused with AF fan favorite "Riot Riot Upstart." There was a decent hardcore circle, at time replaced with an entourage of skanking skins and punks, only to retreat back to the hardcore circle.
If you missed this show, you really missed out. With all of the people in this town who claim to be punks, skins, hardcore kids - anythingcore, for that matter - it was really dissapointing to see such a bad turnout at this show. Agnostic Front deserves better, they made hardcore and we would not have a load of good bands out there right now without them. No Hatebreed. No Sick of it All. Not even lighter variations on the sound, such as Taking Back Sunday (or is that a good thing?). Not only did they start it, they do it better. It's hard, fast, loud, hardcore punk. Show some respect for the legends, you won't be dissapointed.
