Volume 21

5/22/2026

Before I get into the weekend recap for the second Rebirth Showcase I just wanna let people know the FIGHTBACK/BY ALL MEANS split is officially out and the bands will have tapes with them on their upcoming tour,June 12th both bands are playing in Philly at the DEMONSTRATE record release at the church…along with Joystick Fury and Speed Plans aka might be the lineup of the year for me.Both bands come through with their best songs yet and team up to tackle one of the best core songs ever “When Tigers Fight”

REBIRTH SHOWCASE RECAP

I’m DIY to a fault and last week proved to put that to the test as the days leading up to it were spent driving to pick up a PA and load it in my car,drive to the venue and load the PA in myself,scramble for a sound person since all the usual suspects were busy or away,rent a Uhaul to pick up the stage,gather some hard working coremen to load it in the Uhaul,watch painfully as they had to bring up the stage two giant flights of steps to the venue hall,drop the Uhaul off down the street,get in my car and drive to pick up the POSICIÓN UNIDA records which was a debacle in itself,and then drive to beautiful south Philly to attend the second FROM THE GROUND UP pop up which was even better than last year.Got to chop it off with the legends in ETO and the Detroit squad that rolled up early, to my surprise Erik Z of Refuge skateshop fame came bearing a gift of a MANDELLA STRIKEFORCE shirt I had been harassing him about for years.Only seen a couple ever and as a Philly hxc historian it means a lot to procure one finally.The next morning got up bright and early to get to the venue and make sure everything was good to go,it became obvious pretty quickly that the sound guy was in over his head which is never a good sign.Between that,the venue sweating the capacity,praying the stage was put together correctly and overall first day of a fest jitters it was beyond stressful.FLIP THE SWITCH kicked it off and through no fault of their own the mic wasn’t working, credit to them for not pulling a 90s/00s move of kicking the sound guys ass or a move I would do which would be launching the mic 5000 feet in the air.All things considered it was good and they covered the Justice intro+Drug Test+Breakdown, their records finally arrived yesterday so they’ll have them for upcoming shows.

WEIGHT CLASS from Texas was up next and it was my first time meeting them, great squad and I was siked to catch them live finally after just being a fan and wanting to work with them.They were great,Brandon was just as cool looking a frontman as I’ve been studying in their live vids and kids were into it off the bat.WMD came up next and delivered a heavy hitting set, I think it was after this that I asked the legend Jim Shomo to gauge the sound and he offered the insight of needing more speakers and mics which the job of going to get all that was left in Kev Harekrishnas capable hands, truly saved the weekend doing this journey.ABOUT FACE ripped through their cali straight edge discography and included maybe the best time i’ve ever seen the song “use your head” get covered.LOSE SIGHT was even better than their philly show a few months ago,their squad is churning out nothing but hits be on the lookout for ANIMAL INSTINCT demos soon.POSICIÓN UNIDA returned to the showcase a year more locked in and you can tell the growth in that time, truly great set.I wasn’t sure if the SISSY BOYS could best last years vampiric set but they came dressed head to toe in revolutionary war attire and it was awesome to see them go from unknowns stealing the show last time to established maniacs getting people moving and singing along for every track

.SUICIDE EYES first set post LP release was their best yet,Ben has really come into his own as a frontman and it’s cool to see a band offering something different than what’s popular right now.The aforementioned stage started to get some movement after the sissy boys so yet more time was lost trying to make sure it was good because someone(me) forgot they had the tool that was missing to fix it.

CONTEMPT chicago bad boy straight edge came back with an even better set than last year, tearing through the new record and ending with a Floorpunch fakeout into a YDI cover which got a surprisingly good pop from the crowd.S/o Kyle Roth for being a de facto medic all weekend for the battered attendees

pic unrelated but necessary

Up next was the great unknown..KNOCKDOWN.I had a feeling if they were to ever have a good set this was the time and place and they exceeded any expectation I had.The originals went off crazy and they included some YOT and NA classics to solidify their place as one of Youngbloods finest

.SHARK ATTACK followed it up with maybe their best set in the few years they’ve been back,very Edge Day 2000 vibes.Up next was the secret guest..STANDHARD doing some classics with help from Dave Sausage and C4 guys.I had asked him about doing Invasion and we settled on this idea with some convicing on my end.I somehow missed Right Brigade when they were around and missed every reunion show and as someone who’s loved them my entire time in hardcore it was incredible.Jesse gave a long meaningful speech before the set which somehow added to the craziness,ending with the greatest song of the 2020’s “Me And The Boys” .

