The Real Deal…
California Discord Fest

So much can be said about the weekend surrounding California Discord Fest. During the first day of the fest up until 8pm or so everything went smoothly. All the bands were fairly on schedule and no one was really running a muck. Deminishing Device, Holokaust, Destroy Judas, Destroyed in Seconds, Bacchus, Diatribe and Resistant Culture all got to play with absolutely no issues. But then the worst imaginable thing happened.

The police, as ever, decided to play their role perfectly as the fascist antagonists, shutting this well organized fest down at the first day! To hell with the fact that the organizers were legally permitted by the city of Los Angeles, to hell with the fact that the fire marshal was present for the first three hours of the festival ensuring that the event was running smoothly, and to hell with the fact that the entire event was not yet to capacity and the crowd was nowhere near unruly. Cops will be cops and the fest shut down. That’s that.

But what I would like to focus on is the undying spirit and camaraderie of the DIY network. Quickly the festival organizers scrambled for a new location to accommodate the touring bands. Unfortunately it was too last minute for them to do anything for that night’s show. In comes the infamous HOUSE SHOW to save the day!

Deminishing Device

Destroy Judas

Destroyed in Seconds

Holokaust

Bacchus

Diatribe

Rumors flew around the crowd about a possible house show as everyone scuttled from place to place trying to figure out what to do with their night. I met up with the Magrudergrind guys to see what their plan was. So after a quick deliberation we find out the house opening their doors to us is in the city of Montebello and provided by Rito from SMD! We gather the troops. I rally around the stragglers and pass on the confirmed address. Magrudergrind piles up into their vehicle and follow me off!

We get to the house and meet up with Transient and Theories. This is truly a convergence of some of the best bands around right now. It seems insane the amount of people that got the information and all scurried to the new location. The front yard, side, backyard and inside of the house quickly fill up. We all help unload the van filled with equipment and load it into the house. Its decided Magrudergrind should play first since they have to leave at 6am to head back to DC and they didn’t want to risk it getting shut down before they got to play.

The house goes off right from the start. Ceiling crawls, crowd surfing, generous amounts of pushing and shoving and an impeccable Magrudergrind set. They blaze thruough their songs at super sonic speed. I don’t remember seeing them at a house show since about 2004-5 and the excitement in the air was thick. We all knew this was something special to be witnessing. When the last song ended we were all smiles. All of us felt that much more relief after all the bullshit that had gone down after the cops showed up at the fest earlier.

Transient came up next. They destroy. This is second time I’ve seen them, and they are seriously without a doubt one of my favorite live bands. Everyone is on point. The energy exuding from them is copious. The lens on my camera is fogging up from the intense heat. The walls are dripping with condensation. They wail through their set and obliterate the crowd. We all step out for air.

Unfortunately, I missed Theories, as I was exhausted. I say my goodbyes and on the drive home I get a call from the organizers of CDF with some good news. The fest will now be moved to Orange County! The bad news is that the new location is as small as the house show. This is more a testament to the state of DIY all ages locations available (or rather UNAVAILABLE) to us in Southern California, more so than anything the promoters may have done wrong. But a spot is a spot, and the main bands from both days (DROPDEAD and RATTUS) both agree to play double sets to accommodate the crowd at the new smaller location. Again, a nod to the devotion towards a DIY and punk ethos.

The next day I wake up early as hell to try and lend a hand at the new location and to ensure that I’ll be able to see the entire show. Fortunately, after some meetings with the owner of the venue, they decided that my band would be allowed to open the first show! Not only do I get to see and photograph this entire epic show, but I also get to play with one of my favorite bands ever! I call the guys up to make sure they get to the venue early. We setup and play a quick ten minute set. After us, Rattus rips through their last show ever. It was weird to witness this legendary band play right after us, knowing all the while that this is the first and last time I’ll be able to see them, and it was only 2:30pm. Mange and Ghoul played next ,but unfortunately I was left to take care of our merch sales. This kind of sucked, but at the same time I got to meet Dropdead personally and interact with them. The whole day/ night was spent talking back and forth with these guys, and honestly I have never felt more of a connection to a group of individuals that I had never met before. From discussions in regards to society, politics, music, punk, and life in general, to kicking out some asshole that snuck into the show drunk out of his mind that literally fell on top of us from atop a van, almost breaking one of their glasses.

Both of their sets were amazing. Very few times in my punk rock career have I witnessed anything as powerful as a Dropdead show. Its equivalent to Iron Lung in the sense that when I see both of these bands, it’s almost equivalent to a religious experience, ha. Meaning that I can’t move, mosh, scream, etc. All I can do is witness and be blown away. The sincerity in their performance, along with the fact that they’ve been doing this for 20 years now, is humbling. All in all…the spirit of DIY remains beautiful and vibrant. Despite all the wrongs of the weekend. Despite the typical punk rock stupidity and police state bullshit, the weekend will forever remain ingrained in my mind as an inspiring moment in my life.