Bane Reunion

When Bane played their "last" show back in 2016, I couldn't get myself interested enough to make the trip to Massachusetts for it. When I saw the photos and videos after the show, and all of the old acquaintances that were there, I kind of regretted not going. When it was announced 7 years later that Bane were going to start playing shows again, I quickly jumped in to buy tickets for that reunion. My brother was on board for the show, and two of his boys wanted to be there as well. Kind of weird to be going to see a band with my nephews, when I'd first seen Bane before they were even born, but I was looking forward to it.

The show ended up being a few days before I was set to leave for holiday in the UK, and in an effort to do my best to avoid covid, I decided that my best move was to stay away from all the action at the front of the stage, and resign myself to the sidelines. Once Bane started their set, and I could see my brother and nephews launching themselves from the stage into the crowd, I regretted my decision.

As we were eating dinner before the show, my brother let me know that he had heard there was going to be some special edition vinyl at the show. I've never really collected Bane records, but if there was a special pressing for the reunion show, I wanted it. As we would come to learn in the days to come, while there were a couple of colored vinyl options that were available at the show, there were still 5 or 6 other versions that were available through multiple exclusive retailers. With that many different versions, for me, it just means that none of them are that special. I'll take the copy that I got at the show, but it isn't really a big deal at this point.

The packaging on this is really nice though. With the diecut gatefold cover, and the booklet attached to the inside cover, this a great looking edition.

I do like the bright pink vinyl for this.

Don't Wait Up

Five years ago, Bane released a couple of 7 inches that revitalized my love for the band. I'd forgotten how great they were, and those records served as a nice reminder.

There was a lot hype when it was announced that Bane was releasing a new album this year. I'm still confused if this actually a "final album" or not.

When the vinyl went up for pre-order, I was like, "Yeah, I'll just wait until release day, and order it then."...then it sold out. Fuck. I was scrambling to find it anywhere, searching every online distro trying to get my hands on a copy, but I came up empty at every turn. Release day came, and I vowed that I wasn't going to sink to the level of buying the CD. I also didn't want to find a free download. When I heard it for the first time, I wanted it to be when I dropped the needle on my turntable. So I waited.

I was glad to see that the wait wasn't too long before REVHQ started taking orders for the second pressing. 700 pressed on white vinyl.

So how is the album? Man, it starts off with a bang. The first two songs really deliver, and I can't believe how incredible this sounds...then comes Calling Hours, and everything comes to a screeching halt. Look, I love David Wood and Down To Nothing, and Pat Flynn and Have Heart...I can even hang with Rotting Out every once in a while...but when you throw those three as guest vocals on one song, everything sounds so disjointed. Then by the time the female vocals come in at the end, I'm like "Get me the fuck out of here". Sorry, but I don't dig it at all. I won't dwell on the negativity though, because right after that song, we get back to what Bane do best. Solid album from dudes that have been doing this for a long time. Well done.

10 Years Of Giving Blood

I've never been a collector of Bane vinyl. I loved the band when I first heard them around 1996/1997, but at the time I wasn't really collecting records, and soon after I fell into a CD slump. As the years went by, I kind of got bored with what they were doing. When I saw them a year or so ago at the Triple B Showcase, it was like a punch to the head. The band were still intense and passionate live, and revisiting their last couple of albums, I found that they really held up over the years. Yeah, I was back on board the Bane bandwagon.

2011 marked the 10 year anniversary of Bane's Give Blood LP. Triple B took on the task of releasing this special pressing, and the job they did is of the highest quality. For the anniversary pressing, Triple B went with new cover art on an embossed gatefold sleeve.

Red with white splatter colored vinyl. Limited to 200.

Even though the album cover got new artwork, the original cover found it's way to the nice booklet that was included.

The booklet is a nice reproduction of the CD insert from the original Equal Vision release. Was it similar to the original vinyl release? I have no idea, I've never owned one. Having the Anniversary pressing kind of makes me want one though.

