Chicago Hardcore Shows of The Past......

Albion House
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
Mammoth Grinder
Dead City
Sick/Tired
Thought Crusade
Regrets

I remember going to this show on a whim because my friend Megadeth John called me up out of the blue and asked me if I wanted to go. I don't even think I knew Thought Crusade ("Though Crusade" according to this flyer haha) was on the bill.....but became immediately excited when I learned that they were. I had also heard good things about Mammoth Grinder, mainly their musical resemblance to Entombed (A Swedish Death Metal band that's heavy as fuck). John picked me up with our other friend Brent and started to head over to Albion House, When we arrived, there was already a decent amount of eople . The night was a cold one so most people were bundled u in their Winter finery, and socializing in the back yard. The old Albion House crowd seemed to have been mildly displaced by a more hipsterish element, it didn't detract from the show though. A band named Regrets was up first and played sort of fast, punkish hardcore stuff, which came off pretty boring. I get them confused with aother band called "Regress" from Chicago, probably because they're both boring. My boys, Thought Crusade were up next. They played a pretty good set, but weren't very well received. 3 people moshing including me. I'm really into this band so I'll usually be up front shouting along to every song and stomping around during the breaks.


Right before Mammoth Grinder went on, I smoked a quick joint out in the back yard. When I went back into the basement I was amazed to see full stacks set up....right then I knew the set would be good. Mammoth Grinder went on, and were heavy as fuck! The whole basement shook as the full stacks blasted out MG's fast grind parts coupled with slow, crushing, drum driven, evil funeral dirge parts which displayed a bit of doom metal influence. I like the description of their music on the Mammoth Grinder Myspace site...."Sounds like a door slamming in hell". That pretty much captures the vibe. The entire basement was headbanging in unison, something which was pretty cool to see. I liked the set so much that I bought a split EP with them and another band called Legion. The Legion side is pretty boring, but the Mammoth Grinder on the B-Side more than makes up for it with the awesome tracks "Anxiety Onset" and "Unnatural Death". I should also mention the layout for the record is really cool featuring some pretty grim cemetery photography. Anyways, this was a fun night. I almost always have a good time at Albion House shows. Even if the peripheral crowd which attends shows there has changed with the new owners there is always a "core" (Get it? Haha) group of Chicago HC kids which make it out to nearly every show held there, and build somewhat a sense of community around the place. More venues like this one please!

PS: Thanks to Michael Morrissey for providing the flyer for this show. .