Rain Fest weekend in Seattle is—without fail—my favorite weekend of every year. This year was no exception. The fest is run by three awesome dudes (Brian, Zack & Matt) who each have pretty different tastes in hardcore, so their combined efforts usually bring in a pretty mixed lineup. 2015 was the ninth annual Rain Fest and they’ve already committed to doing a tenth in 2016.

Seattle is a great place for a fest like this. The NWHC scene is pretty isolated up in the top left corner of the US and it’s often harder for touring bands to take the 14 hour drive from San Francisco to come play here. This fest makes Seattle a destination for touring bands and because a lot of kids come up from California and Utah and Nevada etc. for the fest (not to mention all the touring bands from all over), it really showcases some of the great bands from this area.   

The Pre-Show

Thursday’s pre-show is the unofficial start of Rain Fest every year. The fest’s normal venue holds roughly 900 people. The VERA Project is a bit smaller and maxes out at about 400. So, while RF has more of a “big show” vibe, than a “fest” vibe, the pre-show is always, just a killer hardcore show. If that makes sense…

Cold Truth, a great young local, kicked off the weekend. While I’m always excited to see the touring acts, I think my favorite thing about Rain Fest every year is seeing the locals get a moment to shine for visitors. Cold Truth is a really cool band made up of some of the nicest kids around. Musically, it reminds me a bit of District 9. Good opening set from these dudes. 

MIZERY @ RAINFEST 2015. Photo by: Dan Gonyea

The Chain was next. They were really good. Solid Youth Crew style band from Calgary, which is a 10 hour drive, but semi-local since everything in this corner of the country is so spread out. They covered Uniform Choice and had a lot of energy. Protester and Mizery were the first two true out-of-towners (from DC and San Diego) and they were both cool. Protester pulled off a really good “Telltale” cover by Raw Deal and Mizery had a killer Cro-Mags vibe. 

At Rain Fest 2014, Ill Intent was THEE local band. They got an insane reaction last year. This year’s response was a bit underwhelming. Their set was good, just not the pandemonium it was last year. Maybe it’s time for a new release from these Seattle boys. They played a few new tunes, so hopefully we won’t be waiting too long. 

FOUNDATION @ RAINFEST 2015. Photo by: Kiabad Meza

Foundation headlined the pre-show and they were phenomenal. This is a band that I often took for granted over the years, as they’re so far from Seattle (in Atlanta). But they are a band I will really miss being able to see. A hard, pissed off band with great thoughtful lyrics and a lot of really unique things to say. This is likely the last time they’ll play the northwest and they got an appropriate send off, as kids beat the living hell out of each other and dog-piled like this was their last chance. 

The Fest & The Fest Between the Fest

As with every hardcore fest, this weekend is always about much more than just the music. The mornings of each day are usually jam-packed with locals chauffeuring visiting friends to and from favorite breakfast spots (my favorite is Portage Bay Cafe), Vans outlets, and notable Seattle tourist photo-opp spots, including the mandatory stop at Kerry Park, known affectionately by local hardcore kids as “Brotherhood Park.” This is the park overlooking the city, where Seattle’s first notable straight edge band took their cover photo for the legendary “Words Run As Thick As Blood” LP. If you ever come to Rain Fest, be sure to carve out some time to reenact this pose and tag Brotherhood (the band) on Facebook. (Photo below of Yusuke & Mosh at "Brotherhood Park")

This year, I volunteered to chauffeur Stand United from Tokyo, a band made up of some Japanese friends I’ve met in hardcore through the years. Their bass player Hiroyuki (one of our two drivers when Champion went to Tokyo 10 years ago) had come to the fest the previous two years, so the RF dudes extended a longshot invite for his band to play and they graciously accepted.

I offered to cram the 4-piece into my 4-seater car and cart them around for the weekend, but something was lost in translation and when I arrived at the airport to pick them up, there were TEN Japanese hardcore kids waiting for me. Luckily they had a hostel and weren’t all planning to stay at my house, but transportation did prove to be a bit of an issue a few times. That said, it was great meeting these dudes and amazing seeing—at any point during the fest—a number of my new Japanese friends flying off the stage or pitting like mad men to all the bands that they loved and so rarely got to see in their homeland.

