Showcase Showoff

I love a good hardcore fest. Hanging out, watching bands kick it live, and checking the merch tables. Seriously one of the best times I've had was catching the last Posi-Numbers fest with my good friend Rob. I had really just started collecting records when I went to that show, and I went nuts buying records...spent so much money. I really don't get to travel much for these type of shows, and while I didn't travel to California for the REACT! Showcase in April, I did get the opportunity to buy the limited REACT! merch from a pretty awesome dude.

One of the hottest commodities at the Showcase had to have been the REACT! boxset. This was a collection of five 7 inches that the label has released. It is too bad that the Get The Most demo wasn't included...it feels a little incomplete without it. Either way, this is pretty fuckin' cool. Screened box with the now classic REACT! image on the front.

The boxset includes a little book that documents each 7 inch included. Lyrics, pictures, history, and even fun facts! Nicely done.

All the records were tied up nicely with a bow. I had to untie them for the picture and it was a total pain in the ass to tie them back together. I can't imagine how insane it was sitting around the REACT! HQ and tying up almost 100 of these things. It took me about 10 minutes to do just one. All of the inserts were included in the box along with a couple of posters. Especially nice is the poster that captures the moment when I almost caught the ass of Mike from Mindset with my face. Classic.

Cool silk screened back to the box. My number looks a little fucked up, but I think it is 84, and not 89, out of 94.

REACT! can hold their own next to my other boxsets.



The Showcase also had some cool special pressings that were limited to 100. Damages on orange vinyl, with the patch that reminds me of Struggle or Econochrist.

Praise was pressed on pink.

I haven't received my Common Cause pre-order yet, but the packaging, once again, is top notch. Showcase pressing is on the coolest color for colored vinyl...gold.

Get The Most decided to make the Showcase their record release show. Nice little fold over deal for the cover to indicate that it is the record release edition. Green colored vinyl.

While Doug was pretty happy with his number 88, as it was a great year for hardcore, I've got to say that 77 was a pretty good year for metal, with cool releases from Motorhead, AC/DC, and Judas Priest. Awww, fuck it, who am I kidding, 88 is still better than 77.

I had been under the impression that my Showcase order was going to be packaged and sent along with the GTM/Praise/Damages pre-order. That didn't happen, and I sent an email to ask what was up. Not sure what the miss was, but to make up for the extended delay in getting everything shipped out, the record release pressing of the new Betrayed record was included. Yeah, that more than makes up for the wait! Holy shit, the song Above The Influence is so fucking good.

Silk screened covers, and hand stamped labels. Limited to 100.

The final piece to my Showcase collection was the "TFS Crew" pressing of the Connection 7 inch from The First Step. Originally released on Rivalry Records, REACT! did a special pressing for the Showcase, and handed them out to the first 77 people at the show. I made an offer to get one, and once we agreed on a price, my collection of the Connection 7 inch went from 9 to 10.

Starting To React

I've got a few orders that I'm waiting for from REACT! Records. If you thought that they were running shit in 2009, then 2010 is going to blow you away. The label dropped three pre-orders at the end of January. Aram couldn't catch a break and there were countless delays, but unlike New Age records, REACT! keeps you informed of what is going on with the orders. I was happy to receive them about a month ago.

First up was the album that I was most anticipating, Get The Most's LP, Together. Their two 7 inches quickly made them one of my favorite bands going right now, and I could not wait to check out the LP.

The album does not disappoint...excellent straight edge hardcore. Of course the packaging is the same high standard that you would expect from REACT!.

200 on clear, 400 on blue, and 800 on black vinyl. I love the R! b-side labels, and wish that REACT! would use this label for all of their releases.

Along with the Get The Most pre-orders, REACT! also put out a 7 inch from a band called Praise. I wasn't too into the artwork for the 7 inch, but the music on this record will put aside all thoughts of doubt. Melodic hardcore in the vein of Dag Nasty or 7 Seconds. The singer, Andy, played in Champion, throw in a couple of guys from Mindset, then add Stephen from The First Step to help out out with one of the songs, and this band can not lose. Amazing.


