Knocked Loose – Magic Stick – 3.26.18

Knocked Loose, Terror, Jesus Piece, Year of the Knife & Detain 
Magic Stick – Detroit, MI – 3.26.18
Photographer: Kyle Smutzki

Knocked Loose hailing from Oldham, Kentucky is a group that has found a way to turn many heads in the best way possible all around hardcore since their 2014 EP, Pop Culture, and 2016 full length, Laugh Tracks. Vigorously working those albums on many different tours (some including veterans Every Time I Die, Stick To Your Guns and Expire and the list goes on).

Their consistent rock to the grindstone mentality landed them a spot all summer long on the well-known Vans Warped Tour of 2017. They have recently announced they will be playing This is Hardcore fest out in Philadelphia late July and then playing select dates on the final Vans Warped Tour this year for 2018.

As if this line-up for the show was not already stacked enough, it was decided that Detain from Grand Rapids, Michigan would take the “local” opener slot for the Detroit date. The evening started off on a high note with fight-riffs and guitar solos that not only seemed to rattle the crowd up but also prepare them for what the rest of the evening had in store.

Year Of The Knife took the stage next and the crowd welcomed them with open arms. The Delaware band slammed breakdowns through breakdowns and showed the crowd that they were here to make an impact.

Next up the Philadelphia heavyweights, Jesus Piece took the stage. A band that has only been to the area twice before showed no sign of feeling uncomfortable in newer waters.  Frontman Aaron Heard is arguably one of the most powerful vocalists in hardcore right now and tonight he and his bandmates took control of the crowd and finally the stagedives started.

Coming into this show I was very excited to catch these guys for my first time and I recommend catching them next time they come through the area, and in the meantime check their set from last years This Is Hardcore 2017 filmed and edited by the almighty Hate5six.

One of my personal favorite hardcore bands in the scene, Terror were to take the stage next and if you are not familiar with what a live Terror performance looks like- just picture a band performing their entire set dodging people running on stage to just to dive off on while the front of the crowd in the front focuses singing along and catching the divers.

Starting their set off with “Keep Your Mouth Shut,” from their 2004 release, One With The Underdogs, The L.A legends seemed to hit the maximum energy for the show and for the rest of the evening it never seemed that the energy went any lower. Throughout their set frontman Scott Vogel would break between songs to speak with focus on how important it is to welcome others into hardcore no matter how much they know or don’t know about it.

Dedicating their song “Stick Tight” to local Detroit artists Freedom, and Build and Destroy, the band crushed every note all while Scott gladly handed the mic over to anyone who wanted to take part in singing the song. The band ended their set with the well-known song “Keepers Of The Faith,” and there was a constant stream of people diving from the stage. At some point during the song, Vogel caught me singing along and let me take a shine with the mic for a line within the song.

Finally, coming out to the anxious and rowdy crowd, Knocked Loose took the stage and without introduction opened up their set with an unnamed brand new song and the crowd seemed to take very kindly to it. Following came their song “Separate” off of their EP Pop Culture. Throughout the entire song the crowd nearly sounded louder than frontman Bryan Garris. The 45-minute set that they played this night was filled with fan favorites including a rare performance of  “Damned Earth” from their 2015 split album release with Damaged Goods.

Before they went into their final song of the evening, Garris took a break from performing to speak on how there is no room for negative phobias towards anyone in the scene and then devoted the final song of the evening “All My Friends Are Dead” to all the women in hardcore, and the reaction to this was tremendous, ended the night with a bang.

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Detain

Year Of The Knife

Jesus Piece

Terror 

Knocked Loose