Well damn. I'll likely never play in Hamilton again. It's a weird feeling that crept up a few times while we were playing and made me teary-eyed. Even now this seems so surreal, moving to New Zealand, after spending the last five years trying to cultivate something of a scene here in Hamilton. If you'd have asked me a few days ago if I succeeded, I'd have said no.
Now, after this last show, I'm not so sure. Near the tailend of this labour of love I think some seeds may have taken root that may perpetuate and prolong the screamo/post-hardcore/post-metal scene that I tried to nurture. Many other shows were poorly attended, some so much so that I thought I'd stop trying (shows 5, 7, 9 in particular). Luckily that was not the case.
I've counted and it looks like I was able to put on about 24 Zegema Beach Records shows here in Hamilton, which includes a mini-fest and a joint show in Mississauga. I have linked each show below in the order they happened, including the bands that played. Each link provides bandcamp and facebook links as well as (generally) every video that I captured by the band that particular evening.
ZBR Show #1 (May 2014) Itto / Life In Vacuum / Congratulations / Sketchbooks / Fossil
ZBR Show #2 (June 2014) Life In Vacuum / Congratulations / Quiet Lakes / Dinosaur Sex Change
ZBR Show #3 (Aug 2014) The Reptilian / Two Knights / Congratulations / Wimp City / Total Bummer!!!
ZBR Show #4 (September 2014) Toque / Shahman / Housing / Dinosaur Sex Change
ZBR Show #5 (October 2014) My Dad / Animal Faces / Worst Gift / Terry Green / Quiet Lakes
ZBR Show #6 (October 2014) Life In Vacuum / Slates / Get Off The Cop / Sensei
ZBR Show #7 (November 2014) ZBR Mini Fest feat. Edhochuli / Old Soul / Black Love / Respire / Worst Gift / Terry Green / Teleportoise / Dinosaur Sex Change / Jimmy And The Jerks
ZBR Show #8 (November 2014) Congratulations release show Congratulations / Nous Étions / Terry Green / Jimmy And The Jerks
ZBR Show #9 (March 2015) Life In Vacuum / Terry Green / Pool Boy / Get Off The Cop / Dinosaur Sex Change
ZBR Show #10 (August 2015) Joliette / Life In Vacuum / Housing / Bunt / Molly Drag
ZBR Show #11 (August 2015) Nouveau / Terry Green / Fossil / Nanette / Wimp City
ZBR Show #12 (September 2015) Harris Hawk / Bloodpheasant / Shahman / Fossil / Salem Witches / You Me & The Machine
ZBR Show #13 (April 2016) The World That Summer release show The World That Summer / Foxmoulder / Terry Green / Sarin
ZBR Show #14 (May 2016) Gillian Carter / Respire / Hammerhands / The World That Summer / Spacecase
ZBR Show #15 (May 2016) Lume / Worst Gift / Huge Cosmic / Get Off The Cop
ZBR Show #16 (July 2016) Nouveau / Terry Green / Joncro / Jesse & The Delusions Of Grandeur
ZBR Show #17 (July 2016) The Reptilian / Terry Green / Nanette / Wimp City
ZBR Show #18 (August 2016) Black Love / Respire / La Luna / Terry Green / The World That Summer
ZBR Show #19 (September 2016) Not For You / La Luna / Sarin / In The Name Of Havoc / The World That Summer
ZBR Show #20 (September 2016) Eyelet / Foxmoulder / The World That Summer / Wimp City
ZBR Show #21 (November 2016) Weather Lore / Shahman / Fond / Jesse & The Delusions Of Grandeur
ZBR Show #22 (January 2017) Respire / La Luna / Terry Green / The World That Summer / Wimp City
ZBR Show #23 (April 2017) The World That Summer release show The World That Summer / Terry Green / Never Trust A Wizard / Toucan Slam
ZBR Show #24 (May 2017) THIS ONE!!!
And the final Canadian ZBR Show #25 is June 1st, 2nd and 3rd Zegema Beach Records Fest in Toronto, Ontario featuring 19 bands from Canada and the USA!!! (linked here)
Wow, that's a lot of shows. Well, here's my take on ZBR Show #24 aka Dave's Farewell Hamilton show at Louis' house in Hamilton. Thanks again for putting on the show, Louis!!!
HUGE COSMIC
This three-piece is an awesome mix of so many different genres I don't know where to begin. There's rock, punk, post-hardcore, emo, pop and science knows what else. The energy and obvious joy the band has is infectious. Here are a few fun facts...
1) Guitarist/vocalist Jacob used to play in Sarin
1) Guitarist/vocalist Jacob used to play in Sarin
2) Drummer/vocalist Dean played in Terry Green for this show and it was also his birthday
3) Bassist Adrian does vocals for Terry Green and has never seen Aliens
link to song: *2*
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TERRY GREEN
Even without their drummer TERRY GREEN tore it up and had the crowd moving more than any other band. Dean filled in wonderfully and the band sounded incredibly tight. They blasted through songs "1", "2", "3" and "4" aka "Instant Relief" from their upcoming 'LP' 12"LP that will be released on Zegema Beach Records in late July or early August. It was mastered by Will Killingsworth and is fucking amazing. Oh, they also played "Yard Sard" from their 'Demo' tape/cd. Halfway through "Instant Relief" you'll see everyone go fucking apeshit and it's fantastic. If you haven't heard them yet (which seems unlikely as I post about them all the fucking time) then you need to check them out pronto, and to help you out here is a song from their forthcoming 'LP'. Another new song will be premiered on June 1st via the Zampler #9 compilation. It has been an honour sharing the stage with them so many times. I love you guys. I'm going to miss you. 💖💖💖
link to songs: *"1" & "2"*
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SARIN
Watching SARIN lay waste to an audience in such a small space was something to behold. They opened with "Amber Guide" from their forthcoming 12"LP 'Darker Lakes' that will come out on Zegema Beach Records and Arkan Records, RIP In Peace Records, Dead Punx Records as well as Dingleberry Records on July 25th. They followed up with the epic instrumental "Embers Circling Downward" and closed with the always prodigious "As Well As the Body". It was an excellent performance but goddamn I wished they had played one more song! Be on the lookout for premieres galore in the next few weeks, as well as at least one music video!
FFO: Isis and Old Man Gloom
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THE WORLD THAT SUMMER
I'm not going to go into a big story or anything here. My true friends made it out and said goodbye. The crowd was awesome. I think we played very well. I'm going to miss playing shows here, but the Hamilton scene is not for David Norman and I'm pretty sure that goes both ways. My wife was amazing as always and filmed three of our songs, one from our 8-way split 2x12", one from our split 10" and a yet-to-be recorded song. We will be playing second last at the Toronto ZBR Fest Day #2 on Saturday June 3rd so please come out and say hi! Excessive amounts of love go out to my friends that I've made here, the show supporters, my bandmates, Tyler/Caleb @Doors as well as all of the bands that have played and tried to make this scene a safer, more positive space. Later, Hamilton.
link to songs: *Moth Volcano* / *La Fine Non È La Fine*
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