Well, this was amazing as always. Had such a good time seeing all my friends and awesome bands.
MC Chris was cool and pretty funny. Even the songs I didn't know I could shake it to and sing along to when to prompted. he worked the crowd very well.
Automatics were great. If you listened to Mutant Pop back when you were in college in 1996, then you'd understand how great it was to see them.
Charlie Brown Gets a Valentine were spot on. They reunite every year for this but this one was one of their best. Maybe people here would like them. They inject a bit of indie rock into their pop punk, a formula you don't see often, or at least done well. I'm pretty sure all their stuff is out of print, so maybe an upload is in order...
Dirt Bike Annie were great, too. Haven't seen them since the break-up circa '03 or '04. They played a little long, but they have a ton of good songs so it's a bit understandable.
American Steel only caught a few songs, but they sounded good. i've heard from the fans they were great.
Baracuda McMurder didn't play, and instead we were treated to a Steinways reunion. yay!
Be My Doppelganger midwest pop/punk. they have some great jams, more on them when the new album hits in August.
Beatnik Termites were the only disappointment of the weekend, sad to say. Seems like they are great only every other year. This year they played new songs and some mid tempo stuff that didn't really energize me.
Black Wine were amazing. the album is great, probably a top 20 of this year. some people reference Dino Jr. because of Jeff's guitar playing, but not really. When the girl singer/drummer does her songs it reminds me of the Fastbacks. They were the first band to play on the bill, but still rocked it pretty well.
Challenged blasted it as well. would probably appeal to the Fat Wreck fans if they came across the radar. They also did a Superchunk cover too, so that says something. The drummer for them is great. Does some neat stuff that you don't see much of in punk bands.
Copyrights were great as usual, and they always are smart and play the hits that everyone wants to hear. surprisingly, they were one-upped by
Dear Landlord (3/4th the same band). Totally slayed and turned me from a casual fan into a big fan.
Dead Mechanical will also be on my top 20 list. great mixture of Jawbreaker/Superchunk type of punk. the band is full of music nerds that are totally into nirvana, pixies, wipers, stuff like that. talented players as well.
Dopamines supposedly killed it. i just got their new LP but haven't listened to it yet. i think they played a bunch off of it. the Sonar was being a huge dick to the concert goers and so the Dopamines bought a shit load of beer for the audience. but anyway, the second stage was PACKED and hot as hell with midwest punks stinking up the room so i left about 15 minutes in.
Full Of Fancy Top 20 album, possibly top 10. female-fronted punk that comes from the arena of the breeders, tuscadero, and some of that Olympia girlpunk too. they were on the 3rd stage so it was crowded too, but i stuck it out. the girls can both sing sweetly and scream it out. great freaking band.
Impulse International is Dirt Bike Adam's new band. not really pop punk at all, a bit of old power pop mixed with new school Dirtnap garage rock. Played a great set, and has made me want to track down a few more 7" singles i haven't snagged yet.
Jetty Boys Basically the next (dookie-era) Green Day. really great songs, delivery, stage presence. everything. one of the best sets of the weekend.
Kepi Ghoulie and Friends my wife saw all of it, i only caught the end. she said it was the best thing she saw all weekend and bought a Kepi tee shirt. He played catchy pop punk, with balloons, and cosutmed Godzilla and i think a gorilla. if you ever get a chance to see him play, do it. it's FUN.
Leftovers inspired the biggest dance party of the weekend (unless you count skankin' to LTJ as dancing, which i do not). a lot of great songs that i think i've already mentioned on board before.
Less Than Jake played all of Losing Streak. they sounded really good. made everyone happy. just one example of why Insub fest rules. the bands go in knowing it's a special occasion, and should be doing something special for the geeks who get excited about 90s bands and pop punk that no one else cares about. so glad i stuck around to hear them.
Nancy local punk boys who are breaking up. sad about that. one of those bands that plays comparatively complicated punk rock, and bursts out with emotion when playing, without evoking the dreaded e-word. like if Dillinger four and the Weakerthans collabed on a sugar metal album.
Night Birds Hardcore surf punk! Blew every other band away in regards to harcore-ing it up. Joe from the Ergs plays bass, Mike from Hunchback on guitar, and right away i'm sold because those two bands were my favorites from recent years. I don't recall the singer's background, but he was great. Has an awesome melodic scream.
Pillowfights i wrote a bit about them at
http://www.beattheindiedrum.com/ (plug!)
Queers were great. played all the poppy stuff i love, but with a lil more pep. so happy to see them again. then Wimpy came out to do the hard, snotty stuff and i left. that stuff is good, but i've seen it twice before and it's the same every time.
Smokejumper Seattle punk that wins the award for rocking out the earliest on Saturday. Also, i give them a nod of respect for being one of the very few modern punk bands of this scene that only has one singer. all these other bands have gone the youth pop punk crew style, with the 3 guys belting out the choruses. not that there's anything wrong with that.
Smoking Popes were totally awesome. Josh Caterer really does have a great voice (well, to some people, others don't care for his Morrissey impression) and the band played all their poppy punky hits like Need You Around and Rubella. Also, they do little hot licks of guitar action during songs which i thought was kinda weird, a bit out of place, but still pretty cool to see/hear.
Zatopeks brought the fun once again. the albums are pretty poppy. like buddy holly meets the ramones. but live they play fast and loud and get themselves worked up into a frenzy. love it.
Hextalls are the only band i saw from the Canadian spotlight part of the weekend. my face was smiling the whole time. probably the best pure/traditional pop punk band out there now.
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