Still Remains -- Howell, MI -- May 26th, 2012

[kevindeets]

This was the annual Bledfest. It's an extremely well organized festibal that brings in about 60 bands from all genres. There is always a cool band to check out throughout the day. On w/ the review of the bands I saw...


Serianna - Meh, they were a dime-a-dozen heavy band

Today I Caught The Plague - They're a band from Canada that I watched simply b/c of their intriguing name. I liked 'em. I'd go see 'em again.

Sycamour - They're a local band that I saw open the For Today, Mychildren Mybride, Stick to Your Guns show last month. Check 'em out. They were one of the best bands of the day.

Wilson - This band is always fun to see. They're Detroit's poor man's version of Every Time I Die.

The Plot in You - I'd heard a lot of good things about them, but they didn't do it for me. They're a good heavy band, but there was too much of that phony angst for my liking.

Siren the Escape - Last year's Bledfest was their farewell show, yet they re-united for this show. They were OK.

Scale the Summit - They were unique, but they didn't do much for me.

Volumes - They probably had the craziest crowd reaction of the day. I thought they were good, just not THAT good.

Endeavors - A good heavy band from Michigan, but I thought their set got tedious after awhile.

Flatfoot 56 - Best band of the day, hands down! They won over the mostly metal & hardcore crowd. That might've been the best set by any band I've ever seen at Bledfest. Wow!

Former Thieves - I liked them a lot, but for some reason the crowd was not all that into them.

A Plea for Purging - The crowd went BONKERS for them. They were amazing as always. If you haven't seen them live, you should.

Brothers - Cut & paste the description for Endeavors.

Inhale Exhale - I saw them open for War of Ages a few years ago & liked them a lot, so I checked 'em out again. They were fantastic. I'm now officially a fan.

Comeback Kid - They've played headlining shows in both Detroit & Toledo recently, and I skipped both of those b/c I knew I'd see them at Bledfest. Unfortunately, however, they played at exactly the same time on the main stage as Inhale Exhale did on the side stage, so I had to hustle & catch the last 4 songs of their set after Inhale Exhale was done, but I liked what I saw. The crowd loved them. I'll definitely go see 'em again.

The Crimson Armada - Holy shit, these guys destroyed the place! They were a close 2nd to Flatfoot 56 for "Best of the Day" honors.

Of Virtue - Check these guys out. They're really good... a band from Lansing for fans of Misery Signals & Hatebreed.

As Cities Burn - I was really looking forward to this set b/c I started listening to them just before they broke up, and this was their 1st show in MI in about 6 years. They were good, but I was disappointed in their set b/c they didn't play anything off of SON I LOVED YOU AT YOUR DARKEST, and that is their best album by far, IMO.

Still Remains - They rocked the house as best they could w/ a 30-min set. I was hoping they'd play "Recovery," but maybe next time. Setlist:


The Serpent
Anemia in Your Sheets
White Walls
Reading Lips
To Live & Die By Fire
I Can Revive Hime With My Own Hands
The Worst is Yet to Come

[YippiCola]

wow, that set's way too short.

maybe it's just me, but i don't see the point in bringing together 3 million bands and then not even letting the headliners play for more than half an hour.

[kevindeets]

Still Remains was not the headliner. The last band of the day was called The Early November. I didn't stay for them (never heard of theem). A few other bands also got 45-min sets (Comeback Kid, The Wonder Years, and As Cities Burn).