THE SHOW OUTSIDE THE SHOW: Photo by: Sadie Anstedt

The vibe at Rain Fest is so cool. There’s rarely any pit beef and when there is, the scuffle is broken up quickly. Kids are just there to have fun. The venue is also in a vibrant neighborhood, so between bands there are plenty of food options, you can go record shopping a block away, drink at any of the numerous bars, play football at the park one block away, skateboard, or just hang out in front of the venue with hundreds of other cores. While you’re out front, grab a hot dog (or vegi dog) from the street vendor. Ask for it “Seattle style” and the vendor will slap a bunch of cream cheese on that bad boy. Trust me, it’s way better than it sounds. 

JOHN WHITE (OG singer for Brotherhood) & SON GETTING READY FOR RAINFEST.

Photo by: Adrien Way, Don't Sleep Ink

Friday

Friday is always the most energetic day of the weekend. The show started at around 7 I believe, so not quite at the point of overwhelming number of bands playing yet. Most people aren’t too exhausted to check out most of the bands that day. Kids still have sufficient energy to do as many stage dives as they please and aren’t yet fully pit-battered. There are also plenty of old friends meeting again for the first time in a year or more, so there’s always lots of excitement in the air. You really can’t beat the vibe of a fest Friday.  

I got to the venue a bit early and found a great spot to film for the first three bands; Clarity, Heiress and Fury. Those three sets (and the other sets I shot this weekend) are available on my You Tube page. I only filmed a handful though as the real pro, Sunny from Hate-5-Six was in town documenting the entire weekend. He’s a machine and posted sets for EVERY band already, so check out his site to see any of those. While you’re at it, give him a follow on Twitter because what he’s doing is really freaking cool. 

There were too many bands this weekend to talk about them all, so I’ll hit my personal highlights… Fury was the first band to really set a high bar for RF 2015. The venue was absolutely PACKED when they played. And they got an incredible response. Tons of stage dives. They also did a Turning Point cover, which was sick. 

FREEDOM @ RAINFEST 2015. Photo by: Holding The Moment

If Fury set the bar, Freedom raised it. Kids went nuts for the Detroit band. They kicked off their set with Killing Time’s “Backtrack.” Definitely one of my favorite sets of the weekend. Their singer had a Madball hoodie on, which he removed at one point, to reveal… a Madball t-shirt underneath. Respect. Another thing I noticed after the fest, when looking back through pictures; the singer of Freedom was in the middle of the madness for tons of bands, up front supporting throughout the weekend. That’s what’s up. Dude clearly gets it.  

Vancouver BC’s, Keep It Clear was the local highlight of Friday. They got a really cool response and their singer Andy was in A+ between-song-banter form. He told everyone it was his daughter’s third birthday, but he was missing it to see Judge and Chain of Strength, emphasizing that she would have “many more birthdays to come,” but he might only have one chance to see these bands. I know that doesn’t seem very funny in print, but it’s all in the delivery. Very fun set. They kicked off their set with the crowd favorite straight edge anthem, “Alone,” which they usually save for the end of the set, but leading with the banger got kids going early and the energy stayed up.

If you read the In Effect Hardcore BNB Bowl write up, Wynne wrote that he “likes” but doesn’t “love” Expire. You can count me in the “love” camp. As Chris noted, this band tours like crazy, and in my opinion, gets better with every release. They’ve probably played RF more times than any other touring band. They get a lot of love here and their set was sick. It was also cool seeing Koba from Japan’s Loyal To The Grave singing guest vocals during their set. Japan crew was definitely in full force. 

CHAIN OF STRENGTH setlist. Photo by: Kiabad Meza

Chain Of Strength headlined Friday. If you’ve heard any Champion song, you could probably guess that Chain is one of my favorite bands of all time. But I wasn’t quite sure what to think about them coming into this Fest. I’m just not really a fan of reunions. I feel like a hardcore band is about more than just the music and the people playing the music; it’s about a certain time and place. When bands get back together, that time and place and the people are mostly gone… it’s just not the same. Don’t get me wrong, I usually have fun when I see a loved band reunite… but I don’t feel like I’m REALLY seeing that band. I feel like I’m seeing the world’s best cover band. I wasn’t around in '89 when Gorilla Biscuits was doing their thing and even though I saw them play an amazing reunion set a few years ago, I still don’t feel like I REALLY saw GB… Don’t know if that makes any sense, and maybe I’m crazy, but that’s just me. GET OFF MY LAWN YOU KIDS!

