From the moment that I heard this tour was coming my way, I was extremely excited. Not only was I going to finally check out the awesome THRICE live for the first time, the rest of the line-up seemed to be super solid. Plus, this tour (put together by ASIAN MAN RECORDS and SUBCITY/HOPELESS RECORDS) was raising money for the 1-800 SUICIDE hotline, and their main organization, Hopeline. The whole atmosphere of this tour was very low-key, which was especially nice given the quality names of who was playing. In all, with no barrier at the venue, it was a very personal concert, and a very loud one too (I think the sound guy had finished off about 8 Coronas by the time HOT WATER MUSIC came on).

Mike Park, Asian Man Records founder, led off the evening with about six or seven acoustic tracks covering his own solo territory and a few songs from his project, THE CHINKEES. Although Mike’s voice isn’t amazing like some of the other acoustic acts, his passion and earnestness is overflowing. With songs detailing the racism that he experienced growing up and some other social commentary, it was a nice start to the evening.

The SELBY TIGERS have never really been a band that has intrigued me, so I kinda put off paying attention to their set, but that attempt didn’t last long as their stage show was more than entertaining. Decked out in mild costumes and loaded with energy, the SELBY TIGERS showed off some pure punk rock ‘n’ roll talent, with a sound combo between SCREECHING WEASEL and the B-52s. Although much of their subject matter focused on robots and outerspace phenomenons, the music seemed to be more down to earth. It also helped these guys alot that their set sounded very solid live. The only song I recognized was their first one, “”Android,”" which features those lovely screeching female vocals that are nearly impossible to get out of your head. Interesting.

Next up was what I was really waiting for. After being introduced to THRICE about a year ago from a friend, I’ve been hooked. These young Orange County hardcore kids have been whipping up quite a storm in just their first few years on the scene. With a sound that scorches of AFIesqe hardcore mated to METALLICA like metal riffs, (but don’t forget the dual screaming, singing group vocals), their sound is 150% intense. Since getting their debut full length, “”Identity Crisis,”" I’ve been playing the heck out of it, and once you hear it, I’m sure you’ll do the same. As expected, I think there were like 4 people who had heard of THRICE before the show, but we did our best to give them a hearty welcome (and the crowd definitely began to get into them). Opening up with the emotional, “”Phoenix Ignition,”" it didn’t take THRICE long to shock the crowd with how much heavier they were than most were expecting. Other tunes played were “”Ultra Blue,”" “”Identity Crisis,”" “”In Your Hands,”" “”As the Ruin Falls,”" a few more that I can’t remember and then two extremely impressive new songs from their upcoming album, “”The Illusion of Safety,”" recorded by Brian McTernan. I’m drooling already.

To continue an already diverse evening, progressive hardcore rockers CAVE-IN took the stage. It had been almost exactly a year since I had last checked these guys out, and with no new material to speak of, their set consisted almost entirely of songs from “”Jupiter,”" and one from the “”Creative Eclipses,”" EP. It was at this point I went for the ear plugs as the sound became so loud, it was nearly unbearable. I guarantee that CAVE-IN contributed to this however as they sound absolutely huge live. Watching the musical mastery of this band on stage is pretty jaw-dropping. Not only is their drummer flat out awesome, but their guitarists act like wizards. Man, these guys had the crowd in a trance-like state. “”Jupiter,”" “”Requiem,”" and “”New Moon,”" were standouts from the set, but honestly, the whole thing was like one giant song with a few breaks for water in between. I want new music dang it!

By now I was getting pretty weary, but there’s nothing like a little HOT WATER MUSIC to get things back on track. There music is not the prettiest, the most catchy, or even the most original sounding, but their heart and on-stage excitement is nearly unparalleled. Their new album, “”A flight and a crash,”" has been in my stereo for most of the summer and hearing the new stuff was pretty grand. But of course, hearing such classics as “”Radiofree Gainsville,”" and “”Turnstiles,”" was pretty cool as well. At this point however, the sound quality was very unbalenced, probably due to the drunk sound guy. I mean, HWM don’t play the cleanest sounding set, but this was bordering on ridiculous. Anyway, the crowd was going absolutely nuts for them, and it got very sweaty in a very short period of time. One a side note, it was very bizarre to see the energetic Chuck as totally clean shaven…

Judging by the flood of girls that made their way near the stage, it must have been time for ALKALINE TRIO to rock DC. These Vagrant Records rockers combined a set of mostly new songs from their stellar, “”From Here to Infirmary,”" and a track or two from both “”Goddamit,”" and “”Maybe I’ll Catch Fire.”" I was extremely pleased to hear them play “”Clavicle.”" Starting off with what may be their best song ever, “”Private Eye,”" the Nation quickly proceeded to turn into a frenzy, which was a nice change from the somewhat relaxed atmosphere from the first half of the evening. In the ALKALINE TRIO’s almost neverending drummer saga, whoever was playing for them tonight was absolutely amazing to watch. Their drumwork is definitely one of the reasons on why these guys stick out from the doldrums of pop-punk bands everywhere – well that and their amazing lyrics.

Good show, good cause. I wish more labels did stuff like this.