lakefest show review...

verse 'triple logo' shirt

ruiner 'letting down japan' 2008 tour shirt

we got to the venue around 3:30 pm and the cold breeze was definitely rearing its ugly head. the lake was f'n dark and everyone was getting just a bit too chilly. got to see some old faces and managed to talk to some. set up the merch table beside the a better hope foundation guys. after hanging out and talking to some peeps at the venue, we headed out to get some food. we found this makeshift store after climbing a loonnngggg flight of stairs and luckily they have some fried tofu and they had this awesome home-made chili 'salsa' with some ginger in it. tastes awesome and took the cold outta us for a while. check it out:

Before going back to the venue we managed to drink some kapeng barako at a tree house. How cool is that? We heard someone starting out the show and later on i heard it was IMPLORE THE DARKEN SKy, sounding a bit like H8000 bands with a more modern touch. I never got to see them though cause we were too busy hanging out with our coffee at the time.

When we came back, we were surprised to find out that we were about to play next since we were changed slots with HALF THE BATTLE. No problem. BYSTORM playing with the sun setting in the background and the crowd starting to heat up. we had a blast playing. Great sound system, nice venue and crowd. HTB followed suit and were their usual crazy selves that drove the crowd into a circle pitting frenzy. They also palyed Good Clean Fun's 'No Sacrifice Too Great'. Awesome set as always. At this time the crowd was really getting it on and of course there will always be morons at the pit but its all part of the show, right?

WALK ME HOME followed HTB and calmed the crowd for a while with their college rock inspired songs. I may be wrong but Chamberlain comes to mind. Nice set. After WMH, I think San Pablo locals STANDOUT was next. Were these the same guys from AURORA? They play fast hardcore with some moshy parts and even did a Shutdown cover for good measure. Crowd sing-along in full effect. MIHARA followed them and these guys are one of the most hardworking bands in the Laguna Hardcore scene today. You can see them at almost all the shows and they're getting tighter at every turn. They played I think about 6 songs including a cover of 'No Spiritual Surrender' by Inside Out. Cool.

A BETTER HOPE FOUNDATION was up next and destroyed the crowd again with their own blend of fast hardcore and really well thought out lyrics. They even had a contest wherein they were egging some guys to stage-dive butt naked or dive from the twelve feet speakers for free shirts. Some guys stripped down to their boxers and another one dove from the speakers. Awesome set once again for these guys. Thanks for visiting the Philippines.

After ABHF, came PILEDRIVER, TAME THE TIKBALANG, SAUNA and LEGARDA in succession. I heard all FOUR bands played great which unfortunately I did not catch because I went out with some friends to grab dinner. It was at this juncture that I heard that Pao's phone got lost and was never returned. Fucked up. Thanks to Odessa for the marble potatoes. Yum.

Up next was TYPECAST, but who gives a fuck? haha. GROUND ZERO played next and like MIHARA, these guys get better every gig. I got a GZ and the new ISVARAH 'Cleansing' shirt before going. I failed to do some trades for some more stuff though. Too busy hanging out with friends. hehe. TOWARDS THE END played next and if I'm right they were the ones who played 'Sick People' while we were heading out.

All in all, a great fest to start out the year. Congratulations to the San Pablo crew for making this happen and wqe hope to be back next year. Thanks a lot and see you soon at the Eskapo tour!

Good stuff: Killing Time 'Brightside', Cro-Mags 'Age of the Quarrel', Blacklisted 'Heavier than Heaven...', Double Cross Webzine, DW best of 2008 list, the return of HTB and Beng, upcoming Eskapo tour, get stoked...