"Heavens to Betsy" at MassArt in Boston, MA, 03/29/06
-Much emphasis on "hardcore," band headbanging intensely at the beginning
-Crowd more tame at first - possibly because of lack of stage divide
-Clear use of "the breakdown," (1:52) an essential element of post-hardcore
-Then a guy comes in and tackles lead singer - demonstration of local band/fan equality?
-Drummer is black, playing what might be percieved as "white music"
"I am the Wind, You are the Feather" at International Community Church in Allston, MA 09/29/06
-Dedicated fanbase audibly singing all the lyrics
-Pushing against stage with raised hands
-Shows how small local venues like churches provide a place to play and build a fanbase
-Ample guitar flailing by performers, stage diving by audience
-Clothing - tshirts, hoodies, jeans
"A Dead Language for a Dying Lady" at House of Rock in Corpus Christi, TX 09/01/07
-Sound features heavily distorted guitars - rhythm playing low chords and lead playing high riffs
-Seems to show they have excited fans in Texas, which contrasts with...
"Country Boys... Goddamn" at Ridglea Theatre in Ft. Worth, Texas, 03/17/07
-Crowd seems unenthused and unfamiliar with the band
Quinsigamond Village Community Center in Worcester, MA 05/10/08
-Seems to show they have excited fans in Texas, which contrasts with...
"Country Boys... Goddamn" at Ridglea Theatre in Ft. Worth, Texas, 03/17/07
-Crowd seems unenthused and unfamiliar with the band
Quinsigamond Village Community Center in Worcester, MA 05/10/08
-Able to draw a pretty large crowd to a home show
-Large mosh pit in the audience (1:04), with fans doing spinning kicks and the like
-Band splits up vocal duties, one singer and one screamer, a common aesthetic of the genre
"Bada Bing Wit' A Pipe" at Water Street Music Hall in Rochester, NY
-As wikipedia description would suggest, band has a much poppier sound, more sung vocals (less screamed), less emphasis on low rhythmn guitar
-Incorporates a synth, arguably making it more poppy, arguably contributing to the concept of post-hardcore bringing outside elements into hardcore spaces.
At Catalyst in Santa Cruz, CA circa 09/14/08
-Band's style of dancing is different than Vanna - more jumping up and down in the punk style, still some mild headbanging, less guitar flailing.
-Still splits up vocal duties between a singer and a screamer similar to Vanna
At Chain Reaction in Anaheim, CA 10/13/07
-From what we can see of audience seems primarily teenage white male
-Can see a typical crowd move demonstrated a few times - at a point of sonic change, fan will use the shoulders of people in front of him to help push himself higher (though not to the point of crowd surfing), something I have also seen at Recieving End of Sirens shows (another post-hardcore band from MA)
I like how you analyze videos of performances for your research. I think it's a unique way of looking at the dynamics of the scene.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you talked about this in your earlier research, but it seems kind of unclear what exactly differentiates "post-hardcore" from "hardcore." You might want to include a short definition of the genre/scene in your final post. For example, the first band, Vanna, has more of what I would consider to be a post-hardcore sound and stage presence, whereas I always thought of Four Year Strong as being a pop-punk/hardcore band similar to bands like New Found Glory.