I got lucky with this one, as Aram threw in a transition pressing. You've got to look really hard, but there are a few black streaks in the green vinyl. There were only 55 transition colors that have the Praise stamp on the dust sleeve.

Again, great packaging from REACT!. 200 pressed on orange and 300 on green. Since I got the transition color, I guess I still need to order the black vinyl for this one.

Damages play a style of hardcore that I thought had died back in the late 90's. The band would have fit right in on the Ebullition roster with the style of emo/hardcore. To be honest, I really had no interest in checking out this band, but they were on REACT!, so I bought it to keep the collection together. To my surprise, I found myself really liking this band. I really used to love bands like Shotmaker, Policy of 3, and Downcast back when this style dominated hardcore, but I kind of left it to collect dust about 10 years ago. Damages made me dig out those old Current and Moss Icon records, and reminded me that, when done right, this style of hardcore can still be pretty cool.

200 pressed on grey vinyl, 300 on blue, and 400 on black. The grey pressing comes with a Damages patch, so you can stitch it to your backpack and pretend that you are still in 1995.

Infinite Collection

I'm trying to break the CD habit. The main reason that I still buy CDs is out of convenience. Each day I pick a stack of 15 CDs and head out the door to work. I listen to CD's in the car, and on my stereo in my cube at work. This means that if I own it on vinyl, I've got to burn it to CD if I want to listen to it on the go.

I hate burned CDs. I'm a visual kind of guy, and when I'm surveying my walls of vinyl and CDs...when I'm admiring my shelves, the homemade burned CD's with their generic spines stand out as an eyesore. I hate the way they look...so plain and uninspiring. Which is why I will sometimes buy both the vinyl and the CD. Those days are coming to an end, and I'm counting on my new ipod to be my savior. I'm sure that this won't mean the complete death of CD's for me, but it will allow me to focus more on vinyl.

So with that said, I picked up the new Voivod LP, Infini, the other day. Where I typically bought most of my Metal purchases on CD, this time I didn't hesitate to pick up the vinyl copy. Of course, Infini is not nearly as good as Voivod's first four albums...hell, there is no way that Metal from 2009 is going to measure up to 1987, so there is no point in really comparing them, but still, Infini contains some great songs...God Phones and Volcano are both amazing. Solid album.

Another Promise

A while back, Bridge Nine cleaned out their warehouse. They found some loose vinyl with no sleeves, so they packaged them up with a special Warehouse Edition sleeve and put them up in their webstore. Outbreak, the Black Friday '29/Death Before Dishonor split, and No Warning all got the Warehouse treatment, but the one that I REALLY wanted was Champion's Promises Kept. No Warning and Champion sold out before I could get one, and I was PISSED...so pissed, in fact, that I said "fuck it", and didn't even bother buying the ones that were available. I moaned and groaned, whining about it on various different messageboards. Eventually I got an email from Aram saying that Bridge Nine was going to send him a few, and that he would set one aside for me. I was thrilled, but over time, the record never arrived. Seems as though Aram didn't get very many copies and didn't have enough to go around. That's cool, I was glad that he had made the effort, but now the mission was mine. I finally came across one on eBay a couple months back, and was happy to finally add this to the collection.

It wasn't the most limited of the Champion Warehouse Edition. 205 were made with the left over vinyl from the last show. Not as cool as the one that Doug got, but I'm still happy to have a copy to once again complete my Champion collection.

Sick of Ceremony

When Bridge Nine posted pre-orders for the new Ceremony LP, Rohnert Park, I spent the extra money and ordered the package deal. The pre-order package included a book written by Ceremony's singer, Ross Farrar, which featured all of his lyrics for the band, along with explanations for what the songs mean. At the time, I thought that the book was limited to the package deal, but now it appears that you can buy the book on it's own...which somehow makes it feel less special to me.

