As some of you know, last month I attended the LoudFest at Gamechanger World in Howell, New Jersey. The two-day show was amazing, as you had people from NJ, NY, Pennsylvania, and met some people from Massachusetts and my best friend from Maryland came as well. Day one began like any other concert, finding parking and waiting in line until the doors opened at 1 pm. When the doors opened people flooded the main stage as the first local band was getting ready to perform. This went on for 2-3 hours with people running back and forth between the main stage and the lab stage which is significantly smaller. Also, some of the local bands did covers like "Have Faith In Me," by A Day to Remember, "Fat Lip," by Sum 41, and a song by As It Is. But once the main bands were set to go then the place exploded in a good way as everyone was moving and singing to all the music being played. My night consisted of me hanging out with Gary (Palisades merch guy) and Chad (Ice Nine Kills merch guy) as I've known them since the beginning of this year. It was good to see my friends in Sylar who tore down the floor with the amount of moshing being produced. Also, it was good to see my friends in Secrets do the same thing but instead had crowd surfers for days. Then, when the hometown boys Palisades went on, dear lord I thought I was gonna go deaf from the amount of screaming for them.
One thing to note about the Palisades set list was three new songs were performed which were "Aggression," their cover of "House Of Wolves," and an undisclosed song to be announced in their 2017 self-titled album. When Ice Nine Kills hit the stage in their Bates High School style clothing, biggest reaction of the night for them. The Ice Nine Kills set list didn't really throw me off cause fourth time seeing them live since last year, the setlist didn't change much. One thing I always love is when Spencer does his crowd walk on top of the sea of hands. To end the night was Set It Off, I have not seen them live and only knew two songs by them which were "Swan Song," and "Partners In Crime," ft. Ash Costello.
Set It Off's set was good, but I wish they added at least "Swan Song" to their setlist as they played mostly new material from their new album. At the end of the night, I talked with Gary and Chad again and Dustin from Sylar too, because at every show I stay there until they start kicking people out. Afterward, when my best friend from Maryland and I were outside, we got a chance to meet Danny from Set It Off. He was the nicest guy and he stood outside in the cold for about an hour to an hour and a half. Then behind the venue, I also got a chance to meet Cody from Set It Off, also one of the nicest guys ever, and I talked him for a bit and mentioned my girlfriend because she loves Cody a lot. Before I left, I hung out with my buddy Spencer from Ice Nine Kills for a bit and also earlier that night gave him a mini Ghostface (his favorite horror movie character) plush that I bought from HotTopic.
The second day was the primary heavy hitters of the heavy metal scene and the night ended with Whitechapel and Suicide Silence. Once the doors opened at around 1:20-1:30, I went over to my best friends merchandise table (My Enemies and I) and had to say hi to all of those Black Contact Lunatics because I did not see them since their tour with I Prevail. This day I waited until 4:00 to see my friends My Enemies and I perform because I was primarily there for them. When the locals went on, the mosh pits opened up to taking up almost the entire floor on both stages, so let's say it was insane for the locals to get mosh pits up to that big of a caliber. One local band that I watched for a little bit was Idle Minds because I know the lead singer personally since the Fresh Faces Tour last year. Once 4:00 hit, My Enemies and I took the stage and I am always satisfied when I see them perform.
I have been to at least one of every tour they have had since the Fresh Faces Tour. Their setlist was a bit short because of time constraint, but I was still happy seeing them live. Afterward, I sat around their table throughout the rest of the night to protect it from the moshers. One of the craziest mosh pits goes to Lorna Shore as people were getting knocked around silly and being overall tired until the end of the night. One of the most insane things I saw was during Suicide Silence's set a brawl broke out that included up to 10 to 15 people which took all of security and Fit For an Autopsy guitar player Patrick Sheridan to separate the wild brawl. Best band that night was probably Whitechapel as they were intense and even tough the mosh level was low, the crowd participation (singing) was big. Towards the end of the night I spoke with Patrick Sheridan (Fit for an Autopsy) and Austin Archey (Lorna Shore) about the brawl and I talked with Austin about tour life and him asking his parents for money to get by while on tour before becoming a big band. That conversation gave me a bigger understanding and appreciation to the bands who struggle through to get by while on tour.
In the end of LoudFest, the festival was great overall. From people all over the tri-state area and to the bands being down to Earth with me. Especially the fact I saw so many of my friends in bands and got pictures with most of them as they are all my friends and I am happy for them all the time because I go to almost every show possible or every tour they go on.
Below are pictures that I took from those nights with the members of bands that I have either met or I have known for a while.
Top left: Cameron from My Enemies and I
Top middle: Tom Barber from Lorna Shore
Top Right: Cody from Set It Off
Middle left: Danny from Set It Off
Middle middle (lol): Spencer from Ice Nine Kills
Middle right: Wade Walters from Secrets
Bottom left: Paul Rose from Cover your Tracks
Bottom middle: Lou from Palisades
Bottom right: Jayden from Sylar
