IE Takeover Of The Sin City Hardcore (Big Ass Truck)
All Photos and Write Up by Casey “CJ” Wong of _mus_702
LAS VEGAS, NV—On February 8th at American Legion Post 8, one of the homes of Las Vegas Hardcore spots, featured an excellent show that highlighted bands from California's Inland Empire such as Bad Mouth, Smoked909, and the almighty Big Ass Truck.
There was so much hype around this show as their previous shows looked fun as fuck, and they didn’t disappoint in how much ass they kicked.
I’ve been going to American Legion Post 8 for a while since I got in-depth into the LVHC (Las Vegas Hardcore) scene. This place feels like home to me whenever I go to shows there. So I’m excited to write about it and get an inside look from my perspective into this spot.
I was surprised that 197 Media (Steven) was in town to film the show, and it was an indication that people will go crazy on video to show everyone how hard LVHC goes.
Blackpath Booking put on the show with a stacked lineup, starting with a bang for the debut of the new LVHC band Bullet For Every Enemy. Even though they were the first band for the bill, they went hard. From side to side-to-side swings to violent mosh moves, they have everything to be LVHC champs.
Even though they played a short set of 10 minutes, it was very satisfying, and I want to see more from them. Dope to see James of Dredge and Sea Of Sorrow hop on a feature during their last song. I can’t wait to see what’s next for them, keep your eyes on them.
Next up was Fight Klub, and those kids went crazy for them. They’re an Upryse Records act that has been working a lot by playing shows they put together and building their name until they were ready for their first Blackpath show. They have the heavy fight riffs and pounding punch of the drums, everything that you expect from a Vegas beatdown band. At this point of the show, I knew this was going to get more rowdy throughout the show.
Sea Of Sorrow was up next, with the members of Dredge and The End Of Everything (RIP), they took to the stage and started the set off with a snippet cover of Sad But True by Metallica, and holy shit they took off running in the set. They’re no stranger to the LVHC scene and people were ready to go berserk to them.
From heavy mosh to mic grabbing, I had to put my camera down for a second to join the dance floor with metallic riffs and hard-hitting bass. Throughout the set, the crowd moshed so hard that there wasn’t any safe spot to be. It was "all gas no break" until the end of their set.
Next was the IEHC takeover and the start of Bad Mouth. They started hard with people two-stepping side-to-side. I was dodging people moshing during their first song, and I was like, "Holy shit, they went stupid hard."
To add more fuel to the fire, their friends used confetti poppers, and they made it rain cash with a money gun. Once I saw the cash raining, I went down to the ground to grab the cash (even though the 100s are fakes, everything else was real hahaha).
The vocalist demanded everyone move up to the stage for their last song, and they played a cover of Break Stuff by Limp Bizkit, everyone went wild and people were trying to grab the mic or stage dive into the madness. The only thing I have to say is, "Live, laugh, Limp Bizkit." Their set was great and everyone in that band gave it all.
Smoke909 was the next IEHC band on the bill, and they also kicked ass too. Right before the set, there was a handful of condoms on the ground. Honestly, I’m not shocked because the show was also pretty goofy (in a good way). Smoke909 has groovy fight riffs and brutal vocals that had me banging out during the set. They’re a cool band to watch and seeing people go wild for them was entertaining to watch.
Finally, we got to the main event, Big Ass Truck. Oh boy where do we start about this band, I found out about Big Ass Truck from Josh Bearded from Distinguisher and I was hooked imminently by how they sounded and the humor they got. They started the set with BEEF and oh boy, people went ham for the first song. The hype around this show paid off with intense moshing, mic grabbing, and some stage dives, the place was a madhouse.
They have larger-than-life energy they got, and they don’t take them too seriously and that’s why people love them, they’re a fun band to see live. With fast but heavy rifts, they felt like they were an unstoppable force with how they traded energy with the crowd. They played everything from BIG ASS DEMO and one song from THE FUCKIN PROMO, their set was damn killer.
When they played their title track, the room went off like a nuke. So many people rushed to the stage to grab the and want to utter the words “BIG ASS TRUCK”, there wasn’t much safe spot from the moshers or people are stage diving unless going to the next room at the bar area. When they had everything off the setlist,
I heard people screaming for Hatebreed, and Abel (frontman) asked anyone if they wanted one more song, people agreed for one more song, and they played Proven by Hatebreed. They continue the chaos with this cover, and it was cool to hear them play Hatebreed cover, and sounded great how they played it..
Setlist
BEEF
FROM THE GRAVE
SMOKEY AND THE B.A.T.
CORNFED
BIG ASS DOG
BIG ASS TRUCK
PROVEN (Hatebreed cover)
The show was in for the Blackpath books because it was chaotic. Check out all the bands in the lineup; they all deserve the support. See you in the next article.