Words by: Tyler Ross
Photos by: Johnny Milano & Atrossity
Once Upon An Idea Came A Hardcore Weekend
Long lines and sauna-like temperatures highlighted the fourth annual Sound and Fury Festival. Entering the parking lot overflowing with fans, band vans with trailers and license plates from all over the country, I took a minute in my car to prepare for one hell of a weekend. The El Rodeo Community Center of Oxnard, California presented a vintage roller-rink appearance from the outside. The three-day weekend unleashed a high-energy feeling into the atmosphere.
With digital camera in hand, a backpack full of snacks, and a digital recorder in my back pocket, I trekked beyond the path of fans toward the entrance of the venue. There stood a security guard, who I flagged down for my press pass and preceded on through the double metal doors.
The inside of the venue was spacious, but not the usual festival setting. While scanning the two large rooms for superior vantage points and daydreaming about the festivities, a nonchalant Sean Riley presented himself. Riley, as most like to call him, walked around quickly, for his time was valuable. Like the big man on campus, he was the go-to guy for all questions that needed answered.
Band members, roadies, photographers, promoters, clothing companies, a tattoo booth, and security filled the inside of the community center. Two large rooms were divided; the main stage took up most of the space, with a curtain separating the main stage and side stage. The refreshment area acted as an extra extension for additional merchandise tables and the tattoo booth.
There’s a tight knit brotherhood throughout the hardcore and punk scene. For most old generation supporters and newcomers to the scene, you can find an interaction comparable to a traditional family gathering. There’s a no tolerance attitude toward egos and non-realistic notions of thinking away from reality. Everyone is essentially viewed as an equal, no matter status or background or language spoken. There are no barriers.
About an hour into setup and finalizing the adjustments to the stages, the fans started filling up the venue. The eagerness began instantaneously upon arrival, but the bond being displayed by the bands and fans is always a warming visual to experience.
As more equipment entered the side door of the El Rodeo Community Center, the scratching distortion of a guitar pounded from the main stage. Immediately, the front of the stage become an opening outlet for a few moshers, who began their lively preparations. Due to the crush of people trying to get in through one ticket booth, the first few acts had a limited audience. However, those inside gave their full support and reciprocated with a genuine amount of feedback.
By the middle of the afternoon, the crowd multiplied by the hundreds and more people continued to pour into the main stage area. No matter how hard you looked, an unhappy face was impossible to find. Water was being tossed around from bands to fans throughout the entire festival.
Hardcore music is a very give-and-take oriented scene. The shared ideas between the bands and their fans connect in a revolving circle. As Bob Shedd, one of the founders of Sound and Fury stated, “The passion of the people and the reality hardcore can portray how heartfelt it is. It starts with the passion and follows with the people behind that passion. You meet so many unique individuals through that. It starts with music and grows beyond that.”
It all started in late July of 2006, when Sound and Fury launched its first annual festival to hundreds of hardcore-ready fans at the Alpine Theater in Ventura, California. “We are dudes who have been going to hardcore shows for a really long time. We booked our own shows and we just really wanted to book a fest for the bands we really loved, says Shedd.
“Best advice we could give anyone is, if there’s something you really want to do, go do it,” he added. For Sean Riley, Bob Shedd, and Todd Jones, S&F is a representation of selflessness and accomplishment within the hardcore music community. They have continued each summer for four years running in obtaining some of the best bands in hardcore solely for the fans. “The kids make Sound and Fury. If nobody came, it wouldn’t be cool. It’s what everybody brings to it,” says Riley.
He adjusts his black-rimmed glasses and continues. “If everyone came with a negative, shitty attitude, S&F would be negative and shitty. That’s the difference in hardcore, where as in a big rock concert, you can get a bunch of shitty people there and it’s not really going to ruin your time. You can sit there in your seat and watch it and it’s your experience.”
In between bands, the air became musty, merch was purchased quickly, stage equipment switched out, and the bonding of fans continued. There were fans helping with the distribution and the setup of instruments as well. Hardcore music is a lifestyle, an attitude, and an expression of art, raised from the punk rock scene. “Hardcore is its own element. I think people can find their own intrinsic value in any kind of music, but hardcore gives a more personal touch to it,” says Riley.
“You mentioned Bruce Springsteen; your main connection to him is if he comes to town maybe once every few years or your purchase of one of his CD’s. You might go see him, but so much of the experience in hardcore is the live experience, and the recorded music is just the exact opposite. The live experience of a hardcore show can’t be captured typically on a recorded disc,” he elaborated more extensively.
Like the 10 for $10 Tour, which also stood apart as a priceless and selfless festival with a music over money operation, Riley, Shedd, and Jones dedicate their time to the hardcore music movement created especially for this particular event. “At a hardcore show, so much of it is the people next to you, the band, and how they are vibing. I think that’s why people have such a strong connection to hardcore music,” Riley enlightened me in between helping a fan with a ticket.
In the late summer of 2009, S&F brought its progressive music scene to Oxnard, California. Three coordinators gathered their ideas beforehand and meet in the middle by suggesting bands they are interested in adding to the lineup.
By the end, S&F will exhibit 50-plus bands, and send hundreds of hardcore devoteès home with memories from incredible sets. Some may even start bands of their own or use the experience to learn from their major influences.
This year, S&F brought back some of hardcore’s favorite heavy hitters; some bands returned for the third or fourth time. To name a few, bands including, Ceremony, Blacklisted, Floorpunch, Cold World, Trapped Under Ice, Guns Up! and Betrayed, performed in front of wall-to-wall crowds, engaged in full-scale participation.
Around 4pm each day, bands on either stage would erupt into multiple stage rushes throughout almost every set. Dedicated fans catapulted themselves toward the front of the stage in attempts to contribute to belting out the band lyrics. Numerous band sets would have the stage full of ceiling high dog piles, along with waves of crowd surfing at intervals of two to four seconds. Occasionally, you’d find a few bloody faces or shirts from the highly aggressive fun, which is considered the norm for any hardcore or punk show. At the end of the day, the majority in attendance looks out for one another.
The originators of S&F not only were the overseers for the distribution of the tickets, and the handlers of random venue concerns, but could also be seen participating in the action. Interaction is an essential ingredient to their recipe in having an incredible experience. In between shooting photos, I caught Bob crouched down before jolting onto the tops of the chanting heads for a stage dive. “There is no barrier between band and fan, in the ideal that they are both one and the same. You watch any band’s set and you look in the crowd, and you’ll see other band members joining in on the fun. There isn’t this ‘air of well, I’m in band and I can’t participate in another manner. I’m above that.’ There’s none of that.”
Upon returning to the stage, bathed in sweat, and wearing a joyous smile, Bob continued. “S&F has taught me that small dreams can become big realities, and all it takes is effort to make it happen. The fact we had the chance to help make a couple kid’s lives a little cooler, and give them something fun to do in the summer, means the world to us. We love seeing people enjoy this.”
