Report

Gorilla Biscuits & Iron Reagan Sparked Large Pits on Day 3 of Fun Fun Fun Fest

Past Fun Fun Fun Festivals that I covered featured one or two metal headliners on the black stage and one day dominated by punk. This year the third day of the festival included punk but rock in general was the main flavor of the day. Metal was not the style closing out the Black Stage, but headliner Murder City Devils played hard and heavy. There is something about this band that just fits with the festival, as the Seattle-based band made it’s third appearance. The garage rock group played powerful hooks and electric organ that sounded like The Doors making a soundtrack for a Hammer Horror film. I believe this was their first headline performance at FFF. The band was definitely up to it.

Rocket From the Crypt has been playing its poppy brand of punk rock since the late ‘80s. The San Diego band has been on and off over the last few years, but the group was certainly on tonight. For one, they looked like a band in their Western style shirts. Two, the band had energy which was transferred onto the crowd. It helped that singer/guitarist John Reis got the crowd involved. He said the crowd needed to loosen up, so he told everyone to turn around and touch the shoulders of the person behind, then start massaging that person’s shoulders. What a funny spectacle this was, a massive train of shoulder rubbing. Like Murder City Devils, Rocket From the Crypt had big vocal hooks due to three-man choirs. Also, the band included a horn section among its players. Think The Ramones with a touch of Mariachi and you’ll get the just of this band.

Iron Reagan played a FFF Nites show the night before and this performance was the last on their tour. The band didn’t show any sign of wear as it tore through 24 songs in just 30 minutes. Staying with crossover’s rule that 10 second songs can be as much fun or more than a multi-minute song, the band yelled repeatedly in S.O.D. style “You’re Kid’s An Asshole” from the song with the same name. This track was taken from the group’s latest album “The Tyranny of Will.” Some of the other songs from their set taken from that album include “Eyeball Gore” and “Miserable Failure” and “In Greed We Trust.”

Keeping with the humor of his more recognized band, Municipal Waste, Tony Foresta (guitarist Phil Hall also plays with Municipal Waste) joked how he loved Fun Fun Fun Fest, but they didn’t address all his needs. He wanted a giant inflatable butt plug. Then he said, “Oh yeah, it’s right there” as he pointed at the giant inflatable Volcom symbol in the back. “Miserable Failure” and “Eat Shit And Live” produced ruckus circle pits. One of highlights of their set was their rendition of Cannibal Corpse’s “Skull Full of Maggots.” The hard beat works so well with Tony’s machine-gun vocal delivery.

Gorilla Biscuits defined NYC hardcore. Like Sick of It All who played on the Black Stage the night before, Gorilla Biscuits came from the second wave of hardcore. Besides bringing a bundle of energy, vocalist Anthony Civarelli used the space between songs to talk about hardcore values such as supporting your true friends, your scene, and never losing sight of who you are. They played the Buzzcocks’ song “Sitting Around At Home,” which is about being complacent. They also played a Minor Threat song “Sometimes good Guys Don't Wear White" and brought two audience members on stage to sing it.

Besides a pit, the crowd was heavily involved in the band’s set, constantly stage diving. Once, the band pulled a skate boarder on stage who jumped into the crowd with his board snug in hand. Civarelli told a story about his brother and his friends turning him on to Judas Priest when he was growing up. Civarelli likes Priest but didn’t like the how the band disallowed anyone on stage. He used this as a jump off point into their next song “an old hardcore song” called “Glue.” “Slut” was another interesting song that men in the crowd who had been cheated on could relate to.