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Live Reviews Music

7 Seconds, Madball, H2O live at Underworld, London

7 Seconds / Madball / H2O
London, Underworld

6th August 2012


It’s safe to say that London feels like a pretty special place to be this Monday evening, a line up of this calibre is the stuff most festivals are made of and not a regular night in the subterranean confines of the Underworld. Each of these hardcore heavy hitters is capable of headlining this place on their own so it comes as no surprise that the venue is packed to the gills and the sold out sign is up on the door.

H2O are billed here tonight as the rather obvious ‘Thicker Than Water’ and are a last minute addition to this already strong bill. The NYHC posi-core outfit are as entertaining as ever, vocalist Toby Morse bounces from left to right as they tear through ‘1995’, ‘F.T.T.W.’ and ‘Fair Weathered Friend’ oozing PMA from every pore. You have to love hardcore back slapping and both Madball and 7 Seconds are given their props tonight as H2O rip out covers of ‘Pride’ and ‘Satyagraha’ respectively.

Next up are old school bruisers Madball, front man Freddy Cricien inciting the now heaving crowd on the Underworlds floor. For forty five minutes they stomp with an anger and energy that’d put their younger contemporaries to shame. A set culled from their whole back catalogue is delivered with venom tonight, ‘We The People’, ‘Spit On Your Grave’ and ‘Set It Off’ are a steamroller of riffs and beatdowns that incite the crowd into whirling dervishes. Cricien leaves the stage to rapturous applause, sweat dripping from his shit eating grin.

You have to pity any band that has to follow the runaway train that was Madball, this is something 7 Seconds vocalist Kevin Seconds acknowledges as the Californian melodic hardcore four piece take the stage to a slightly diminished audience. Undeterred the four piece rip through a set of classics including ‘The Crew’ and ‘In Your Face’ that soon get the remaining crowd whipped up into a suitably moshing mood. Their faster, melodic take on punk a welcome tonic to Madball testosterone fuelled set. All in all this was a stonking night of hardcore royalty from the old to newer school, from speed to crunch, that shows that this movement is as alive and well as it has ever been.

Words: Miles Hackett

Categories
Skateboarding Product Reviews

Review: Real ‘One Life, One Chance’ 8.25″

It’s hard to gage what’s Real and what’s not in these fast yet utter disposable times we live in.  Misconception is humanity’s biggest downfall, much like the young aspiring gangster going the extra mile to hurt others for acceptance and rank status, so too does youth culture engage in drug and alcohol use to be seen as accepted and cool.  Toby Morse (a.k.a. Toby 1), frontman of the hard-core punk band H20, devoted husband and loving father is living proof that a Positive Mental Attitude can get you much further in life than substances or weapons ever will!

Toby’s toured with numerous amazing bands, including Sum41, New Found Glory, Rancid, The Use, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Dropkick Murphys. Amongst a sponsorship from Nike and being head to toe covered in skin art, some find it hard to believe that this punk rocking legend has never touched alcohol or drugs in an industry where many find these attractions hard to escape!

Toby’s taken it upon himself to go out to schools across the U.S with the intention of educating the future leaders of our world by making them see that there’s more to life than being accepted, showing them that being a lifer is far more rewarding than being a knifer.

In aid of his quest for a better future, Real Skateboards produced a deck along with a few other skate goods which will see part of the proceeds go towards helping Toby reach more kids.

I’ve had the pleasure of riding this board for the past month, it’s a beautifully finished 8.25” bomber with standard concave, balanced nose and tail lift with a custom PMA graphic slapped on the bottom.

Not many people out there are interested in changing the world, but Toby is, don’t let his efforts go unnoticed, support Toby and help him help others by getting your mits on one of these boards. It’s Real board, so you know it’s gonna be a good ride, DLXSF is commited to skateboarding, so if you haven’t already done so, it’s time you give something back to those who give to you.

Alan Christensen