Words: Miljan Milekić
It’s been a while since someone tossed me into a washing machine and turned it on “spin.” Maybe since last April, and another Comeback Kid show at this very venue, but I feel like this time everything was even crazier. This year, the band is marking a huge milestone – the twentieth anniversary of ‘Wake The Dead,’ their sophomore album, and one of the best hardcore records of the 21st century, playing every song off of it on this tour. And the sold-out crowd was there for it.
By the time we got there, the club was already packed, and Punitive Damage were setting up to unleash a mayhem of their own. I am new to the party when it comes to the Pacific Northwest band, but after seeing their set, I absolutely understand all the hype around them in the underground circles, and all the waves they are making are completely justified. While their music may be a bit too much on the metal side of hardcore for a punk rock kid like me, I was blown away by the punch of energy they delivered from the stage.
I just recently picked up the band with their last year’s EP ‘Hate Training,’ and hearing songs like ‘Baptism of Fire’ and the title track was a real treat, while the older favorites like ‘Drawn Lines,’ ‘Strike Back,’ and ‘Nothing’ only added oil to the fire. Oh, and despite what you may have heard from keyboard warriors, hardcore is political, and so are the Punitive Damage – whether they are talking about housing crisis and the concept of housing as a commercial asset, or a far more extreme and dangerous ideologies like… basic human rights and – pardon my cynicism – not being a piece of shit person.
I said this a million times, and I may say it a million more, but Comeback Kid’s ‘False Idols Fall’ may be one of the best show openers any band could hope for. The crushing drums, tense guitars, and air-splitting scream can only fail to raise your heart rate if you don’t have any. And even then, it’s questionable, considering the title of the record this song is opening. That song alone was already enough to turn the Black Cat Tavern into an industrial-grade loundromat with people flying through the moist mixture of air, sweat, alcohol, and a tiny bit of blood from a nose or two.
The show opener was quickly followed by ‘My Other Side,’ just like it is on the record, before they slid into the iconic title track… but just for a few seconds, and with a big grin on their faces. The rapid fire continued throughout the rest of the record, with legendary songs like ‘The Trouble I Love,’ ‘Talk is Cheap,’ and my favourite ‘Partners in Crime,’ which I possibly haven’t heard them play since I first saw them, many moons ago in 2009. The journey continued, with predictability not detracting from the experience, especially since some of these songs had not been played in years, and a closer in the form of another crowd favorite, ‘Final Goodbye.’
If the first part of the show felt like it was over in a blink of an eye, the rest of it seemed even quicker, with a cherry-picked selection of heavy hitters from the rest of the Comeback Kid’s catalogue. ‘Heavy Steps’ and ‘G.M. Vincent & I’ both launched massive mosh pits and sing-alongs, before the band slid into dark melodies ‘Absolute,’ and went all the way back to their early days with ‘All In A Year.’ The very end was left for another two iconic tracks – unfortunately still very up-to-date ‘Broadcasting’ from the 2007 record of the same name, and the one and only ‘Wake The Dead.’ The only fitting ending for a nigle like this.
Sometimes, anniversary tours can be double-edged swords – they can serve as a celebration of the past, but also have a reputation for being quick cash-grabs by bands falling out of relevance and stepping into nostalgia act territory. In Comeback Kid’s case, I don’t think there were any second thoughts. The band sounds powerful as ever, selling out crowds and gaining new fans everywhere they go. They are still relevant, respected by their peers, and the new generations of bands alike. And more importantly, still creative enough that, despite hearing one of the greatest hardcore records played in its entirety, I can’t wait to see them again, with more new music on the setlist.
