I have been living away from Vegas for over 5 years now and haven’t visited in the last 2 years or so. I had been itching to see some old faces and when I heard that Faded Grey would be playing a reunion at NateFest West, I knew it was a great excuse to see old friends, witness a great show, and show some support for Ensign’s Nate Gluck, to help him in his battle with cancer.
After those making the long drive from Vegas to Anaheim met up at Chain Reaction, the reminiscing began. It was during these long stories and catching up that I did a disservice to an opening band and completely missed Done Dying. It was about midway through The Third Degree’s set that I went into Chain Reaction and met up with the sound guy to ask where I could set up the camera to shoot video of Faded Grey’s set. I had contacted Chain Reaction beforehand to get the sound board mix to sync up with the video and Lucas, the sound guy, was nothing but an awesome dude that hooked it up allowing me to enjoy the show.
The Third Degree looked like they came off the set of Sons of Anarchy. The lead singer had a grizzled long beard that was approaching ZZ Top status. The music was a far cry from ZZ Top though, as they played a very straightforward brand of punk rock. They had driving guitars that were a bit like Queens of The Stone Age but much more upbeat and in your face.
Faded Grey was up next and the rush to set up had started. The lineup for the night consisted of original members Lance Wells, Shay Mehrdad, Joe Schoser, and Mike Rosati. Joe (Mike) Randazzo filled in on drums and did a great job. The set had everything a Faded Grey show should have. Lance gave his mini speeches introducing songs and Shay shredded on the guitar as he added all sorts of new leads and solos sprinkled in there. Rosati played his flowing bass lines with that tone that is unmistakingly memorable to his set up. The Joes laid down the rhythm and kept the energy of the set moving. There were pile-ons, kids jumping up to get their voices on the microphone, circle pits and all of that energy that good old punk rock and hardcore brings out of people.
As you can see from the set list, Faded Grey played 3/4ths of their Army of Kids 7” as well as a majority of songs from A Quiet Time of Desperation. The set was great, and you’d have never guessed it was over 10 years since they played last. It was a fun time that made a bunch of old Vegas kids feel like they were 17 again. Honestly, even if they had played terribly, I don’t think anyone in the crowd would have cared as everyone had fun recapturing that piece of their youth for 30 minutes. The set closed up with the ever epic unity song, “The Great Divide.”
After Faded Grey was another reunion for the band Eyelid. Dan Palmer of Death by Stereo took to his origins as Eyelid played their brand of metal infused hardcore that still sounded fairly modern today. They played a tight set that had fans of the band excited to see them. Following Eyelid was Dan Palmer’s other band on the bill, Death By Stereo.
I was at one time a very big fan of Death By Stereo and had a bit of a falling out as they got more and more metal sounding around the album Into the Valley of Death. The good news about their set at NateFest was that they played a majority of their songs from their first two albums. As always, their live show was filled with energy and blistering guitars and unrelenting drums. There was even a reunion of sorts for DBS as the Miner Bros., Paul and Jim, hopped onto stage and played a couple songs with the band in somewhat formal wear as they had just come from a wedding. Death By Stereo’s set was fun and energetic and was very entertaining. Being a band that still tours and plays live on the reg, Death By Stereo brought their A-game and played a phenomenal set.
The man of the hour, Nate Gluck, was ready to unleash the New Jersey brand of hardcore on California. Ensign was up next and everyone was pumped to watch them play. They played a tight set, showing that they still have the energy and enthusiasm to play good old hardcore/punk to the masses.
Following Ensign was a raucous reunion for the band Adamantium. Adamantium was always one of the heavier hitters of the SoCal hardcore scene and their set at NateFest was the heaviest of the night. The first time I ever saw the headwalking brand of crowd surfing was at an Adamantium show. They had one of the most engaged crowd responses of the night as the audience was going wild in there. From what I watched, the set was very well executed and everyone from the band to the crowd was enjoying the hell out of it.
H2O was up next and as always they put together a great set. Even if you aren’t a fan of H2O, they are always a fun band to watch. Their set consisted of what seemed to be crowd requests. The audience would shout out songs and then the band would play them. There was even a song that fill-in guitarist, Colin McGinniss of None More Black, had no idea how to play. He just sort of strummed along to the root notes that bass player, Adam Blake, was playing. Later on in the set lead singer Toby Morse, had his kid who was probably around 10 or 11 years old hop up on stage and sing a song. The kid knew how to work a crowd. Shortly after that the kid hopped on the drums and didn’t miss a beat. It was a fun set to witness and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.
Good Riddance closed the show out. As the night dragged on and on, more people tended to make their way outside and eventually left. It was an unfortunate spot to be in for Good Riddance to close a six and half hour show packed with nine bands. Despite the crowd thinning out a bit, the band gave it their all, and the music was solid with a set list consisting of a good mix of old songs and a couple of new ones sprinkled in as well. My only complaint about their set is that vocalist, Russ Rankin, seems to sing in a much higher tone live than he does when recording their albums. It was almost reminiscent of Davey Havok rather than the gruff deeper tones that Russ displays on his albums. Overall they had a good set though. It closed out what was a night packed with good friends and good music.
-Mike Reilly | Video directed by Mike Reilly and features footage shot by Reilly, Spencer Biddiscombe and Tom Vincent
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