Madball @ Webster Hall (the old ritz) in NYC - 05/15/2010

I rolled solo to the Bed n Breakfast bowl mainly for seeing Supertouch. They sounded pretty good, but I was quite disappointed with the short set. Madball is generally pretty entertaining so I made sure I captured their set too. I regret not doing Skarhead, they were actually AWESOME. I think for this Madball set there were times when I knew an old song was coming so I set my recording device down, and I hit the pit, or went for a dive. I want to thank Tim "Mother" Faulker, and Monster Joe for their amazing hospitality. I love going to NY and seeing those guys. Great Minds. It was good chatting with Owen Bug as well. Hadn't seen him in a few years. He hit the pit for the 'Touch. Ran into a good amount of guys there, and carried some great chats about HC. Talked to Hoodrack and Rifken about how much I liked the Stick Together demo. I really wanted them to come play Toronto. They have since played here 3-4 times. I got audio from all those sets. Stay tuned. I chatted with Andy Guida of Supertouch...he was wearing his old Altercation shirt. Was great seeing him and Biv. I hope they come back to Toronto now that they've got a lot of momentum behind them with the recent reincarnation of Supertouch. Stay tuned for all the new music they've got planned...Triple B Records announced AHC II with a new track by them. I talked with that guy who made all the flyers in NY during the 90s...Gilmour his last name is I'm pretty sure. He did the Wayside stuff I think. The following day there was a gallery I really wanted to see, cuz it had some original Taggert stuff. It place was located on avenue d I think. Had to walk past Tompkins Square (what a trip that was). Ran into Joey C havin' a butt outside some clothing store. That was another trip. At the end of it all, I can say it was exactly what I wanted to get out of this little adventure and more. I highly recommend you do it sometime. Travel to some city that takes a good 10 plus hrs to get to, and just ride by the edge of your seat. I was lucky to be in such good company. Obviously there were several Big Karl sightings as well.

Thanks for checking out these posts, you can't imagine how much enjoyment I get out of recoding these things, and chatting with the Great Minds of all parties involved. Thank you again to Gil for provind a write up for his Free Spirit live set. I've had a few other people reach out to me about contributing some stuff so stay tuned for that. In the near future I'm gonna give some local bands the spot here as well, so if youre a TOHCer from abroad, stay tuned for that as well.


"Peace in the Middle East" - Skip

MADBALL @ BNB BOWL (THE OLD RITZ) 05/15/2010 - http://www.mediafire.com/?ztubtizn1an

Free Spirit @ Asefu's in DC - 01/21/2012

Gil reached out to me about sharing a live set from their DC gig a little while ago, and here's what was said:

"Free Spirit made our first appearance inWashington, DC as a part of a weekend with Disengage, marking the release of their LP. The show happened at an Ethiopian bar/restaurant Asefu’s which surprisingly welcomed the rowdy atmosphere of this crowded show. As with most Free Spirit shows, friends were in the

house everywhere you turned as well as kids who were there to express themselves and lose their minds. Disengage played their best set of the weekend, and needless to say Give stole the show with an intense 3-guitar set. Free Spirit’s performance was my personal favorite of our three shows that weekend, the others being in Boston and New York City. This set features three new songs “Casting Down,” “Could I?” and “Figure You Out” as well as a cover of AF “Power” and Rampage “Cave Bear,” as well as featuring guest appearances by Chad, Zach, and Josh P. During this set FS roadie Alex got a minor concussion at the hands of a stage diver (note there was no stage at this show, just a functioning bar to dive off of), but was later determined healthy by a trained medical professional. Thanks to everyone who was at this gig."

FREE SPIRIT @ Asefu in DC 01/21/2012 - http://www.mediafire.com/?enm9p7kxx5e98bd

* Thanks be to Sykes for recording the audio.
** Photos by: Justin O'Hara.
*** Many FANGS to Gil & Zach W for the DC set(s)!

HANDS TIED @ ANCHORS UP in MA - 8/21/2010

Going back to the first post I made about the live sets...this show was the first part of the trip to America that we made for a round of shows. Free Spirit definitely played this gig as well. If you don't believe me, well you'll just have to check out the audio that I upload in the next little while. I was really looking forward to seeing HT play on this date. They sounded awesome. That ep they released last year was in my top 5 for sure. The package was cool, the songs were HUGE. The songs were pretty heavy, I found. Definitely, Judge heavy at times. Tim's vocals sound awesome on record still. Live they were great. Definitely met my expectations. I could have done without the Minor Threat cover, but that's neither here nor there.





The lineup for this gig was:
TIM Common Sense
Straight ED
KREEPER
GORDO
Drug Free Mike C

I'm as much of a free spirit as anyone, but I can't tell you how good it was to be around so many like minded hardcores in a venue. The HC scene is much different in Toronto than it is Boston and environs. This kind of show would never happen where I'm from. Granted, half the bands on the bill are admired by Torontonians.

HANDS TIED - AUG 21 2010 - http://www.mediafire.com/?7m58du4mmnadu9y

WASTE MANAGEMENT live at Rancho Relaxo in Toronto 2009

The flyer says it all. If I may be so bold, I would often compare the venue Rancho Relaxo to NY's A7. The dopest gigs have always happened here since the nu scene toronto chapter formed. I have been going to hc shows in this city since early 2k, and they never felt like this. I suppose it could be argued that my involvement at the time is perhaps the reason why I hold it so highly versus the goings on in early 2k, when Toronto obviously had a great scene, and was in many cases the precursor to what was happening in the latter portion of the decade, but nevertheless. Shows at this point were pretty exclusive in the sense that you had to have a connection with the bands in some way to know about the gig. They weren't widely advertised and you didn't get to join a page on facebook to show your peers what you were doing that week.