STICK TOGETHER was up next and I was glad to see them get that much love considering they were a big part of the wave of early 2010s bands flying the flag for hardcore that wasn’t in style at the time,the impact their demo had truly can’t be explained and they lead a shift in the scene.BLOW YOUR BRAINS OUT played next and tore it up,coming all the way from Japan to play this is a huge risk and it paid off for them,hopefully they make it back over someday they’re one of the best bands out.WAR HUNGRY had to play next since Mook was gonna miss his flight if they played at the time they were supposed to,everytime they play it’s special and this was no different.All the classics including labors of hercules and a bunch off the LP.COMBUST held it down right after and included a couple STEAMROLL songs which is only appropriate.THE WRONG SIDE second philly show ever(somehow both show i’ve done) was unreal and included a cover of HOW DO YOU FEEL? which got me throwing ye olde backpack to the ground and getting my ass in the pit.COLD WORLD closed night 1 off with a set of nothing but heaters and included a new song which sounded great.It was late and a long day but they’re one of the most undeniable bands ever. Ate some delicious Royal Tavern with LIHC king Scanlon and went to bed,got there early Sunday morning to find a guy fast asleep in the doorway which is a good representation of a true Philly experience.

The venue was rightfully annoyed at how late Saturday went so the goal Sunday was to keep shit moving at all costs, JOYSTICK FURY opened it up and had one of the best sets all weekend.Opening with a First Step cover and closing with the entireity of Burning Fight.RUNNIN HOT Philly debut went great, new record coming through Rebirth this year.DIRECT ORDER played their second show ever, one of my favorite demos of the past year and were even better live.The singer looked fresh out of a Town Of Hardcore issue,Say Goodbye shirt included, in the coolest way possible.Hopefully they keep doing more..FROTHING MAD switched up the weekend vibes a little and had the whole pit activated for every song, hopefully the young legend Macon is healed from his eyebrow I think being split open later on.FIGHTBACK was even better than last year and closed with Just Can’t Hate Enough by Chorus which activated me into the pit instantly.WHO REMEMBERS had one of the most fun sets of the weekend and in truly respectable fashion cleaned up the sea of dildos and light sabers immediately after because as I told them…we don’t need Mike Judge getting pelted with a rubber dick during Where It Went later on. HINDSIGHT fresh off the LP sounded great and ended the mini NJHC rock block.MADMAN coming to play a year after I think I wrote in here about a guy in a Pink Bold shirt going off the entire weeekend and since then he started a sick band and came back to run shit, opening with a PEGASUS cover which again got me moving, can’t wait for the new record truly love that band.EVERYBODY TAKES ONE set compared to last year was night and day,they really established themselves in the time since the last fest here and it was awesome to see their work pay off,they did 2 songs with Jay from Turning Point which I’ll think about probably every day until I’m dead.COLLATERAL drove from SFL to play because they’re maniacs,great set as always and got to hang with Mikey the next day in the park where every good straight edge meet up should take place

START TODAY came up and did some songs including a DIFFERENCE track and I did a RJS cover with them unfortunately I was shot after 2 days of hxc so I probably did horrendously,saw them 2 nights later with the almighty Terror and hung for hours outside the show,goated squa

d.METHOD OF DOUBT put out a great LP and was sick to see the new songs live and them in general, MAGNITUDE cannot have a bad set anywhere on earth and proved their dominance once again.OUTSPOKEN I was curious if it would turn out how I thought and at certain points the singing along was earth shattering, they crushed it. SCARAB got people kicking each others asses for 20 mins straight and sounded more evil than ever.JUDGE not headlining was a risk but it was the best time i’ve seen them in a minute,cool to finally book my favorite band ever. FURY closed it off with what seemed like 100 percent crowd participation going through PARAMOUNT straight through.2010s goats and one of the most unifying bands in the scene,funny to think i’ve known Madison since our bands did tours together in the 00s and I respected Jeremy cuz I knew he loved Insight and he was a dope mosher before I ever actually knew him.

Right after the last note the stage was taken apart, the trash was cleaned,hot dogs that had turned gray from sitting around all day were offered by the venue,I got in the uhaul to drop it off down the street and forgot I had parked my car there that morning so I accidently ubered home. The next morning I ubered back, loaded the PA into my car along with all the leftover merch, drove to the uhaul,drove to drop the stage off with the help of Big Country, droppped the Uhual off, ubered back to my car and finally went home.DIY

Overall this was a step up from last year,it truly seems like so many friendships get forged over these weekends and the secret society of people into good hxc grows.I was a little worried that last year was too reliant on covers and not a lot of originals getting the love they deserved but this year with bands like ETO THE SISSY BOYS CONTEMPT returning and having people know their records made me feel better about it, I never want it to be 2 days of cosplaying or something lame like that because the music and bands coming out now are what matters and covers are just a treat on top.A lot of people onstage and off said a lot of nice things about the label/show and although I don’t seek that out ever it does mean a lot that people see what I’m trying to do and appreciate it.80 percent of the crowd was from out of town which is depressing but hopefully kids see how sick shows can be if you play real hardcore,no reason people can come from sweden japan australia and the UK for this and the locals are nowhere to be found but that’s a rant for another day.RIP to Kev Hare’s calf muscle exploding in the Judge pit-I’ll be set up at TIED DOWN with a bunch of new records and the remaining ENGINE DEMOS…there’s also leftover DIRECT ORDER shirs and demos and a one week preorder for the poster if you missed out over on rebirthrecords.bigcartel.com

PLAYLIST

THE BRINK DEMO

BY ALL MEANS FIGHTBACK SPLIT

FORCED ORDER NEW EP

DEMONSTRATE EP

THE SMITHS-DISCOG