THIS IS HARDCORE

yo, what's good. karl here fittin' to write up a review for TIH2011. it's my third year going, and as much as i had fun in '09 and '10 i think this year was my favorite one. im gonna do my best to try and remember everything, it was a long weekend.

PRE-GAME:
i got into philly late tuesday night. got to drew's apartment, talked for maybe 10 minutes then went to bed pretty quick. we all got up nice and early the next morning, around like 8. we showered, drew made some ill breakfast burritos then they had to run some errands so i went with them. after that we went to sonic, it was my first time there, the jalapeno poppers and cheese tots were so ill. heather got in town not too long after that so we went back to drew's, watched a couple episodes of eastbound and down then went to pick up heather's friend franny from the airport. after that we met up with drew and lexie at govindas for some veg cheesesteaks and took off to do touristy shit, namely love park and the rocky steps. it was alright. after that we dropped franny off at his hotel and went over to jersey where heather and i had a room for the night.

THURSDAY:
the next morning we woke up, had breakfast/lunch at honeys where i got a ill veg chicken fried steak, after that we went to the liberty bell for more touristy shehanigans. driving around i saw some people i knew from MTL, yelled some shit out of the window in french and stuff. we went to the hotel to check our shit in and stuff, we went swimming for a little while and then headed to the venue. i said hi to all my friends and then the gig commenced.

go rydell from FL opened the fest, they are basically a kid dynamite tribute band, not that it's a bad thing at all. they covered lifetime, that was cool. i didn't watch full of hell. face reality from detroit straight edge were up after, it was a pretty cool set. they covered straight ahead. right after that a newish band featuring bob from let down/mother of mercy on the mic hit the stage. they're called BEWARE and they are a new straight edge band from PA. they were probably one of my favorite bands that night, the reaction was pretty crazy. they played all 4 demo songs and covered Floorpunch - No Exceptions. i moshed. after that sacred love played, i was already hot/tired (the church is a fucking oven) so i went outside. i like them a lot but i figured i had seen them a few weeks before at Screaming For Change. apparently they covered Cro-Mags - Death Camps which is one of my fav non-AOQ mags songs. im still kicking myself for missing that one. oh well. Disengage was next, they opened with the United Youth intro. their set was cool. nothing groundbreaking but it was enjoyable. the new songs sounded chill. Mindset played after. the reaction was the craziest ive ever seen for them by far, it ruled. they were also very tight. and they played a ssd cover. madness. i took a break and didn't watch reign supreme or bracewar but im sure they were good. i went inside to watch foundation from the back. they were really tight as usual. shout out to my man evan for rocking the mic for a second. Underdog played after. the pit was awesome. the setlist was perfect. everyone that stuck around inside were really into it and that was cool. they also played for a while which was a bit tiring but i had tons of fun nonetheless. after it was all done we got some cool drinks and walked back to the hotel. there was talk of a party on the roof like last year, i went to scope it out and there was a few heads hanging out. i stuck around for 5 min then went to wawa with my dudes joey and victor. when we came back everyone got kicked out and there was like 60 people waiting for the elevator on the 24th floor. apparently some idiots had ruined everything for everybody. typical. whatever, i went to bed kind of early and woke up feeling great so that was fine.

FRIDAY:
we got up, i went swimming with pat and chuck. the manager came up to the pool area cuz he had a noise complaint or some shit, maybe it has to do with the fact that 10 hc dudes with shaved heads and tattoos were doing cannonballs and one norm came up and left and warned him or some shit. whatever. anyway then we gathered everyone and rolled out to new harmony where a bunch of us met for some good vegan food and laughs. the dim sum was ill, i ate like a pig so that was tight. after that i think we went back to the telly to chill for a bit then went to the venue after a while. i didn't catch wrong answer but made it inside in time to watch Praise, who had a new band slide in and play some songs called Peace. it's steb from TFS on the mic and Mike C from Mindset on the crunch, i didn't recognize anyone else. they were REALLY good and i look forward to seeing them again. anyway Praise were really tight. shout out to them for using a tambourine and making it sound cool. i spent the day hanging outside until Mouthpiece played. i bet i missed a lot of cool sets, but i'd rather be hydrated and not feel like crap for the bands i REALLY wanna catch. anyway i went inside when mouthpiece were about to start. a pretty good reaction, people were moshing, some diving and a lot of them knew the words too. they covered Chain Of Strength - True Till Death, sans Curt this time. i don't give a shit about any of you nerds who say Chain wasn't a real sxe band, that song still fucking rules. also respect to Mouthpiece for having a full sxe line up. "what it means and what it meant, nothing's changed in me" really rings true. Title Fight were next, i skipped them to rest and chill outside. im sure they were great, i like them a lot but thats the thing with fests, you can't watch EVERY band. well you can if you hang out in the 21+ or VIP area... haha anyway. TOKEN ENTRY were next... i honestly didn't know what to expect but it was so awesome. if you didn't watch them you're a fucking poser. they played all the hits, the pit was so fun. shout out to everyone on the stage and in the pit during "The Edge". if you know, you know. anyway H2O played after. again i spent their set hanging outside/away from the heat and noise of the venue... i heard they were great though which isn't surprising. their live set is always good. finally, it was time............ from the first chord and the "WE'RE BACK!!" chant, people started diving and pitting. YOUTH OF TODAY hit the fucking stage. i had my spot right at the front and had many a diver jump over/on top of me but i didn't care. all i did was scream my lungs out to my favorite songs and finger point in true edgeman fashion. their set was pretty good, a lot of my favorite songs were missing but then again they have no bad songs (except for Time To Forgive, way to ruin a classic). everyone had a good ass time. anyway after they played we went outside, got some wawa, shot the shit with everybody and kicked it outside before going back to our rooms. i passed out immediately.