CHAIN OF STRENGTH @ RAINFEST 2015. Photo by: Holding The Moment

Anyways, going into that Chain set, I was curious to see them play those songs that I’ve loved so much for so many years, but was planning on just posting up in a good spot and watching. That all changed when they played “Too Deep Until Now” (a song that Champion covered fairly often). When those notes kicked off, it was on… The rest of the set was just stagedive after stagedive for me. I should add, Chain was REALLY good live. They sounded great and had tons of energy. They were actually pretty impressive.

The highlight of their set though, was a SSD “Glue” cover sung by the godfather of Seattle HC; Ron Guardipee from Brotherhood. As soon as that song ended, they went immediately into the end breakdown of Brotherhood’s “Breaking the Ice,” and in a slight twist, another Seattle HC legend, John Pettibone from Undertow grabbed the mic and belted out the singalongs of “YOU!  AND I! OUR STRENGTH! BREAK-ING THE ICE!” This may have been the single coolest three minutes of the entire weekend. 

RON GUARDIPEE (Brotherhood singer who sang on the recordings) singing "Glue" w/ CHAIN OF STRENGTH

Photo by: Adrien Way, Don't Sleep Ink

JOHN PETTIBONE (singer of Undertow) singing the end of "Breaking The Ice" with CHAIN OF STRENGTH

Photo by: Adrien Way, Don't Sleep Ink

Saturday

If 2014 was Ill Intent’s time to shine, this year that band was Red Scare. If you haven’t heard them, I need to preface this by saying that Red Scare is absolutely ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong, they are great; somewhere between Sheer Terror and Negative Approach. But they are also ridiculous (in the best possible way). I could describe some of what went on during their set, but none of my descriptions would do justice. Just seek out the video I posted on YouTube (or the vid on Hate-5-Six) and get an idea. Their music is good too, so not just a gimmick. A really cool young band with awesome dudes. Their set was a lot of fun. Kids were stoked. I think they really turned a lot of heads. 

RED SCARE @ RAINFEST 2015. Photo by: Jesus Martinez

Speaking of turning heads, Olympia’s Gag had another take-the-scene-by-storm moment. This band is always weird (again in a good way) live, and kids feed off their weirdness. The weirder they get, the wilder the crowd gets. And they stepped up the weirdness level infinitely for RF. In turn, kids went total ape nuts. Their singer, Adam, kicked the set off in an old style tear-away track suit with a creepy baby mask on. A few songs into the set, the tear-away track suit was… well… torn away. Full on nude. So this creepy naked baby was running around screaming at kids.. much to the horror of the soundman (and the rest of the venue staff). To be honest, the venue staff probably were just as amused by his antics as the kids flying off the stage were, but there are certain legal no-no’s for all ages shows in Seattle, a city with a very tricky history regarding all ages music (google the “Seattle Teen Dance Ordinance” for more on that Footloose-esque law). 

GAG @ RAINFEST 2015. Photo by: Jesus Martinez

So, security escorted him off stage and into the back where he was made to put some jeans on. Meantime, the already rowdy crowd started to freak out about this censorship and things got real crazy. It almost felt like things were hinging on riot-territory for a minute, but thankfully kids channeled that into more stagedives and nothing got out of hand before Adam was back on stage singing, roughly a minute later. With this set, Gag set the internet on fire. Before they were off the stage, there were rumors spreading on Twitter, that the singer of Gag was not only naked, but pissing on the crowd at Rain Fest. I have a couple of videos of previous shows they played on YouTube and hilariously, the view counts on those videos have SKYROCKETTED following that scene at Rain Fest. I know Hate-5-Six’s video got quite a bit of views when it was posted.

