Last weekend was Desert Dweller Fest, a hardcore festival based out of Tucson Arizona showcasing AZHC as well as keeping the memory of indigenous people alive. It was a fest put on by Matt Marcum, and was quite a blast. The festival has been going for 3 years, and has gotten better and better. The line up for this years was as follows:Day 1:
Concrete Evidence
Penalty Box
Summerhead
Easy Money
Troubled
Slowbleed
Absence of Mine
Drain
The Beautiful Ones
Most of this bill were AZHC or adjacent bands with Slowbleed and Drain being the only non-AZ based bands of the day. This, however, didn’t deter any energy from being spent on each bands set. Every band showed out, and put on hard for the scene and for the locals. The crowd was involved as well with dancers and moshers being strongly prevalent in and out of the pit. During sets like Concrete Evidence, Penalty Box, Easy Money, Absence of Mine, Slowbleed, Drain, and of course the one and only The Beautiful Ones; kids were dancing moving, nodding, and singing along.
This festival was something unique, in my opinion, as it was mostly local and in a small and intimate setting. It was truly an eye opening experience that showed me just how alive local scenes can be when cared about, and cultivated through positive influence and continual support. I saw a large sense of community, and felt it as well when discussing hardcore, and talking about music with like minded individuals. Never have a felt more engrossed in such a diverse community or more surrounded by a group of people that I admire for standing against something and professing their feeling and ideals in music.
Concrete Evidence played first, and had a great sound, the volumes were solid with each instrument equally distributed sonically. There was never a feeling of one element overpowering another. This band has a solid metallic tinge, with heavy hardcore influences. It draws my mind in particular to bands like Bent Life and a mix of fast punk.Penalty Box was another great set, one that was fun to watch and also had good energy from the band. This bands sound is an interesting mix of beat down vocals with youthcrew energy and guitar parts. But it is a beautiful mix because it creates a vibe of fun and enjoyment. This band has sounds similar to Youth of Today, Judge, Ten Yard Fight, Skarhead, and Buried Alive. The latter of the bands being more in reference to vocals.
Slowbleed played a little later in the evening and absolute destroyed the place. Moshers and dancers were everywhere. The band had strong stage presence and was able to keep the crowd well involved without sacrificing sound or quality. The volumes were well balanced and were not a burden on the ears.
The Beautiful Ones headlined and absolutely crushed it! The place was well packed and the crowd was well involved with keeping the energy levels high. TBO really kept the spirit of AZHC alive and showing that Tucson is still a scene to behold.
Every band put on a great show, these are the bands from the first night that I feel had a great impact and are worth looking into. But most of all every single band had great energy and did an amazing job at showing what hardcore is and what’s it’s about. Community, and positive outlets for negative surroundings.
Follow and listen to the bands here:
Concrete Evidence: https://concreteevidenceaz.bandcamp.com/releases
Penalty Box: https://penaltyboxhc.bandcamp.com/
Summerhead: https://summerheadmusic.bandcamp.com/
Easy Money: https://easymoneyhc.bandcamp.com/
Troubled: https://troubledaz.bandcamp.com/
Slowbleed: https://slowbleedca.bandcamp.com/
Absence of Mine: https://absenceofmine.bandcamp.com/
DRAIN: https://drain831.bandcamp.com/
The Beautiful Ones: https://beautifulcru.bandcamp.com/releases
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