The Bled returns to The Webster Underground, in the Buff Chick tour featuring Our Last Night, along with supporting bands I Am Abomination and pop-punkers Veara. Connecticut local hardcore band Wake Up and Wage War warmed the crowd up.
As I wrote in a previous post, The Bled trickled into my iPod at a time when Glassjaw’s Worship and Tribute album had been out for several years without any promise of a follow-up and I was aching for something “new”. Unfortunately, I’d become very disillusioned at the hardcore scene that’s been sprouting up lately, as none possess the heart and creativity that the genre once represented. I also seem to have a bad habit of discovering bands that have long since broken up; I never undertand the music of the time and always look back to the heyday of a genre for my inspiration. That’s when I started getting into bands like The Bled and Hopesfall among others.
Epitaph’s Veara may have seemed to be the odd band out, as the token pop-punk band on a hardcore tour, but they held their own and got the crowd riled up. Drummer Brittany Harrell brought a fierce passion that was obvious even as the band started their soundcheck. The young clean-cut crowd obviously came out to see Veara and it was easy to see why as they played with passion and pop hooks that got the kids singing along. I hope to see them in a more apt tour next time they pass through Connecticut.
The crowd shifted, as some who clearly came to specifically see Veara, headed out, and new faces came in as the next band started setting up. I Am Abomination had an interesting blend of tight guitars and electronica instrumentals, with vocals that reminded me of Fall Out Boy or Panic At The Disco which threw me off-course completely. While not my brand of music, there was palpable passion and talent in the group.
Next up: The Bled. If kids in the crowd didn’t know who The Bled were before that night, I sincerely hope that they will remember seeing one of the best post-hardcore bands to come out of the early 2000′s. Never did they stand still for more than a second, continually bounding around the tiny stage for the entirety of their 30-minute set. I definitely saw more Bled fans in the crowd this time around, as they clamored for the mic to sing in the chorus for such songs as “The Last American Cowboy” “Smokebreaks” “You Know Who’s Seatbelt.” I hope that they continue to tour and build up momentum. Kids need to know good hardcore when it slaps them in the face and quit listening to the watered down crap that’s invaded the scene.