SATURDAY:
once again my ass was out of the bed by 10am to go swim with pat and chuck. best way to wake up. i was bustin' cannonballs left and right for a little while then i went back to my room to shower and get ready to bounce. i wanted to show up on time for Stick Together and that's what i did. they were pretty cool, Ned was pitting instead of playing guitar that was kinda cool. they covered Side By Side and SSD. i think they mighta played a new song, i can't remember my memory sucks. fun set. Coke Bust played after. i was outside but i heard them play YOT - Slow Down. seeing as it wasnt played friday thats kinda cool. i didn't watch any band til Rival Mob played. people were going pretty nuts which was cool. they played the intro to Invasion - The Fight, i guess me and my man chris luke were the only ones pitting and any other so called LOCjocks were too busy waiting in line for merch or simply had no idea what the song was... get some knowledge in ya. anyway their set was cool. Brendan dropped the n-bomb on stage. the next band i watched was Betrayed. i hadn't listened to them in so long but they were one of the first bands i got into when i first started listening to HC so i was stoked to see them. they didn't disappoint! the setlist missed a couple songs i wanted to hear but they were really tight. im probably a dumbass for missing District 9, but the only song i really know from them is Victim. did they play it? i hope so. good song. didn't watch Ressurection, id rather see a Release reunion. wishful thinking i guess. caught the tail end of Damnation ADs set. they covered GB - Hold Your Ground, it sounded kinda weird. Mike DC's forehead was bloody like he walked out of a ECW match or some shit. i made sure to catch cold world, i didn't watch them in '09 or '10 but since it was the last time i'll see them for a long ass while i figured i would. they were really good. the pit was chill, not too violent as people were getting pretty tired. understandably so. bane played after, i made sure to catch them as they always rule live. i had my spot under the fan on the floor so i was literally chillin' for most of their set. i have nothing else to say about them, except i pitted/piled on during Count Me Out. i missed strife. i watched blacklisted from the back, i never got into them but watching the pit, shit was pretty crazy. and they were really good. RIP? maybe. Terror wrapped up a pretty cool day. i never listen to them on record but live they fucking bring it. so anyway after that we all hung out some more, wawa, roaming the streets of philly, all that shit. then it was time for bed.

SUNDAY:
aight so i was gonna go swim in the AM but, surprise surprise, it was pouring rain outside. good thing i had brought a rain jacket. i didn't leave the room til like 1 so i missed 10 minutes of Dead End Path's set but what i caught was pretty fun. shout out to Uriah. after that i figured since i didn't care about anything til DTN was playing, me joey and heather went out to this pizza place on spring garden. i had two slices, heather got a eggplant parm sandwich and joey got a big ass stromboli. it was good and real cheap. i'll definately go back there whenever im in ILLadelphia again. anyway we made it back for Down To Nothing. they were really good. played my favorite jams (I Can't Believe My Eyes and Smash It) and the pit was kinda wild but still fun. can't complain. Killing Time played right after and i hadn't seen em in over two years so i was REALLY stoked. they played basically everything i wanted to hear. everyone was just trying to have a good time and that was really awesome. shout out to Lynn and the Quebec City dudes. Reach The Sky played next, damn it was like a rock block or some shit. there was a fight during the first song, i don't really care about going into details since its not important, but it was funny how they said "you picked the wussiest band on the bill to start the fight?" hahaha. anyway they picked up right where they left off and were awesome. highlights include "she really loved you" and "maybe next year". i went outside after to cool off, i missed From Ashes Rise. i never really got into them but i seen em in MTL and they were cool, so im sure they were good tonight. we all went in for the last band of the fest, MADBALL. in all honesty, i was very disappointed by their set list and by the time it stopped sucking no one cared to go off as hard as they should have. still they played pretty good and "set it off", "get out", "it's my life" and "smell the bacon" were worth enduring all the songs i don't care about. anyway after that we all went outside, said good bye see you next year to all our friends, got more wawa and went back to our room. i showered that night cuz i smelled like i walked through a swamp or some shit. the next morning Heather and I drove out to her parents' house in MA where we hung out til Thursday.

alright, done. shout out to all my friends, old and new, Joe Hardcore and everyone behind TIH. it was one of the best weekends of my life for sure. hardcore still lives! XXX

PS: un gros shout out a tout le monde du Quebec.