Blind Justice

A holiday based on freedom has become all about how many hotdogs slobs can eat and chanting like a bunch of jocks at a high school reunion. Remember how cool we used to be?

No One Rules

Drove around searching for a rideable wave this afternoon before sundown. Came upon this spot only to discover, the steps were gone. Still managed to make my way up and made it out to surf some one foot slop. What is wrong with me?

Discriminate Me

Crucified

Crucified for your sins

Don't Even Bother Saying Goodbye...

Photo: Jamie Heim

Saturday was Floorpunch's final show at the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia, PA. Well, final US show was how it was billed. I thought the word "US" getting thrown in was kind of odd, maybe hinting at some more shows abroad; but I don't care either way. Porter even joked about playing Canada next week leaving the crowd looking around laughing, but I'm sure some were thinking, "Is he serious?". If they want to have 20 final shows, go ahead, because frankly, I'd go see them once a week if I could. Call 'em all your final show, as long as you play all the songs on the demo.

It was a million degrees outside the church and the show had been incredibly hot inside. Despite the terrible outside temperature, as you entered the basement of the church, it was like walking into a wall of heat (Killing Time, anyone?), 100 times worse than outdoors. Without moving and just standing there with my arms folded, watching a couple bands, I could feel the sweat pouring off of me. I couldn't imagine what actually moving around for Floorpunch's set would be like, but there wasn't really a choice, I guess. So sing-a-long and sweat it was gonna be.

Once everybody had arrived from the traffic nightmares north of Philly, Porter gave a couple quick thank-yous and they broke into Warzone's "Intro/Bust", which I was completely stoked on, and apparently the crowd was,too. Even with the time constraints and the obnoxious temperature in the basement of the Church, it was a quality set. I dug the order of things, mainly because it didn't follow the same format of the last two times I saw them, which kept things fresh while still hearing all the jams. All the usual tunes were played and a couple of surprises thrown in for good measure. A girl came out of the crowd to sing "Wall of Hate" by Killing Time and she brought it; a really good job on her part. Geoff was also called out to do Agnostic Front's "Last Warning", and destroyed, upping the intensity of his last AF performance at the Stelton, which was out of control good. Getting to hear KT, AF and Warzone along with the Floorpunch songs was just incredibly awesome.

Other highlights for myself were, of course "My Path" into "Intro/Changes", "Blondie" & "Let It Ride" including the other jams, like "Always", etc. They closed with "Let It Ride" which always has a special place for me living so close to AC. Besides the insanely good setlist was Porter's stage banter filled with the usual good one-liners. One of my favorites: "Then he started listening to weird stuff...like Lifetime." Hilarious stuff.

Towards the end, it was full on, VH1 Storytellers, Floorpunch style, with Porter explaining the details behind the Earth Crisis beef, the Rick-Ta-Life beef and explaining to one young man in the crowd the truth behind the yogurt at the Middlesex show back in the 90s. Even though it was super hot, the crowd was into it, diving, finger-pointing and getting a quick mosh in on the breakdowns. There were lots of familiar faces all up front singing along from the start to finish of the set. The stage dives were much improved over the Rival Mob's set, where it appeared that kids were going to split their skulls or shatter a bone at any moment. The mosh was brought early, but by the end of the set, the heat had taken its toll, leaving most moshers exhausted, but still trying to give it a go.

Never before have I left a show with my shirt and pants completely soaked, but walking out of the Church, sweat was dripping from my clothes. It was a great set to end on even with it being 1,000 degrees and all the headaches of getting everyone playing the show there and then getting everyone off the stage in time for the next church function. For as satisfied as I was with the final, final, final mosh, I can say I woke up the next day with a footprint on my shoulder, a sore body and wishing that there'd be another show in the next couple months, preferably at the Jersey Shore.

As far as this being the last show, it's easy to argue that it's not their last. Since the final mosh at CB's there's been a handful of different line-ups and a couple of reunion gigs in a variety of spots. Based on the amount of merch at the FP table, it seemed like a whole lot for one show. The longsleeves had the 6/26/10 date on them,indicating this was it; but there were a whole lot of zip ups in different colorways, which was kind of odd for one final summer show. Not that merch is any indication of a band's intentions, but by now, people seem to think it won't be their last. I've got no complaints either way. If they're done, so be it. If another show pops up in a couple years, months or weeks, I can't say that I'd be upset about it. I'd only be upset if I couldn't go.

Floorpunch from KO Films on Vimeo.

Last Warning

Not going to have much time to post in the coming months. Daily posts are coming to a close. Updates whenever I feel like it or have something worthwhile to post.

Crucial Changes

Took a chance the other day and decided to see if I could find a spot that was breaking decently, despite the lack of a clean up forecasted with our recent swell. Took a ride to the south end, but didn't see much. Rain was headed out to sea, and the one spot that looked decent already had four guys on it. You can see the pier in the distance with the enlargement:

Drove a little further south and took the walk up the hill to the next spot check:

I always enjoy checking out the natural, rustic ambiance that this spot provides:
It took a few minutes to convince myself, but there were two distinct spots where it was breaking, so I decided to give it a go. You can see one spot out towards the right, which was where I headed. The inside was garbage as you can see.
During the session, it rained and then got clear, skywise, which meant things cleaned up and got somewhat glassy wave-wise for a spell. Lefts didn't line up too well, but every now and then you could find a decent right coming through. By the end, the wind was stirring things up again, but I was able to get a pretty good session all to myself.

I noticed there were a bunch of horseshoe crabs washed up on the beach.
The forecast for this weekend: small amounts of swell, large amounts of out-of-towners.

Twin Killing

Since I headed to the Lehigh Valley this weekend, I made the pilgrimage again to Double Decker. It's been said before, but I'll say it again: hands down the best record store on the East Coast. I spent a solid hour digging through piles, stacks and crates of records found inside Double Decker. I didn't go in with the plan to pick up much, but ended up finding a bunch of stuff I wanted including a copy of Chain of Strength's True 'Til Death seven inch in my purchases. It never ceases to amaze what records are instore or just passed through the crates of DD. Not only did I get to check out an Agnostic Front United Blood ep and a Minor Threat In My Eyes seven inch(in the picture below), but Jamie had told me that he just sold the Antidote seven inch just as quickly as it came in. The price tag for just those three records alone was $1,000 dollars easily (AF- $400, MT- $200, Antidote- $400). Needless to say, a photograph of those two records was all I could afford. Thanks to Jamie for letting me take the picture.