everything you do is a balloon

random thoughts on Maryland Deathfest

Thursday

• It was pretty remarkable that I probably had the best hygiene out of anyone there

• Abigail was the shit! Such a fun set. Stoked I finally got to see them live.

• The rain fucking blew and the crowd packed into the tent for Bolt Thrower was totally awful, but they destroyed.

Friday

• It was really fucking cold. I also took some ketamine.

• Watched a couple crust punks who probably jumped the gate and didn’t have wristbands get manhandled by security and ejected. Funny as fuck. This festival definitely reinforced my hate for crusties actually.
• I met none other than Tony Foresta from Municipal Waste just walking around the festival. Shook his hand and told him I’m a Waste fanatic.
• Benediction was fucking awesome. Repulsion was better the last time I saw them to be honest.
• Carcass was ridiculously good. I had the worst bangover the morning after this set.
• I left before the end of Pelican’s closing set because I was tired, hungry, and freezing, but the new songs sounded great.

Saturday

• Security was on some bullshit at the entrance today. I understand the complaints. This was actually the only time I ever got patted down during the entire weekend. I heard there was some sort of issue with a lot of people and their studs and bullet belts. I don’t wear that shit so I don’t give a fuck.

• Finally got my hands on a bunch of weed. 2 days at a 4 day festival without smoking isn’t cool.

• I accidentally k-holed for the first time during The Obsessed’s set. I smoked a joint then bumped a little too much but was able to keep it together while Weedeater tripped me the fuck out but by the time The Obsessed came on I lost connection with my body and external stimuli. I was really enjoying it even though I couldn’t understand anything that was happening. I was probably stumbling around and couldn’t stand up straight for a minute because I could hear people telling me I looked fucked up and needed to sit down. I didn’t though, and after a couple minutes I realized I wasn’t on another planet, I was just on ketamine, and decided I should chill the fuck out and stop making a fool of myself.
• The Melvins were the heaviest band of the festival. They crushed all of the cookie monster bands that performed.
• I never was a Pantera fan but Down were alright. I know they caught a lot of shit cuz some people just don’t like Phil Anselmo and a lot of people are elitist and just wanted to stand around looking serious for Weekend Nachos and Infest

Sunday

• Holy shit there were a lot of people there. It was pretty out of hand. Longest lines I’d seen the entire festival.
• A security guard tried to sell me percocets. Totally fucked up and unprofessional but still funny as shit to me.
• Dropped acid during Midnight’s set so I would start peaking during Sleep
• Sleep…holy shit, fucking Sleep. Their performance totally mindfucked me. When they played Dragonaut I looked up in the sky and the airplanes flying into BWI were leaving such profound trails of smoke behind them I couldn’t tell if they were rocket ships or not. You couldn’t convince me that Al wasn’t a Tolkien-esque wizard up on stage channeling black magic with his bass and Matt wasn’t a warrior trying to break through the concrete and rip up the ground from beneath my feet with each chord and his solos felt like they were ripping holes through my brain. It was fucking relentlessly heavy and almost became too much to handle at times. I turned around and looked behind me and the sea of long haired sweating creatures all moving in unison it was really making me bug out. Everyone said they played for a long time but I was in a total trance and they could have played for hours and I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference. Coolest shit ever.
• I had one of those really intense reflective moments that you get on high dose LSD trips and I really needed some time to chill out and get my shit together after Sleep. I went over to check out Pentagram somewhere in the middle of their set. I didn’t stay for the whole set because I wanted to get a good spot for Venom. I heard they got cut off?
• Venom getting cut off and the ensuing heavy metal chaos that went on as a result of it was funny as shit while I was stoned and tripping balls

the punk rock scene is full of apparently rule-less people who have more rules than anyone else. i randomly came across a tweet from someone i don’t even follow that said “if you’re an adult and you smoke weed, you need to get real”. actually i’d be more concerned by a grown ass man who identifies themselves as a “straightedge vegan punk” in their bio without a hint of irony.

I’ve always enjoyed documentaries more than movies I think. I can sit and watch documentaries about the most random shit and find something I like about all of them.