Not Horrible Fest 2016
Did you see the masses of people walking South down Detroit and across W. 117th a weekend or two ago? Well, if they seemed like the type of people who know what's up, they were probably headed over to Now That's Class for this year's Not Horrible Fest. I was there for most of it, and here's what I thought about all that.
The festival, originally called Horrible Fest, began a bunch of years ago as a garage/punk fest. Over the years, the focus has shifted to more of a hardcore/garage/punk festival, with occasional experimental-type acts as well. The management switched around and Now That's Class became the fest's epicenter, and so it was renamed Not Horrible Fest.
Night 1 started off on the right foot with a pretty darn good performance by Pig Flayer. They've added a bass player since I last saw them (who was playing what looked to be a Fender VI, but I'm not certain from where I was standing, but it was cool), which really improved their sound. Cool punk. Or hot punk. Something like that, or the other one. I'm not quite sure. It was good either way.
Following the Flayers (who took off the next day to go on tour as The Nico Missile; I know this because I talked to them outside and got confirmation) were an even newer band (and Pig Flayer are pretty new themselves) called Glass Traps, who did a goth-y post-punk type of thing. I thought they were pretty interesting, worth checking out again.
The band I was really there for played next, that being Italy/Cleveland punk act the Flyin' Trichecos. I thought they played great (even when singer Alessandro (the Italian) took Wedge's cymbal away, and kept trying to kiss guitarist Paul) it was pretty chaotic, though I'm told it was one of the least chaotic Trichecos shows ever, so what do I know? Our enthusiastic vocalist somehow kept getting more mic stands with which to play catch with audience members even when the stands were repeatedly taken away from him. Extra bonus points for Paul and Sean playing the riff from "Cocaine" at the start, to which Anus (Alessandro) replied with something that was pretty funny but cannot be printed in the paper). That was probably my favorite set of the night.
Pleasure Leftists played next, they also had a post-punk type of thing going on. It was my first time seeing them, despite their being long recommended to me, and they did not disappoint. I really should grab a copy of their latest LP one of these days.
During Uniform's set, I was outside shooting the breeze, so I can't say how they were. Then I left without seeing the headliner LMNTL, so thus ends day one.
I skipped the day two backyard barbecue, so I unfortunately did not get to see Brainwashed California vs. Mr. California, nor the Burger Boys. From what I've heard they were pretty good.
For night two proper, I walked in a song or two into Tonawandas' set, but was nonetheless impressed. Garagey synth punk. Nice stuff. Their cassette is pretty decent as well, perhaps there'll be a review of it in this very paper sometime soon.
Folded Shirt were absolutely great. Beyond punk. I loved hearing Steve (The Cowboy), Terry (Mr. California) and the aforementioned Alessandro play the opening instrumental over and over while singer Larry(Wetbrain) remained nowhere to be seen. Certain members of the audience were seen pulling out their cellphones to try and call him. Finally, he arrived about midway through the fourth repetition of the starting number, and so began the rest of the set. Great renditions of "Jungle Music" and "Folded Shirt." I also liked when they all joined hands and bowed, like they're The Who or something. My top band of night two.
Quitter, from Baltimore, also were just swell. Cool horror movie KBD synth punk. Their 7" on Blow Blood is highly recommended. I should've grabbed their "Dark City Visions" cassette while I was there, but it slipped my mind. Come back soon, Quitter, I'll buy your tape.
I once again took a break to wander around during Fried Egg's set, but I did like what I caught. I guess the guitarist broke a string or something at one point, because one of the times I walked into the showroom, the guitarist from Quitter was handing a guitar case over. I think they're on Negative Jazz, if I remember correctly. I'm not gonna factcheck that, but they did have a "Fried Egg Flea Market" full of stuff from many bands, so someone in the band probably has something to do with some label of some note. Or something.
