Last week’s great slew of shows culminated on Sunday with an in-store performance held at Graveface Records. Admittedly, I had a lot of concerns at first, not so much due to whether the shop could hold the crowd that bound to show up, but rather if the shop was well suited to host the bands making their way down. Every Savannah local should know at this point that any show with Forced Entry or Crazy Bag Lady on the bill are bound to get a little rowdy, and that’s putting it mildly. Honestly, as a record collector, I was worried about records getting trounced in the mosh. While space was a bit scarce, the venue ended up working perfectly for the show and luckily, as far as I know, no damage was done in the midst of the ensuing pits.
Opening up the show was Forced Entry, a straight forward, no-frills hardcore outfit based right here in Savannah. Admittedly, I was getting a little worried about the hardcore scene around town, but these guys are a breath of fresh air much needed on the scene. Even more surprisingly is that these guys set themselves apart by returning to some of hardcore’s early roots, drawing obvious influences from Black Flag (circa the Damaged LP) and Minor Threat. It’s pretty obvious that Forced Entry puts every bit of effort into their sets and it definitely reflects in the amount of crowd enthusiasm that they conjure up.
After Forced Entry came D.C.’s post-hardcore/garage rock troupe Priests. Priests seem to be building a more than solid fan base solely on their tenacious DIY work ethic and heavy touring schedule. In fact, from what I understand, this show was set up through a request sent through their Tumblr page which is pretty awesome in my book as I always feel that bands ignore those kinds of things. Despite Graveface being packed right up to the stage, Priests’ set was brimming with energy and intensity. While not as outright raucous as Forced Entry, Priests definitely showed a passion that only few bands have.
The night closed out with Crazy Bag Lady taking the stage. Even though CBL had taken the stage at Hang Fire just the night before, they definitely didn’t show any signs of fatigue during their set. The guys have definitely lived up to the reputation they’ve garnered in Savannah for putting on blistering exhibitions that could turn the most standard of venues into a scene that looks like it was ripped out of the craziest house party you can muster an image of in your head.
Check out a few shots from the night below and be sure to hit the jump for the full set.
