Hollow Ground/First Strike/Far From Ruin

live in Winnipeg (2005)

Last night I had the chance to attend the Winnipeg benefit show for Brandie Bailey's familly. For those that aren't aware, on May 8th, Brandie Bailey, sister of Figure Four / Endless Fight bassist Jason, was killed on her way home while riding her bicycle. She was 21. Since then, bennefit shows have been showing up everywhere across North America to help out the familly in their time of need. This was one such show. All proceeds are going to the familly; there some raffles being held as well, auctioning off some rare stuff (colored Comeback Kid vinyl, Hollow Ground test presses, etc.) with the proceeds again going to the Baileys.

I arived at Winnipeg's CBGB's, AKA the Royal Albert, shortly 3/4's into the set of Day One, who were playing their first show replacing Nineteen Twenty, who were breaking up. They had a slightly more metalic feel than their previous bands and I found them enjoyable for what I caught.

Up next were Winnipeg's amazing youth crew torchbearers No Foolin'. I was later told they were members of Oneofthesedays, ChangexUp, Shock 'Em Dead and others. Fast, fun, hardcore, with some really catchy parts that can only be described as "rockin'." They also played a cover of "Biscuit Power" by you-know-which-hardcore-group which caused the first of many positive pileup singalongs of the evening. The singer's carefree attitude was also a nice change of pace from the tough guy macho bullshit attitude that is all over "hardcore" recently. He also chose to play on the floor as opposed to the very inpersonal stage, further increasing the "everyone is here and is a part of this" feeling that surrounded the set and show. Great, albeit short, set.

Next were Far From Ruin, a touring band from Regina that plays very heavy metalcore, kinda like Throwdown if they were an abstract arty band… if that makes sense. Unusually low vocals considering the size of the lead singer, and breakdown after breakdown that caused the ninjas in Winnipeg to contently mosh to the displeasure of bar frequenters and kids who just don't get "moshing." I noticed a lot of kids from Regina came, which means some people traveled 8 hours to come to the show, which was nice. Another short and amazing set.

Then came First Strike, a Winnipeg institution of fast, in your face, no bullshit hardcore, reuniting and releasing their pleasantly titled Get Low Or GO FUCK YOURSELF demo. Blazing "2 minutes or less" hardcore from the local favourites, and everyone ate it up. Throwing in a cover of "Blitzkreig Bop" causing another fun singalong was great, too. The vocalist also took the time to do a quick speech about how good it was for his band to be back in action after what seems like an eternity, and it certainly didn't show because they were in top form.

Last came Hollow Ground, who recently delivered their debut EP Cold Reality on Chicago's Organized Crime Records. It was a very touching set, which is out of character for a negative band with songs like "Ill Fate" and "Final Words." If you've never heard Hollow Ground, they're very akin to Buried Alive, Hatebreed and Terror with a hint more metal thanks to their shredding guitarists. They also play tighter than a dolphin's butthole, which is to say, airtight. It was their last show with their current drummer, and it seemed like he was playing as hard as he possibly could. Circle pits, stagedives and headwalks nonstop. Intimidating stage pressence that basically made you feel like you were commanded to go apeshit. And then as quickly as the show started, it was over.

My only real complaint was the subpar sound of the venue; all you could hear was bass, guitar and lots of vocals. Drums were so low in the mix you practically had to imagine them at points. But that aside, all the bands played their hardest and it showed. An amazing night and an amazing sucess raising over $1000 for the Bailey's.