Another Blow Blood act, Vanilla Poppers, were next. They did pretty good almost-hardcore-but-not quite punk. Members of Real Regular, Cruelster, Yambag, and like 20 others (even though there's only 4 people in the band), if Cleveland punk genealogy floats your boat. They did all the songs (except the cover, unless I somehow missed it despite being in the room the whole time) off their demo tape, plus several new (newer? older? I have not a clue) ones that I assume will probably see release sometime in the future. My ride home arrived then, so I regretfully had to miss Spray Paint and Giorgio Murderer, who I've heard are both good. Next time.
The day three matinee show was intended to be at Rust Belt Welding, but they had a fire, so it was moved to Now That's Class. Bad Noids started off the fun as only they can. Fun fact: their set was the one during which I got the most beer spilled on me. They did some newer ones, and some older ones, and some ones that I don't know, and one that's called "Outer Space" when it's a Splat song, but funny enough, they didn't do "The Ones." Ha, see what I did there?
Crime Wave, from Texas, were supposed to play next, but no-showed (more on that later), so Yambag got bumped up a slot. They played fast and loud. Enigmatic singer Mask donned a giant squid mask and some kind of raincoat/overall hybrid thing (???). The mask got lost in the shuffle pretty quickly, along with Mask's coat, leaving only the rainoveralls. I had to dodge Mask a couple times as he ran by.
After that, Urochromes played. I had heard good things about them but never actually listened to them. I was quite impressed. They were very, very good. Even though they didn't play the hit, or so I'm told.
The Yankee Peddler set up shop with his fiddle and did some tunes for a while, while the main event got ready to think about setting up in the other room. That main act, The Darvocets, was delayed by their lack of drummer. Eventually, he showed up and they got ready to go. Some member of the crowd brought in tons of inflatable cows, which were tossed around during their set. They were great, by the way, in case you were wondering. Someone, I assume probably the same person as before, crowdsurfed in a giant inflatable alien. As people took a song or two to process this, another was crowdsurfed in. One was stabbed by singer Larry. These cows and aliens are very relevant to the songs of the Darvocets, if you're unfamiliar. Anyways, they were great. First time they've played in 4 years, as well!
I showed up right at the start for the night show of day three, as I really wanted to see the first band, The Cowboy. They did not disappoint. I believe this was their second show ever. 2/3 of the band are (were? it's sorta unclear) 2/3 of Homostupids, so if you like that band, you'll most likely like these guys. They may have actually been my favorite band of the day three night show, except for possibly the headlining Urinals.
Columbus's Unholy Two played next, doing some loud, noisy hardcore-ish punk. I thought they were pretty alright. The one guitarist had a gorgeous Telecaster. It was like blue green.
So remember when Crime Wave didn't show up earlier? The same members are actually in a different band by the name of Fugitive Family. They showed up! Perhaps in apology for the afternoon, or maybe just because they're a good band, they played a great set. I enjoyed it, anyway. I liked the singer's jack o'lantern getup as well.
I really had no idea what to expect of SQRM, but I didn't think they were as great as they were made out to be. Decent enough, but not the greatest band ever. Similarly, Watery Love were very hyped to me, and a couple people told me that they were the band to most look forward to. I was underwhelmed. Not bad, I thought they did an okay set, but not the gods among men that people were making them out to be. Maybe that's just me.
I sat around in the showroom watching the Urinals get set up while Predator played on the bar side. They sounded good from where I was sitting, but I guess I don't really know. Anyways, then the headliner to end all headliners, The Urinals played. I thought they were great. I mean, obviously it's been a long career and they don't play as sloppy as their most famous recordings anymore, but they were very enjoyable for what they were. Plus, they mixed in a couple 100 Flowers songs, which was really cool.
So, yeah. Not Horrible Fest. It was not horrible. There were apparently a variety of after parties, none of which I attended. I was partied out for the weekend. In summation, many very good bands, lots of extremely nice people around, all in all a good experience. The Not Horrible fest comes once a year. Go next time.