Forced Order had one of the hardest pits I’ve ever seen at a Rain Fest. I was outside when they started and missed the first song. As I walked in the front door 60 seconds into their set, a kid came out holding his nose, which was gushing blood. Yikes. Kid seemed okay aside from the blood though. But yeah, this band is good. So hard. Reminds me of a modern Confront. And I love that they keep their songs short and sweet. So intense live too. They were killer.

PRAISE @ RAINFEST 2015. Photo by: Heather Rowland 

Saturday was “Daniel Fang” Day, as he played drums for four (I believe) bands that day. Praise was awesome as always. They covered “Circles” by Dag Nasty and Aram from Betrayed helped out on vocals. There’s just something about Praise that’s so cool. Just really good music made by some of the best people out there.

Angel Du$t was the second D-Fang band and their set was one of the most fun I’ve seen in a long while. I don’t even remember the last time I was at a show where you could literally stagedive as far as you possibly wanted and not have to worry about hitting the ground. It was great. So much fun. They closed their set with a cover of “Rebel Girl” by Bikini Kill and wow, kids went bonkers. 

ANGEL DU$T @ RAINFEST 2015. Photo by: Kiabad Meza

ANGEL DU$T (During Bikini Kill cover with Justice on bass and Fury's singer on the mic)

Photo by: Heather Rowland

AD’s set was immediately followed by D-Fang III, AKA. Mindset. Mindset is, in my humble opinion, the best current band in hardcore. Their songs are furious, their lyrics are intelligent and they are so explosive live. This band is the total package. Their set was awesome. It wasn’t quite as big as Angel Du$t’s reaction, but the intensity was definitely stepped up a level. They kicked off their set with the intro to “Breaking the Ice” by Brotherhood, which was a great salute to Seattle. Again, I stagedove as many times as I humanly could. 

MINDSET @ RAINFEST 2015. Photo by: Kiabad Meza

Fang got to rest for a bit while All Out War played. AOW was as solid as they always are. They got a pretty good response too, especially from the little-bit-older crowd. Kids that were around last time All Out War rolled through Seattle, hit the pit like they’d been waiting over a decade to hit an AOW pit and a few younger kids were in there mixing it up too. 

ALL OUT WAR @ RAINFEST 2015. Photo by: Jesus Martinez

After All Out War, Fang was back behind the kit and Turnstile did their thing. Turnstile is a band that I’m not super into, but respect 100% for doing their thing. They put on a killer show and kids love them, so watching this band is an absolute treat. Their reaction was one of the best I’ve seen at Rain Fest in its nine year history. 

TURNSTILE @ RAINFEST 2015. Photo by: Jesus Martinez

Sunday

True Identity kicked off Sunday with a much anticipated first show after their demo was released. They got a great reaction for such a young band. It was really cool to see Jim and Aram (from Champion) back on the same stage together. If you haven’t heard their demo yet, check it out. It’s awesome.

Cross Me was really good. I’ve missed them the last few times they played Seattle so it was good to finally catch them. Really stoked that they are doing a record with Bridge 9. That label is really seeing a resurgence with the signing of Cross Me, Bent Life, Malfunction and True Love, to go with Rude Awakening, Backtrack and Expire… and they’re doing the new Crown of Thornz? Chris Wrenn is working hard to take back that “best hardcore label” crown. 

STAND UNITED @ RAINFEST 2015. Photo by: Holding The Moment

Stand United from Japan was my favorite set from the weekend. I didn’t really know what to expect when they played. This band from halfway around the world, that didn’t yet have a record out on an American label, had to follow up Minus, who was awesome and got a great reaction. Stand United kicked it off with “Break Down the Walls” by Youth of Today and kids went bonkers. The rest of their set, the energy stayed up. Their lyrics are all in Japanese, so there weren’t really sing-a-longs (outside of the six-man Tokyo mosh crew), but kids went off from start to finish. Any time there was a breakdown or a skank part, everyone hit the pit. It was incredible to see that level of support. And SU killed it. They bounced all over the stage and punched the air and leaped… Their drummer beat the crap out of his drums… Their set was one of the most “hardcore” things I’ve ever seen. I think kids just really appreciated that this band came from so far to play to them and they were ready to show their support. I don’t think there was a face in the room that didn’t have a giant smile on it. It was really one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen at a hardcore show.