It was a huge time for the bursting toronto bands at the time with the urban blight lp. They'd been around for years but it only came together at that point. The songs were way better than anything previously relesaed. Omegas were still a relatively new band but EVERYONE knew they were the band that was making serious waves with their sound and style. Mad Men...the band I refer to as MAD MAN, because it was a solo effort where Jonah Falco basically did everything himself. If I recall correctly, Jonah played drums and sang at the same time for this gig. This is significant for two reasons...1) because its fucking insane 2) tom carroll did the same thing. We have evidence of this on youtube that you can look up yourself. Mad Men was Jonah's real time to shine as a front man with dynamo. He did everything right with this project that should have been a proper band but alas. Bad Choice was my band. It was our demo release show, and that's all I'll say about that.

After all that, here is what you want...the WASTE MGMT shit. Toronto/MTL has always had a platonic love affair with CARMS, and we love to take advantage of the opportunity to see this band play cuz the guy can "meow". This session was actually recorded with the same machine that Jonah Falco records all his FU tracks, and all of the other bands that he records with as well. I don't recall what that machine is called, but don't worry about that. The sound is incredible. I hope this does the justice it deserves. Toronto was in a real drought for HC and once these concerts started happening, things got reinvigorated big time. Those were definitely the glory days of being involved in TOHC in my mind.

**This recording was released on cassette tape w/fanzine interview I conducted with Craig Arms. It was made available at the Fucked Up Fest, October 2009. There were about 100 tapes made. If you can find the Waste MGMT blog that was around temporarily you'll see what it looks like.

WASTE MANAGEMENT LIVE @ RANCHO RELAXO 05/09/2009: http://www.mediafire.com/?tntgzyggv2w

IRON AGE & SLAUGHTER STRIKE LIVE SET(S) - October 2009 Toronto

I'm looking to start uploading my live sets again. Ive come to the realization that I simply dont have the time that I fully want to spend on each individual post here with various recollections. Rather than sitting on these, more sets are going to drop here on a frequent basis with more in depth posts from time to time.

I was never a HUGE IA fan...I liked the demo, but to me Far From Breaking was better. I got into metal before hc so maybe I'm over critical here, or still sour that they went from making choices to struggling constantly with indecision.

Regardless, i was up front for this set and the guys can play and always deliver live, so i knew i was in for a treat. this set was recorded at a venue called THE POOR ALEX THEATRE in TORONTO, ONTARIO October 2009.

By this point i was still learning to work with my machine so the live sets arent in the full WAV file capacity that i know use. the quality is still pretty good

Iron Age - http://www.mediafire.com/?jwwokkm5wzk

Slaughter Strike (local toronto swe. DM style. members of RAMMER, Endless Blockade, etc...) - http://www.mediafire.com/?o5y4nqjoyfm

i can be contacted directly at mikethemosher@gmail.com

Disengage: Look Back EP Record Release - August 22nd 2010, PA

What can I say about the Disengage record release show? It was part of an annual pilgrimmage to the States that I like to make. Our gang of Matt Laforge, Rick Smith, and Tyler G Leach went down to see a kick ass gig in Haverhill MA, where we stayed with GIL Sayfan-a-crowd in Brookline. I hit up the Pain Cave, met the Deej Bros, sat in on a DRUM n BASS session of NO TOLERANCE with Doug Free & Justin. Once we left MASS. we did one of my favourite drives through PENN STATE and got pizza at some place Laforge insisted we go to. After killing some time in the town of "Warrior Run" PA we finally show up to a venue that has a huge empty parking lot, and lots of people hanging out in their back yard without shirts. As a city slicker in Toronto, this is something I have not seen in a long ass time.

Upon our return to the venue the stage was being set up if I'm not mistaken. I think some of those shirtless Warriors were responsible for this operation. Lots of familiar faces were seen. It was a great feeling be so far away from Toronto and feeling at home along the Rust Belt of PA.

As you can see from the line up the bill was pretty stacked. Unfortunately Stick 2Gether dropped, and FIRE N ICE did not play. F N I was described by Gil to someone who hadn't heard them yet as a combination of Burn meets the Icemen. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. Still haven't seen that band. Hope it changes sometime.

This was the first time seeing Disengage. Gil hyped them up to me as being pretty tripy, or something along those lines. I think this is in reference to the various speeds and tempos that are found in the music. I usually hold off on passing judgment on bands until I see them live, and from the first song I was immediately convinced that this was a band I wanted to get behind. Ned's a high energy guy, with lyrics I can appreciate. Dan Mills was playing bass during this set, and they ended up playing a Magnus song, with Dan singing, Ned on bass.

Check the link below for downloading an MP3 in full of this very set that I recorded with an H4N XOOM. I placed it on the merch table while I got down. This live set was released on a split tape with UNITED YOUTH for the Triple B Showcase in 2010 if I'm not mistaken.

http://www.mediafire.com/?gqwk4a52ce45x5s

BRINGING IT BACK - GET LIVE MF'ER

Going forward I am going to be posting live recordings which I have captured from shows that I attend. Generally speaking bands are giving me the go ahead to post it online here, but I can't help but raise the question. What is the inherent difference from videos that are posted on youtube,  photos from concerts, to live music being authorized from band members for public consumption. The benefit to getting the go ahead from a band is staying on good terms with your subject. I for one place a big importance on that. With that being said, if you see a recording from your band on this website that you would rather not be widely available online here, then let me know and we can try to make an arrangement.

As I am based in Toronto, the majority of sets will be from my city, but I do frequent Montreal, and on occasion I will hit a gig on the East Coast USA. If you are looking for any live sets from bands that are based in any of these cities that you have not yet seen me post, drop me a line in the comments section, or email me directly - mikethemosher@gmail.com