This was a fun Sunday night hardcore gig in Providence, but with Modern Life Is War playing two shows an hour north in Boston, New Englanders had a tough choice tonight. Both Modern Life Is War and Fury are arguably generational hardcore bands; the former is regarded as top-tier “modern hardcore” for the era they initially existed (2003-2008), while the latter just released an excellent sophomore full-length that cements their spot as one of the far more interesting and progressive bands amid contemporary hardcore. Granted, I’m sure most people over 30 years old opted to see MLIW and most under 30 opted for Fury.

I split the difference and managed to catch both. The early Modern Life Is War show ended just in time to drive immediately to Providence and catch the penultimate band on the Fury lineup, that being Fury’s Huntington Beach, California neighbors Diztort. They were in the full swing of things when I arrived and kids were lovin’ it, dancing and flailing across the floor of the artspace. They played moshy, menacing hardcore with some nice, driving Cro-Mags riffs, made all the more menacing by their somewhat scary and buff, sweatpants-clad frontman.

The more melodic Fury didn’t incite nearly as much incidental violence, but they certainly prompted a nice response. Everyone sang along to their ragged hooks and danced to the appropriate breaks as the band played an even mix of songs off both full-lengths, even following along with the order of the album tracks while they switched from LP to LP. The house wasn’t quite packed, but it was 10:30 on a Sunday night in Providence, after all, and the draw was still pretty good all things considered (70ish people maybe?). There was enough of a crowd to be far from grim while everyone who was there could get a good view of the stage from most anywhere in the venue while maintaining personal space. There was some stage-swarming for the bigger hits like “Damage Is Done” and “The Feeling”, and probably one or two ill-advised stage dives with not quite enough support on the floor to catch any human bodies.

Their latest LP, the recently released Failed Entertainment got a nice showcase; it’s a very great album hampered just a bit by some mastering/overcompression issues, and obviously that’s no concern when played live. It takes their semi-progressive hardcore that stylistically spans all the subgenre’s various incarnations from about 1990-present and adds a crunchier feel, with (intentional or otherwise) echoes of Quicksand, Fugazi, Supertouch, and maybe even As Friends Rust (“Goodtime”) and, certainly on album closer “Crazy Horses Run Free”, Oasis, actually. I still feel like the vocals were a touch low and a bit muffled (like on record), but it fit the vibe of the band’s performance -- modest and understated without a lot of fluff or fanfare while maintaining a solid energy throughout a concise, 10-song set. They nailed the fun vibe of “Vacation” as well as the more urgent, driving pace of something like kinda self-titled band track “The Fury”. A couple self-deprecating jokes, friendly banter, and no bullshit -- just super strong and thoughtful hardcore tracks.

Set list:

1. Danse

2. Angels Over Berlin

3. Thin Line

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4. Goodtime

5. Damage Is Done

6. Vacation

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7. America

8. The Fury

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9. Crazy Horses Run Free

10. The Feeling