The record itself, well, I'm not completely sold on it. There are some songs that absolutely kill, and there are others that are more experimental than Ceremony's other stuff, and are outside my "Ceremony comfort zone". I don't know, maybe the whole thing will grow on me, as all Ceremony stuff tends to do.

Along with my Ceremony package deal order, I also ordered the last two pieces of colored vinyl for the Underdog double LP. Ummm...yeah, Bridge Nine sent me two copies of clear vinyl for the Ceremony LP. Okay, so I didn't get the most limited color for the Ceremony LP, the book wasn't limited to the package deal, and I didn't get the two Underdog records that I was looking forward to. "Pack my fist full of hate and take a swing at the world...".

700 pressed on clear vinyl, and 1,000 pressed on blue.

Worn Out

If it isn't money that is short, it is time. Records are coming in and stacking up, and I don't have the time to sit and enjoy them. Seems like everything else has been demanding my attention, and I have been letting the music take a back seat. I've been meaning to get those priorities straightened out this month, but that has yet to happen.

A couple of months ago I won a bunch of records from some dude on eBay. I don't own many pieces of Worn Thin vinyl, and since the auction for the self titled 7 inch was set to close at 99 cents with one bid, I figure that I might be able to pick it up for cheap. It ended at $3.25 and it was all mine. The seller listed it as limited to only 187. Can anyone confirm that?

White Snakes and Guilty Pleasures

Somewhere along the way, I got old. I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point over the last 5 years I really started digging 70's rock. It started innocent enough at first, you know, kind of discovering the brilliance of Deep Purple and Alice Cooper. Then, before you knew it, my stereo speakers were rockin' some early Blue Oyster Cult and Led Zeppelin. By then it was too late, and I was falling in love with early Aerosmith and some band that I've hated with an unholy passion for all of my life, Whitesnake. Damn, how did this happen. From the moment I was introduced to David Coverdale and Tawny Kitaen in Whitesnake's 1987 video for Here I Go Again, I hated that fucking song...hated that fucking band. In the war on hair metal, I was firmly in the Slayer camp, hating poser pretty boys like Whitesnake.

Yet, here I am 25 years later, seriously looking to add the first 6 or 7 Whitesnake albums to my vinyl collection...you see, I still think the self titled album from '87 is highly polished piece of shit, so my obsession ends there. But in the last five years, my love of Deep Purple properly introduced me to David Coverdale when he took over as the band's singer with their Burn album in 1974. What I found was heavy and passionate 70's rock that I could no longer deny. Eventually, that bluesy rock sound led me to checking out the late 70's albums from Whitesnake. Much to my surprise, I loved them, and now I need them on vinyl. I found their live album from 1980, Live In The Heart Of The City, on eBay for $5.00...still sealed. Did not hesitate to pick it up. I'd resisted and avoided them for so long, but there is something about 70's Hard Rock that I've fallen in love with...or maybe I've just gotten old.

A Collection Of Answers

So after four months of single digit post numbers, I was looking forward to blogging like an addict, and getting some long overdue posts up in July. The month got off to a slow start with the July 4th holiday, and then my computer got hit hard with a virus. It shut my computer down for a week and I ended up having to clean everything off and rebuild. I'm going to have to work overtime if I want respectable post numbers this month.

Recently, Dave Larson from Excursion Records posted on the REACT! messageboard that he had 10 copies of the Seven Inch Collection package that he had made up for the Rain Fest this year. There were 100 of these made, and it contains all three 7 inches from The Answer.

Number 28 of 100.

The records were packaged beautifully, but were completely stitched closed. The only way to find out which records were included was to cut the top stitch.

I know some people that would leave it stitched up, but I couldn't resist. I needed to know what pressings I received.

The 7 inch collection came with a check list to document how many of each pressing were included in the package and which ones you received.

The first 7 inch, released on Excursion Records, and limited to 26 on red vinyl with the red foil cover for this package. I've never heard this 7 inch, so I was excited to check it out.

You Had Your Chance 7 inch, released on Anchor Records, and limited to 100 on gold for this collection.

16 copies of the blue vinyl with the regular cover were included for the Getting Even 7 inch that was pressed on Endwell Records.

