The First Step

Rob and I drove to Billerica on Friday night after work to catch the Have Heart / First Step show. Our first stop was at Chicago Dogs in Scarborough. The veggie dogs there are so good. After they took our order they realized that they didn't have any veggie dogs ready so I was going to have to wait a little longer. To make up for it they gave me an extra dog for free. Great start to our road trip. Fun drive down, watching out for 'punch buggies' so that I could hit before I get hit. The show was at a Masonic Temple and it was easy enough to find. The show started off with Maintain. They opened the show with a Strife cover. Pretty good hardcore. I thought about picking up their demo for a buck, but I never made it over to their table. After Maintain I bumped into Pete, and we hung out and talked for a little while. I found out that he is going in for a kidney transplant in a couple of weeks, so I wish him the very best. Fired Up played next and kicked out some great old school hardcore. I'm looking forward to their 7 inch that is coming out on Youngblood Records. Hammer Bros were up next and had their new CD available. I thought they were okay, but by the end of their set I was ready for the next band. Verse played next and impressed the shit out of me. Great stuff. For some reason they reminded me of Bane when they were a fairly new band. I have the Verse LP on vinyl and I if I had the extra money I would have picked up the CD version...I was that impressed. The First Step played next. I've seen this band a few times and it is always a fun time. This time was no different and I loved singing along and stagediving. Rob had burned me a copy of their new album a week ago and I was familiar with some of the new stuff. Have Heart played last and this was my first time seeing them live. I wish I knew their songs better so that I could have jumped in and sang along more. Such an energetic band...such a great crowd. Seriously, this show was awesome. I don't get out to see bands live much anymore, and this one was worth getting out for.

This entry is for the new First Step album that I picked up at the show. Limited to 250 pressed on blue vinyl, with the pre-release tour cover. I'm not sure how many of these records they sold at the show, but shortly after Rob and I bought ours, they were all gone. This may be the best record of 2006.