There is hardcore and hardcore, the Bay Area band Ceremony is raw power hardcore, I-am-gonna-eat-you-alive hardcore, I-am-pissed-off-at-everything hardcore, the dangerous type with an incendiary and violent energy.
They were opening for this No Age concert at the Levitt Pavilion in MacArthur Park organized by the FYF Fest on Thursday night, completely unannounced from what I had been able to read, so I thought that they were the surprise guests, but this was 2 hours before the other Black Flagsurprise.
The crowd started a mosh pit (I know, it is starting to look like a routine at this point) at the riffs of their first song, and I was pushed toward the side of the stage where I could actually watched their performance and the constant stage diving during the rest of the concert, in the most comfortable position giving the circumstances of chaos and violence.
The five of them were occupying the whole stage all the time, but singer Ross Farrar with his sweat shorts, white socks and athletic good looks, was the center of attention. He seemed really infuriated all the time, spitting out electrifying vocals, moving in circles as if he was doing his own moshing on stage, or aggressively bending above the first rows, and even back-rolling on the floor. Not still for a minute, he was often trembling of rage as if he was about to explode, while revealing his completely tattooed torso, and he jumped a few times in the pit to disappear in the wild party floor for a few minutes. A constant spectacle, he made all kinds of weird things with his black t-shirt, ending wearing it like a straitjacket, then twisting the mic cord around his neck as if he wanted to strangle himself.
The music was all energy and rage, making waves with bipolar outbursts of powerful and dark guitar riffs and some calmer parts, which were just preparing for more rage and violence.
When bass player Justin Davis, who had black painted fingernails, removed his shirt and showed his Black Flag tattoo on the top of his left shoulder (yeah, it was the theme of the night) I understood even more where they were coming from. For an opening band, they were very intense, and the fury they had unleashed was only the start of a night driven by a cocktail of adrenaline and testosterone.