Doomed To Lose

The final piece to my Fired Up vinyl collection. Youngblood pressed 100 copies of the new 7 inch, Doomed To Repeat, on gold colored vinyl for the Youngblood Showcase back in October of 2009. I didn't go to the show (but how great would it have been to see Rancor?), but I was hopeful that, if there were some leftovers from the Showcase, Sean at Youngblood would put up a few copies in the webstore. I waited...I waited...and then I waited some more, and after 6 months, there was no sign of them being made available. I gave up and hit eBay. Finally won a copy for $20.00 on May 16th. On May 17th, Youngblood posts a package deal in their webstore which includes the Showcase pressing of Doomed To Repeat. Fuck.

Number 29 of 100.

Cruel Is King

Last night, I hit up the local Cruel Hand show with Rob and Paul. The last time that I had seen them was at the final Have Heart show, and the band really impressed me live. This show was about 20 minutes from my house, so I figured that I'd go check it out. I had never heard of any of the other bands on the bill, and walked into the Deering Grange Hall with pretty low expectations. Sure enough those expectations were met. Bad set of bands, and it was accompanied by some of the worst moshing that I have ever seen, as the pit was full of windmill spins and donkey kicks. The band on stage would be playing some slow doom riff, and yet kids were still thrashing around full tilt, like Exodus was launching into The Toxic Waltz. Total retardation. Of all the opening bands, the only one I held the slightest interest in was War Animal. The singer looked like a Lemmy clone, and wore a bullet belt. As they set up, I turned to Rob and said, "Well, this looks promising". Too bad that the sound system turned their sound into a blur and other than the occasional cool riff, I couldn't hear much of their sound. Cruel Hand played a good set, with a few songs off their album Lock & Key, that will be out next month. Seemed like their set was short, but the band sounded tight. Man, they must have one of the best drummers in hardcore...that guy just kills it every time I see them.

On the way to the show, I joked with Rob and Paul about Cruel Hand having a special "Grange Hall" press. Turns out they did have a record release pressing for their new 7 inch single on Bridge Nine. This release comes with a special sleeve, with Maine's favorite author Stephen King rockin' the mic and sporting a Cruel Hand trucker cap.

When Rob was buying his copy of the record, the guy at the merch table dug into the box and handed him number 12. Numbers 4 and 5 were on display at the merch table, and I wanted number 4. I don't know why it matters, but I'm a geek and I like low numbers. I picked up number 4 and told him that I'd take one 7 inch...still he dipped into the box and pulled out a record for me to take...number 11. Damn it. I handed him my 10 dollar bill. He said that he needed to go get change, and as he stepped away, I set my number 11 on the table and took the number 4 that I wanted. Why did it matter? I have no idea.

I checked my number 4 copy on the way to the car, and found that there was an additional, crinkled and mangled cover included with the record. So I ended up with two release covers for this one...4 and 16.

A New Age, Same Shitty Mailorder

Back in the early 90's, I didn't take any shit from bad mailorder service. I wrote letters to Revelation, and I would use directory assistance to track down Dirk Hemsath at Doghouse, and Mike Hartsfield at New Age and call them at home. I think that at one time I may have ended up with Hartsfield's mom on the phone, and she hooked me up with her son's phone number so that I could check on an order that I had placed months ago and had not received.

Here we are 20 years later, and while Revelation now runs like a well oiled mailorder machine, New Age is still hobbling along like some three legged dog. Back in the early 90's, New Age was the one of the hottest labels, putting out records from Mouthpiece, Ressurrection, Unbroken, and Turning Point. These days, I don't know anyone that gives a shit about the bands on their roster. It is nothing the really interests me. When they put up a limited pressing of Outspoken's first 7 inch, Survival, I figured that I'd pick up a few items from their webstore. This was at the beginning of February. Months and months passed. Judging from the messageboards, I was not the only one that was waiting. When we got near the three month mark, I figured that it was time to drop an email to New Age to try and find out what was up.

