Say-10 Records Anniversary Party: Night Birds, Iron Reagan, Tim Barry, Pears

Night Birds (photo: Trevor Soriano)

By Avalon Kenny

Stay Sweet has been putting on shows and fests in Richmond, VA for a couple years now, and for this festival they joined forces with Say-10 Records, the brainchild of Adam Gecking, to make tons of awesome bands happen in the same place over a two-day span. Say-10 Records has released records by Aspiga, Walk the Plank and Direct Hit!, as well as several bands you might not have heard of, but definitely should. Case in point: Entropy, a band that sounds like Minor Threat and Gorilla Biscuits’ baby, played the festival and completely blew the crowd away. They even threw a badass cover of “Filler” in there.

Entropy wasn’t the only band to kill it. Friday night’s show spanned over several genres, from acoustic acts like Jake Mayday and GB from Arliss Nancy, to pop punk heroes Chumped. Fronted by a singer with pipes reminiscent of Alison Mosshart’s Discount days, Chumped is fun and upbeat, but with relevant-to-your-life, melancholy lyrics.

Friday night also had Jersey natives The Scandals, who Gecking described as “The Gaslight Anthem with testicles.” It’s pretty spot-on; their music is straight-up punk. It’s hard to be the first punk band after a bunch of slower acoustic acts, but their set had enough energy to get people pumped for the rest of the night.

Iron Chic (photo: Trevor Soriano)

Smoke or Fire were the last “loud” band of the night, and probably one of the highlights for most of the crowd. Smoke or Fire have been around for a little over 15 years, so it was a throwback for a lot of people. Their melodic punk set was fun and energetic, and watching the crowd get so into the band was awesome.

Tim Barry closed the show around midnight. Seeing Barry play in his hometown was a surreal experience; it may not be a huge deal to some, but hometown shows are always my favorite and it was my first time seeing him play in Richmond. If there’s anyone who cares about what his fans think, it’s gotta be Barry. He was the perfect way to end the night, getting into the crowd for several songs to sing along with his fans and taking requests. He played old favourites like “This November” and, of course, “Avoiding Catatonic Surrender,” along with songs off his new album, Lost and Rootless.

Saturday’s show started pretty early; Jason Guy Smiley kicked it off at 12:30 pm, playing originals and covers (like The Front Bottoms’ “Skeleton”) that got the crowd stoked for the rest of the show. If you know anything about Smiley, you know he comes prepared with pineapples.

Drinking out of pineapples with friends was probably the best part about early Saturday afternoon, only topped by getting to yell along to Puddle Splasher’s cover of “Do You Still Hate Me?” by Jawbreaker. Saturday afternoon also hosted Virginia natives like Close Talker and Trust Fall.

Close Talker (photo: Trevor Soriano)

New York’s Entropy played later, bringing jams that sounded straight out of the late ‘80s hardcore scene. If you’re into bands like Gorilla Biscuits, 7 Seconds, and Youth Of Today, their album, All Work, No Plagiarism, can be found on Say-10 Records.
Daycare Swindlers were another band in the early evening that surprised: there were seven people onstage and they brought together many different genres into one cohesive sound that’s pretty rare to find in today’s music. It was pop punk, a little ska, but more Common Rider than Less Than Jake.

The combination of Pears, Brutal Youth, and Iron Reagan all happening in a two-hour period was perfect (if a little painful; I’m sure a lot of people went home with bruises). When you first listen to Pears, you think you’re listening to ‘80s hardcore, but then they throw you off by putting some amazing vocal harmonies in there. Pears played probably the best set of the entire weekend. Zach Quinn’s energy is unlike any other singer’s, and watching their set was insane.

Pears were followed up by Brutal Youth, who came all the way from Canada for the Say-10 Records Anniversary Party. First of all, they’re named after an Elvis Costello album. How sick is that? Second, they’re an amazing hardcore band that draw influence from all sorts of unexpected places. You can obviously hear bands like Off with Their Heads and Propagandhi, but you can also tell that they’ve educated themselves on more than just contemporary hardcore.

Iron Reagan (photo: Trevor Soriano)

Iron Reagan completed the trifecta of face melting, which is only to be expected from a band that’s comprised of members of Municipal Waste, Cannabis Corpse and Darkest Hour. The pit got insane during their set, with the crowd forming a huge gap for the dudes throwing down. Note: Iron Reagan also has a lot of hair. Pretty sure the most important part of their live show is watching thrash heroes shred and head-bang.

Spraynard brought the crowd back from their hardcore high, with posi-core favorites like “O.R. They” and “Can I Borrow a Feeling?” An uplifting note from Spraynard’s set: their singer, Pat Graham, made a stand against sexual assault. I walked out of their set during Fest in Gainesville because of an uncomfortable incident, but it came full circle when he said things about how women should always be allowed to feel comfortable and shouldn’t feel threatened at punk shows (of all places).

After Spraynard, Night Birds took to the stage with their throwback surf punk. Brian Gorsegner’s stage presence makes you feel like you were at a Dead Kennedys show, throwing the mic into people’s faces so they can sing along and then “hanging” himself with the cord. This band is all over the place: guitar riffs pulled straight off Fresh Fruit from Rotting Vegetables, bass lines honouring Karl Alvarez, and vocals that make you want to throw on The Adolescents after hearing certain songs.

Iron Chic closed the night, with almost everyone in the crowd singing along. With members of Latterman and relatable, self-deprecating lyrics, it’s hard not to yell all the words when this band plays.

Richmond is all kinds of awesome. Few other places have the option to wake up and get a burrito filled with French fries, sip espresso from one of the coolest coffee roasters in the southeast, and head over to a venue to watch a punk band kick off day two of a festival before lunch. There’s a very welcoming sense of community and acceptance within Richmond’s scene. It was like a mini-Fest: good eats, good bands and good friends, all on the same block. Also, pineapple drinks? Duh.