March 28th, 2025 (Flatwounds, Post No Bills, Take Steps, and Unintelligents @ The Hangar on the Hudson, Troy, NY)

Look, I've kinda given up on the whole, "keep my identity a secret" thing, and at this point, who's really going to find me irl lol? I have pictures that kinda give away what school I go to and where I am in the world, so I might as well go the full distance I guess. I plan on starting a band anyway (definitely in the future, not even close to able to right now) and I need to get my name out there anyway.

Now for the actually on-topic thing, the show I went to *last night*, which was one of the best, if not the best, that I've gone to. It's a very fitting one to start doing reviews for if I don't say so myself.

I don't mean any offense to anything or anyone I may mention, and that's true about everything on this sight (unless they are evil, then they deserve to be shamed!), so take my word with a grain of salt. The show I saw the day before was not really worth it in my opinion ($25). While it's always cool to hang out with friends, no matter the circumstances, that show was probably my least favorite I've gone to. The bands were pretty good, I liked Horse Grave, and it was Self-Inflicted's first show, which was a good time. The other bands were pretty good, but I don't think they were memorable enough for me to say I enjoyed them all that much. The band "Torture" closed out the show which is honestly a very fitting band name. I attempted to listen to the before and after the show to see what they sound like on record, and they sound like hot ass, so maybe they're better live right? Wrong, the band was quite bad live as well. Respect to anyone who is out there making music and performing at venues, but Torture are not a band I enjoy at all. A friend of mine describes them as "death metal for hardcore kids, but without the hardcore", and that is exactly what they sound like. The vocals are really bad, the instrumentation is WAY too slow, especially for moshing, and it just wasn't my honest vibe. I like death metal, and I'm trying to get into more of it, but really don't like whatever those guys were cooking up. That show kind of made me felt I was overexposing myself to too much of the same music, and I thought the high from shows was dying out. I couldn't be more wrong though! I could've had this show be my first "review", but I think the show I saw last night was so peak that I'm actually getting auditory whiplash from it.

This was a show that I was 99% sure I wasn't going to be able to go to. Everything was the opposite of lined up for me to go, as I didn't really have a ride to the gig, and I am a pussy and don't want to take the bus for an hour to go somewhere I've never been (sue me!) My mom came in clutch, but goddamn do I need a car and a license ASAP! I am so unbelievably grateful of my mom for driving me there, as she had to pick me up from campus and drop me off and then pick me up from there and drop me off on campus. It's also a very interesting show because it was ($12), which was half the price of Thursday's show, but double the entertainment! I also spent a fuck ton on merch :(. I'm so broke please help!!!!!!!

The opening act was Unintelligents, which are not very hard to describe. Imagine a generic version of an 80's/early 90's hardcore punk band in your head. There you go, you have the exact sound of Unintelligents. Now, there's nothing wrong with that at all, and it's nice to hear a new band cultivating that kind of sound, but it did mean that they weren't all that interesting. When they first started, I felt like the drummer was only good at two drum beats so that's all he played, but he started to get a bit more creative as the show went on. No riffs really stood out, but there were some fun instrumental moments here and there. The vocalist was solid, but they honestly should be called the Unintelligibles because I didn't understand a thing he was saying! They set the energy level for the show, and they were overall a good opener (also the lead is kinda hot, so they get a pass) which is important and they did good as that role. I wish they did a bit more crowdwork, but that's just me I guess. They are far from the worst band I've seen, and overall they were pretty solid. I also thank them for starting slightly late because I was also slightly late to the show, so it all worked out! Spotify link (would put Bandcamp cause that's better, but they don't have one (local acts, GET BANDCAMP!))