I finally received a reply from Mike Hartsfield three weeks later, and he said that he was sending my order the following Tuesday, June 1st. Cool. Finally a response! I took a chance and replied back to say that I noticed that the webstore now had a burnt orange vinyl pressing of Survival, and if there was any way to add that to my order. To my surprise he replied minutes later and said to just Paypal him the extra $4.50 and he would add it to my order going out on Tuesday. I took the gamble and sent him the money. Time must move slower in California, as the post mark on the envelope shows that he sent it three weeks later than he said he would.

When all was said and done, it took nearly 5 months to receive my order. Crazy. Still, I was pretty excited to finally receive this package in the mail.

The new pressing of Survival is on "bubble gum red" colored vinyl, with the labels from the first New Age release, the Walk Proud 7 inch. No insert. New photocopied cover. It all seems thrown together, but for some reason it works for me, and it makes for a nice limited pressing of 77.

I've always been a big fan of Outspoken, but I never did get to see them live. The band is back together and playing some shows...and even though they are without their original singer, John Coyle, I'd still be down to check them out live. They are playing the A Time We'll Remember fest this November in DC with Hands Tied, One Up, and Mindset. I can't tell you how much I want to go to this show. Anyone up for a roadtrip?

The other copy of Survival that I picked up was limited to 207 on burnt orange. This seems more like a legitimate pressing. I still love the cover of this record. Outspoken's Survival and Insted's Feel Their Pain were the two biggest reasons that I got into vegetarianism.

It may seem like a strange pick, but I also picked up a vinyl copy of the Red Tape LP, High Revoltage. This may have been the last good band that New Age released, and that was 10 years ago, back in 2000. I love this record. Great hardcore with plenty of punk rock attitude.

If It Keeps On Raining, The Levee's Gonna Break

The parade continues. Usually when I get set on collecting vinyl for a band, it typically lasts for one or two records and then I get distracted and move on to something else. With Rain On The Parade, Marcus has kept me on task, and recently let me know about this clear vinyl pressing of the Body Bag EP. Once again, I found myself in a position where I'd spent too much money on vinyl recently, but I figured that if I could pick up this record for a steal, I'd grab it. Unbelievably, the bidding topped out at $10. Nice. I'll take it.

The pressing on clear vinyl comes with a different cover than the regular press, although I'm not sure what the occasion was. Was it a record release cover? Was it a pre-order cover? I don't know. Either way, I may like it more than the regular cover.


Number 41 out of 100.

My copy came with a note to the kid that bought it from Matt Smith of Contention Records(?). Apparently, Robert was upset about losing some money, and Matt felt the need to apologize. I don't know why, but I'll end up keeping this.

Finale

It is a shame to see great bands call it quits, but I'd rather see them go out on top, instead of hanging around for too long. True Colors went out on top. Three 7 inches, and two LP's is a solid output for any hardcore band, but True Colors sounded fresh and vital on every release...never getting stale.

Just like the Floorpunch discography, Six Feet Under did a great job on the packaging for the final True Colors record. Nice looking layout, and this may be the first time that I've seen a gatefold sleeve for a 7 inch record. Unlike the Floorpunch discography, Six Feet Under didn't give us shitty looking vinyl for the True Colors record. Nice and basic solid colors that go well with the record cover. 1,019 pressed on white vinyl.

Inside the gatefold sleeve is a nice shot of various True Colors record sleeves, fliers and t-shirts. Cruel reminder of just how many special pressings I'm missing of their records. 608 pressed on black vinyl.

The record comes with a nice, big foldout insert with lyrics on one side and a nice live shot on the other. 300 pressed on clear vinyl.


Of course the best looking vinyl is the olive green pressing that goes nice with the green on the record cover. This was the most limited color with only 104 pressed. Plus it came with a bonus 7 inch which collects the band's compilation tracks and a few other rarities.


The bonus 7 inch was only available in the Consider It Done pre-order package. 200 were pressed of the bonus 7 inch, but only 100 were included with the Consider It Done package.