You know you’re at a good show when a) the opening band, who has never played in this part of the country before whips the crowd into a frenzy, and a giant circle pit, and b) the humidity inside the venue is so much that all of the windows have fogged up, and the walls are covered in moisture. The air inside St. Andrew’s was a thick muck during CATCH 22′s unbelieavable set, and in the wreckage laid the ripped clothes of teens everywhere.

So where do I begin? BACKSIDE has been playing around California for the past five or so years, taking on the sound of an extremely revved up melodic hardcore band. Think old BAD RELIGION, PENNYWISE, and a hearty dose of RANCID. One heck of a combo eh? These guys aren’t quite as refined as those bands, but boy did they pack energy and peppiness. I really dug the fact that these guys knew that only a handful of people (including myself) had heard of them beforehand, and just didn’t care that they were unknown. I have a feeling BACKSIDE made some fans instantly. I didn’t take long, maybe a song or two for people to start up the pit, and from there, it was just nuts. It also helped that the band covered, “”Do What You Want,”" by BAD RELIGION, “”I don’t wanna hear it,”" by MINOR THREAT, and of course, the obligatory, “”We’re not Going to Take It,”" by TWISTED SISTER. For an opening act at the Church, I have yet to see any better.

LINK 80 has been a band I’ve been wanting to see for ages, but they don’t come around here too often. Nonetheless, these guys were awesome. Essentially, LINK 80 is a ferocious hardcore band that every now and then slips in the ska part, and a trumpet. With great gang vocals, and stomping guitar parts, LINK 80 forges together a tight sound that compares to no other. While many bands that dabble in both ska and punk come out with a “”happy”" sound, LINK 80 is dark and brooding. From my vantage point, the crowd ate ‘em up, and for some reason, that doesn’t surprise me at all. The only thing that was odd was that the band didn’t play many new songs off of their latest, “”The Struggle Continues,”" focusing mainly on tunes from “”Killing Kate,”" and “”17 Reasons.”" Anyway, if you haven’t seen this band before, definitely do so, you’ll be in for a treat.

The crowd by this time in the evening was 500 + and it would be safe to say that the big draw for the evening was not the VOODOO GLOW SKULLS, but CATCH 22. With these boys from New Jersey, who play down here quite often, they have amassed a large local fanbase, and when their name is added to a bill, an enthusiastic crowd is essentially guaranteed. Tonight was no excpetion as this seven-piece kicked things into gear, absolutely causing mayhem among raucous crowd. Their latest album, “”Alone in a Crowd,”" has no doubt been well received, and as opposed to their debut, “”Keasby Nights,”" this one rocks a whole heck of a lot harder. The increase in intensity is reflected well live, backed by the machine behind kit known as Chris Greer. This guy is a maniac! Anyway, the band covered all the hits, and songs like “”Keasbey Nights,”" “”Hard to Impress,”" and “”Point the Blame,”" sounded huge. During the set, the band pretty much lost all control over the stage, and stage-divers came from all angles, and decided to start skanking a little before they dove off into the frenzy of hands and feet. While it was funny at first, the kids probably should have left the band a little more room as they no doubt got in the way of vocalist Jeff. The band closed out their set with an excessively long version of “”American Pie,”" but then again, who can resist singing that sweet, sweet chorus over and over again?

After CATCH 22, a good chunk of the crowd took off before the VOODOO GLOW SKULLS came out, which wasn’t really a smart move, but oh well. I’ve been listening to the VOODOO for as long as I’ve been into this stuff. “”Firme”" came out around 1995, and I consider that album to rank up there with some of the best – however, since then, I don’t think the band has quite matched the skill on that one, and their latest, “”Symbolic,”" while not quite being a stinker…just didn’t leave too strong of an impression. Fortunately, the band played mostly older tunes, hitting my personal favorites, their cover of “”Charlie Brown,”" and “”El Coo Coi.”" The exhausting sets of the three previous bands left lotsa kids with little perk still in them, but the VOODOO die hards were up front keeping things interesting. On their recordings, the VGS’s always an extremely clean sound that highlights the proficiency in which they command their instruments. Tonight however, everything sounded kinda muddy (granted, it was in a church, and not a top notch studio…), thus dampening the effect of their more “”carnival”" like tunes. In any rate, this was the first time I had seen them since the 1998 Warped Tour, and I was glad to see that they are still doing what they do.