Next, Take Steps played, and holy fucking shit you NEED to check them out right after reading this. Like I mean it. They are one of the best local acts in my area, and they are definitely one the best modern melodic hardcore bands out there. I found them through friends of mine at my radio station, and I really liked the EP they put out. It's honestly grown to be one of my favorite releases of the year, maybe due to the fact that both times I've seen them (tonight and another night previously) they were really awesome. I NEED to learn the lyrics to their songs so that I can take the mic from the vocalist, because the songs are just so catchy and easy to sing along to. Take Steps really livened me up when it was time for them. I honestly forgot how good they were cause I hadn't seen them since earlier this month. They played some songs off their EP, and then a song I swear to GOD I recognize but I literally don't know what it is, maybe I'll figure it out eventually, but I'm pretty sure it had to be a cover of something (or I'm literally crazy; both can be true though) FUTURE MAX NOTE HERE: I AM CRAZY IT WAS AN ORIGINAL UNRELEASED SONG I BELIEVE. Anyway, they absolutely made my night with their final song, which was a cover of "The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes" by Fall Out Boy. I wish someone captured the look on my face when I heard the opening riff to that song, it literally made me glow I swear to God. I wanted a song I could sing along too, but that was not what I had meant! I am someone who (unfortunately) loves early Fall Out Boy a lot, especially their first two albums (but the first four are great imo, don't let the haters get to you!). "The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes" (I will refer to it as TPSOLAF for the rest of this review) was always one of my favorites off their debut, and it honestly might be my favorite right now (mostly unrelated to this experience). I know nearly EVERY SINGLE WORD from that song. Like it transported me back to my scene emo days in middle school just like that. I just straight up was never expecting to hear that song in a live context ever in my life (tbh why tf would I ever go see FOB, no offense), and to be able to two-step and scream along the lyrics felt amazing. I also felt seen (homophone!!!!!!) to have a band that my friends really like and respect playing a song that I am one of the few who actually enjoy. That was definitely one of the strongest highlights from a show I've ever been to, and I am really looking forward to more stuff by these guys! Not to mention, the crowd response was really awesome, and I definitely think these guys can make it big! Bandcamp link

Post No Bills played next, and I think they are quite interesting and definitely talented. They're from Staten Island, so I think the farthest band from my local area at the gig. I don't often see a vocalist drummer, so it was really cool to see the drummer screaming like that. They also were apparently missing their other guitar player, so they did quite well despite that. The riffs were really good, the drumming was excellent (I have no fucking clue how someone can play drums really fast, keep tempo, and scream lyrics at the same time, literally HOW), and I think they were overall a good time. Not to be harsh, but I think they were a bit forgettable, mostly because I feel they were outshined by the bands they were sandwiched between. I wasn't really familiar with them beforehand, and I tend to like my first exposure to a band be their live music. I would definitely see them again if they played with bands like these again, but I don't think I would go to a show to see them specifically again. I like their energy, and the pit was quite fun during their set. Spotify link

Finally, Flatwounds was the closing act. The thing about Flatwounds is I feel like they shouldn't work nearly as well as they do. They are a heavy grunge band in my area, and they are suprisingly really fucking good. Especially live. Grunge is a genre that really shouldn't work in a modern context, but somehow Flatwounds pushes through that. I think something that really helps is just how incredible they can be live. This was the third time I've seen them (they were actually played at the first show I ever went to since my time being in the Capital District!, and I saw them again in February). The energy they put out is great, and their vocalist is really involved in the hardcore scene, so he knows what the people want from crowdwork, so the crowd is always really good at Flatwounds gigs. Now, I am only starting to get into moshing (I can barely two-step competently, and I can throw my body around at people like a ragdoll, but I don't want to hurt anyone so I find it difficult to learn how to get really good at moshing), but I went the craziest I've ever gone at this show to Flatwounds. In fact, I got my ass absolutely beat up. The crowd also went their craziest for Flatwounds it seems, and they did a very good job getting as many people as they could involved. Also, I actually know the choruses to a fair amount of Flatwounds songs, so fighting other people for the microphone is always a jolly time (who doesn't love screaming "KICK MY BUCKET" with like 10 other people fighting you to grab the mic!?). They also played a lot of new/unreleased material, which is quite exciting, I would love a Flatwounds release in the year of our lord 2025. I also see Colin (the vocalist) at shows a lot, and I see why he carries around his signature gallon jug of water to shows. I was drenched (get it, like the hit Flatwounds song that dropped last night called "Drenched") in sweat by the end the show, beaten to a pulp (my ribs hurt, my head thankfully doesn't hurt but I got jumped on a lot at the show, my legs were tired from swinging, and my back was in disrepair) but it was all worth it! Bandcamp link

All in all, it was potentially the most fun I've ever had at a show, and it's the kind of thing that inspires me to write and create music myself. Seeing people getting to express themselves through creative processes and their love for the scene really is inspiring and such a positive influence on my life. Getting to see familiar faces at shows is nice, but it's even nicer to see new faces too! Especially when the new faces are actually people I know or are friends of friends with. Even if hardcore isn't your style of music, I think you'd benefit from going to at least one show in your life (and make it a good one! Bad ones really kill the vibe and make me question whether I even like this style of music, *cough* *cough* Torture *cough* *cough*. And even if you don't like that show, go support other local acts! I bet there are plenty of really cool bands in your favorite style of music that are just waiting to be discovered by you. Local scenes keep music fresh, and who knows, maybe that underground local band you see today will be headlining festivals tomorrow!

That's all for now, though I plan to write more show reviews in the near future!

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