The first band to play was It’s Time To Rock and all I can say is that this band is funny. They take a light-hearted approach to playing 80’s buttrock but they do it with smiles on their faces and with pretty funny antics as well. You can tell they are having a lot of fun when they are playing especially the singer who continually runs off the stage to crawl on the floor between peoples’ legs and then climbs up and jumps off the balcony. All this while he was struggling to keep his clothes on. Anyways, it seems the whole purpose of this band is to lighten up the mood and they definitely had me laughing. However, I’m still not sure if I was laughing with them or at them. It seems the young audience at the Showcase also got the joke so in my opinion, they would be more effective opening for Hatebreed or some other brutal hardcore band where the audience is less than friendly. Now that would be funny.

Next up was Killing Flame from L.A. I don’t know why but for some reason each band on this show took forever to set up and then played a short set. Such was the case for Killing Flame who gave a shout-out to a friend that came to see them and whose name was Ian Mackaye. It was kind of funny that he did that because for the next ten minutes everyone in the audience looked around to see if they could spot him. Killing Flame have a D.C.-like-post-punk/emo sound reminiscent of Fugazi and Dag Nasty with an overall Ignite and Lifetime vibe thrown in. The singer reminded me of Greg Graffin from Bad Religion with his goofy dances and lanky clumsiness. These guys looked real old compared to the sea of young gAy.F.I. t-shirt wearing "hardcore kids". They played a pretty solid set but received no love from the crowd who just wanted them to hurry up. I even recognized them playing a really bad Gorilla Biscuits song called, "Distance" which no one knew anyway.

Carry On stormed the stage next and literally blew up the Showcase with their set. This band is going to be putting out their full length on the Boston label, Bridge Nine so look for it when it comes out. They play a late-eighties, early-nineties straightedge youth-crew style of hardcore complete with the x’s on the back of their hands. This band just went off. After the first chord was struck, the crowd whipped into a frenzy with the front row singing along and stage diving. The crowd was feeding off the energy of the band who in turn was feeding off their energy. The sounds of intensely fast hardcore with some pretty sick breakdowns made for a killer set. Their singer kind of had a feminine hairdo and although I don’t usually care what people look like, it bothered me because most of the kids at the show this night looked just like him. I don’t know if everyone at this show goes to the same blind barber, but they need to find something else better to do than spending money on hair-care products and styling their hair like Ellen Degenneres.

Reach The Sky from Boston played next and once again took forever to setup but instead of playing a short set, they played a very long set. I don’t even think they played very many songs but the singer explained every song in detail before and after they played it. They also went off with a decent amount of energy. The crowd ate it up and were going off harder as well. Reach The Sky play a blend of youth-crew style hardcore with tons of melody. Almost enough melody to make you sick but right when you think you can’t stand anymore, they throw in a powerful breakdown for good measure. Towards the end of the set, John LaCroix of Ten Yard Fight grabbed the mic and they busted into "The Only Way" with Wrench from Ten Yard Fight joining in as well. At this point, the crowd went apeshit and started going crazy. This was definitely the highlight of the evening thus far. Reach The Sky’s next record comes out on Victory and their set to tour with Dropkick Murphys in April so they're probably going to get big like gAy.F.I. because they definitely have a catchy, melodic hook in their songs. I’m not sure if I would recommend checking out their next record to the average hardcore fan, but then again if gAy.F.I. is considered hardcore, then this band will definitely float your boat.

Finally, after what seemed like an unbearable amount of anticipation, Bane was on stage. All I can say is that this is probably the point where all Hell broke loose. Kids flying off the stage left and right, sing alongs all over the front of the stage and a decent-size pit complete with all the new hardcore dances being displayed. It is really hard to explain the amount of energy Bane puts out when they play but rest assured they beat every ounce of energy out of their instruments and are physically drained after every song. Their sound is emotionally driven, but with no cheesy melodic catchiness to it. Just straight up fury and release. They played songs off all their 7 inches, some off their full length on Equal Vision, and even a new song off their split 7 inch with Adamantium on Indecision. The highlight of the set for me was when the music was brought down low almost to what I would consider an "emo-breakdown" where the singer of Bane began to srutinize the motives and purpose of the bible. He ended the tirade with "I will no longer live in fear, I will crush you, I will fuck the life out of you". Just the fact that a statement that powerful is said in a scene where bands like No Innocent Victim and Stretch Armstrong are held in high regard, made me believe that there is still some hope for hardcore after all. That gimmicks such as religion have no place in hardcore. If you have never heard or checked out Bane before, then I suggest you do so especially if the "rumored" tour of Sick Of It All/Boysetsfire/Death by Stereo/Bane comes through town in April or May.