Wow... this seriously was an incredible weekend in Baton Rouge.

Saturday June 23, the Junkyard: Hellkontrol, Merkit, Thou, Fuckin' We Gotta Talk. Followed by No Fuego at North Gate

This may have been the hottest show I have ever been a part of, maybe with the exception of the old 200 Government shows, but thats just a maybe. I was honestly covered in sweat, from head to toe, seriously, my shoes were darker than they shouldve been. The fans tried their best to cool things off to no avail.

Hellkontrol started the show off with a furious bang. These kids are loud as fuck and angry to boot. I always said I couldnt give a shit about a band that doesnt have a bass player. Thanks a lot dudes, now I have to amend my statement with, "except for Hellkontrol." Fuck. There was never a silent moment once they get up. Between songs, feedback was all but masked completely by yelps and screams. Audible pain... woot.

Next was Florida's Merkit. Song explaination... ROCK! over and over. Very good shit. The singer teaches 6th grade history, which I find pretty cool. Reaching out to the youth with your tunes and your lesson plan, gnarl.

Fucking We Gotta Talk pwnd all teh n00b5. Auralee's sleep deprivation didnt stop her from belting out one of the scarier screams around. I all but passed out a couple times while they played, the filth flarn heat of a thousand kids in a teeny little room just gets to me. If you didnt get a copy of their demo, get one, its a wonderful representation of their set... angry brutish and short.

Thou rules. End of story. The heat didnt stop anyone from flying around like madpeoples. However, their doomy drone metal did push the electricity over the edge. Blackouts at shows are pretty badass, and what better way to end a set.

After recooperation, it was on to North Gate for No Fuego's CD release party. Sadly, I got there right as Speed of Sound finished up... laaame. Then some other bands played, I dont know if they were bad, I just wasnt in the mood. I was still ringing from the house show. No Fuego, in true Baton Rouge CD release fashion, got shafted out of time. They went on at about 130 or so, so it wasnt too bad. They totally turned it out, definitely one of the best No Fuego sets in a while. Sadly, I had to leave the show a little early or I was going to have to break my pacifist streak and choke the everliving fuck out of someone. Apparently, North Gate's "bouncers," as if they fucking need bouncers, arent very keen on people jumping around at their shows. And what better way to stop people from having fun than by putting people in headlocks and grabbing them by their necks. It pushed me over the fucking edge, I was in one of the guys faces screaming at him while he claimed to not have his hand around my friends neck. I dont fucking get it, people were flying all over the place literally right down the street not 3 hours earlier with no problems whatsoever. But when you give some assholes the bighead and let them police people at a show, they wanna use that power. Ughhhh I dont fucking get it. So sadly, that pissed me off.

Sunday June 24, Ballbag Studio: Chokecherry, Ramming Speed, Malamute, justinbailey.

Oh man, there might have been too much food available, but damn was it exquisite. Erica rocked the pulled pork, Deanna rocked the cookies n shit, and I rocked the jambalaya, and it was fucking wonderful.

Chokecherry got to the show a but late, coz they didnt know about the free food and got some Louie's. No big deal, they got there just in time to start the show. There has been a boom in the country/folk/punk scene lately, and that doesnt bother as much as it once did. These guys and gal brought the noise, with an acoustic guitar and a violin... and bass and drums duh. Good times.

Holy shit... Ramming Speed raged the fuck out of Baton Rouge. These self proclaimed top of the dude chain dudes were incredible. Fast fast fast loud loud loud shred shred shred scream scream scream. I dont think ive seen people move around in the ballbag like they were during their set. Man... I dont even know what to say.

Malamute makes me happy. I love when they come to town. I want to play more shows with them. I want to see them more. I wish I could bear their babies. Always a blast. In case you dont know, theyre the rockingest band to ever come out of Hattiesburg, dont try to argue. If you arent at the next show they play in town you will probably hate yourself.

justinbailey played finished the show. I had fun, people seemed to have a good time, but ill be damned if i wasnt sweating my ass off. Brandon dodged his mic a few times, however I was not as lucky and caught a grate cut right in the middle of my forehead, definite sign of a good night. We stopped playing just before i keeled over and died.

I am going to post some videos from the show soon, dont quote me on that, but ill try. If you didnt get any records from anyone and want them, let me know. Hopefully weekends like this will happen more often in Baton Rouge, because I seriously had the weekend of my life. Peace.