While I was in the Triple B store, I figured that I'd grab a copy of the Downpresser 7 inch. I really like this record and have slowly been building up my collection for this band. I still need the purple vinyl to complete things, but now I've got the most common pressing. Red vinyl is limited to 600.

Triple B Weekend : Part 1 - The Show

The original plan for our roadtrip this year was to head to the A Time We'll Remember fest in Washington D.C.. Unfortunately, Paul was unable to get that weekend off in November, so we had to improvise and decide to make our destination quite a bit closer with the Triple B Showcase in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Other than the show on Saturday and Sunday, Haverhill didn't offer a lot for us to do and see in the down time, but Rob, Paul and I made the most of it and had a blast. Saw a bunch of great bands, and met up with some cool people. I was disappointed with the lack of vinyl for sale at the show, as I was planning on picking up some records from the bands that I'd recently checked out...but to my surprise a lot of bands only had t-shirts for sale.

In addition to the Showcase, this weekend was the Record Release for the America's Hardcore compilation on Triple B Records.

The record looks awesome, and the bands selected are all pretty solid. I love the cover on this thing. I was surprised to find out that the pressing that Triple B was selling was the most common one. Nothing special for the Record Release show. Blue with white splatter. 700 pressed.

Free Spirit, Foundation, Rotting Out, Thought Crusade, The Rival Mob, and Cruel Hand. Fucking solid. While I do love how the packaging on this record looks, I do think that the Triple B logo on the back is a little overkill. Ha! How much real estate does a label need to take up for their logo? Damn.

The book that is used for the insert is amazing as well, with each band getting a full size page for lyrics, etc. Triple B spared no expense in making this record as special as possible. Nice job.

In my last post, I mentioned how much I was looking forward to catching out Thought Crusades' set. I love their two 7 inch records, and I promised that I would be launching from the stage when this band played...regardless of if anyone was going to be there to catch me or not. As soon as the guitar kicked in for Tightrope, I was off. Such an amazing song. I caught up with the singer, Ryan, after their set, and he handed me the demo tape for the band Noose. Said that REACT! was putting their demo out on vinyl and suggested that I check them out. Very cool gesture. Picked up the blue vinyl copy of Common Man...limited to 100.

The line up on Saturday was amazing, and I had such a great time...Sunday on the other hand was pretty disappointing with lots of really "tough" bands and big guys throwing punches on the dance floor. Other than Bane and Cruel Hand, the only other band that really grabbed my attention was Rotting Out from Los Angeles. Incredible punk influenced hardcore...aggressive and catchy as fuck. I can't see why anyone would not like this style. 400 pressed on clear blue vinyl from 6131 Records.


I'll admit it...I got burned out on Bane. I saw them so many times in the late 90's, and as we worked our way into the mid-2000's, thier albums failed to grab me the way thier first 7 inches did. I caught them live a few times over the past year, and while I had a fun time at the those shows, I really wasn't interested in any new material. When Bane released their new 7 inch last year, I couldn't care less and I ignored it. Gearing up for the Triple B Showcase, I decided to finally download the "new" record and check it out. To my surprise, I really liked it...I mean, I REALLY liked what I heard. Therefore, I was planning on picking up the vinyl. The only pressing that they had for sale (amongst the 10 different shirt and sweatshirt designs) was the Los Angeles pressing from 6131 Records. Yellow vinyl and limited to 700 pressed. I'm not looking to collect the many different pressings, from the many different labels...for me, one will do.

*Update* So, 4 days later I was just putting the Los Angeles 7 inch into my record and CD database and noticed that the songs were different than the Boston 7 inch that I had downloaded a few weeks ago. I had no clue that there were different songs on these things. Looks like I will be buying more copies. Ha!

I'm hoping to put more miles on the roadtrip next year, but all in all, this weekend was a lot of fun.