Discourse and Incendiary were both really good. Discourse did an Indecision cover with the singer of Backtrack on vocals, which was really cool to see. And of course, kids went nuts for Incendiary.

INCENDIARY @ RAINFEST 2015. Photo by: Jesus Martinez

Power got the best reaction of any NW band at the fest, as it should be. They are the hardest working current band in this area. They tour like maniacs and party even harder. They sold Hawaiian shirts with “Power” screened on them, which everyone wore during their set. It was a really fun set to watch. Power fans are just a bunch of animals who want to get rowdy and have fun and that’s a beautiful thing to behold. They kicked off their set with a cover of “Ace of Spades” and really just kept the joint rocking the whole set. I’ve said this before, but the short-haired dudes from Power bang their heads harder than any long-hair band.

Code Orange's set was about as wild as you would expect. I’m not really a huge fan of this band’s music, but I love watching them live and I love watching what kids do to each other while they play. Also love the drummer’s mosh calls. Can honestly say I’ve never been called a “coward” by a band before (which is saying something, given the amount of times I’ve seen Carry On). Props to the Code Orange Kids for doing their thing and doing it well. 

JUDGE @ RAINFEST 2015. Photo by: Holding The Moment 

Judge closed down the fest and were incredible. Judge is my favorite band of all time and this was my first time seeing them. I’ve already gone on record about my feelings on reunions, but man… it was so cool to be able to stage dive for “Like You” for the first time. Their reaction was good, but I think people were beat by that point so it wasn’t as wild as Chain of Strength’s set, but it was still really fun.

As cool as the two big reunion sets (Judge and Chain) were, I thought it was awesome that the bands that got the biggest reactions were the current big dogs; the ones that are out there doing their thing right now, working hard, busting their asses for hardcore. Turnstile, Code Orange, Angel Du$t’s and Mindset’s reactions were insane and I think that’s awesome. 

JUDGE'S SETLIST. Photo by: Adrien Way, Don't Sleep Ink

Closing thoughts:

Hardcore fests are a fun opportunity to see a lot of good bands and get exposed to some new ones. But for seeing bands and experiencing hardcore, there’s nothing like a basement show or a VFW hall. For me, fests are all about the people there. They are an awesome opportunity to rekindle friendships with people from all over the country (and beyond) and they’re an incredible opportunity to make new friends. Every year, I consciously try to introduce myself to a few new faces. I really believe that years from now I won’t remember how many stagedives I did for Mindset, or how wild the Forced Order pit was. As cheesy as it sounds, the things that last are the connections I made. Some stick and some don’t, but it’s pretty amazing how some of them turn out to be such close friends down the road.

Wishlist:

Taking a page from the BNB Bowl recap here and shouting out a few bands that I would love to see on next year’s lineup (in the unlikely event that they bring me on as a consultant):

• Blacklisted – Haven’t seen this band in too long. One of my favorites. They do it their way and are just a phenomenal band.
• Wisdom In Chains – Seems like this band has played more Rain Fests than they have missed, but their absence is definitely palpable whenever they aren’t there.
• Retaliate – This will never happen because they aren’t super active outside of Southern California, but I love this band. I’d love to hit a pit for the bass intro of “Thorns.”
• Down To Nothing – Played last year and was so much fun. Love this band. Love the dudes in this band even more.
• Mindsnare – Probably the best band in the world that no one outside of Australia (or in bands that have toured Australia) knows about. They are absolute legends down under. Gods of Aussie crossover. If you haven’t heard this band, acquaint yourself ASAP.
• Stand United – Would love to see them come back again. So much fun. 

RAINFEST ON INSTAGRAM

ARTICLE WRITTEN BY: CHRIS WILLIAMS (Formerly of CHAMPION and currently of THE CREW as well as the guy behind the SEEKERS OF THE CORE website)

PHOTOS BY: 

KIABAD MEZA

HOLDING THE MOMENT

SADIE ANSTEDT

ADRIEN WAY (DON'T SLEEP INK)

JESUS MARTINEZ

DAN GONYEA

HEATHER ROWLAND