A little back story before I begin this trip down Memory Lane:
I recently wrote in to Axe To Grind podcast asking if anyone had ever heard anything about I Adapt, an Icelandic hardcore band. I saw them at the show in my headline here, now 13 years ago. They played absolutely perfectly.
They actually answered my question on the air! You can listen to the discussion in the episode titled “Gluten Free Means I Can’t Have Gluten” which was released May 26th, 2020. It’s around 1:21:00. The consensus was no, no one was familiar with I Adapt, but everyone seemed interested.
Birkir from I Adapt reached out to me on Instagram to say hello and to say thanks for getting the band’s name to A2G’s large platform. We chatted for quite a while. Unsurprisingly, he is a sweet, sweet guy.
At the end of our chat he had a request that I thought would be perfect for this platform: He asked if I could write a retrospective on the Rochester show. He explained, “I’m old now, and I regret not having documented what we did more thoroughly.” A regret of mine too, Birkir.
The following text is the 3/30/07 AV Space show from my perspective, my own flawed memory. Feel free to comment below if you have more to add or have a correction to make.
This was the beginning of what was and still is known as “The AV Space Benefit Weekend.” This show wasn’t billed as part of the weekend, but if you were interested in hardcore and lived in Rochester NY, then you were there for 3 nights that weekend–not just the two nights shown on this flyer.
The AV Space got shut down not long after this show, which happened to be like three days before the final How We Are show was supposed to occur there (that show ended up being moved to someone’s garage in Wolcott. Right? Wolcott? Whose garage was it again?) anyway, people remember this venue fondly.
Rochester’s beloved Achilles opened. Their 2nd LP Hospice had just come out, and everyone already knew the “Wake up, wake up! We’re losing everything!” part. Rob talked about a recent experience he had where a friend with a gambling addiction had crashed with him and his wife, and his friend ended up stealing from him. It was a reminder to check on your friends, I can’t believe I still remember that specific story.
I Adapt, from Iceland, were on tour with Modern Life Is War–not a bad tour to be on. I Adapt was excellent– groovy, heavy, apocalyptic, sometimes melodic hardcore, creeping into post-hardcore at times. Their singer, very soft-spoken in between songs, mentioned how it’s always wonderful to see people moshing to MLIW on that tour, saying it was understandable because “they’re a very likeable band.” He used that recognition to encourage folks to mosh for his band too. He said “it’s a lot of fun” and I got a kick out of how gentle he was about encouraging moshing. Kids moshed. I watched.
I went up to a band member after they played and told him they were awesome– I think it was their drummer, maybe bassist? He grabbed my hand with both of his hands and said “Thank you so much my friend, really.” It was so genuine and I did not forget it. I bought their split 7 inch with Neon Hookers. Still have it!
I Adapt was correct– the kids will have their mosh for Modern Life Is War. They opened with “The Outsiders (AKA Hell Is For Heroes Part I)”, the intro line being one of the most memorable lines from this era of melodic hardcore: “So what the fuck are you going to do, kid?” Pile-ons ensued, chaos erupts, we were happy for a few moments.
Early in the set, Jeffrey Eaton offered some perspective about the mundane things we all have to sit through. Paraphrasing here: All this time you’re going to school, work, church, shutting your mouth and listening to other people, but that entire time, you’re thinking, and as you sit and plot, you slowly become yourself. It was intended to help a young person deal with the mundane. How’s that for a paraphrase?
He also exclaimed that he gave himself his own haircut in a hotel bathroom.
MLIW played “Night Shift At The Potato Factory”, a quick peek at what Midnight In America, which had yet to drop, would sound like. At one point the bassist’s amp started smoking and the cool-kids-that-watch-from-behind-the-band had to quickly open the window and let the smoke out.
I’m happy to have been able to keep as many vivid memories about this night 13 years ago as I did. Joey Paladino helped me fill in a couple gaps. I reached out on social media asking anyone who was at this show if they could share any specific memories:
Kevin Mahoney:
I was supposed to go away for the weekend the next morning and I showed up with a busted mouth from attempting to be in the middle of things for the Modern Life set. Somehow someone’s shoe ended up in my mouth. I can still taste it when I think about that show.
Cam Dean:
Was definitely at this show. I don’t remember much other than thinking MLIW was “pretty punk for a hardcore band” and I dug it… I remember them doing a cover but couldn’t remember what it was.
Joey Paladino had a few:
– I think this was on a Friday, and that two day festival was Saturday and Sunday, so we all pretty much were at the A|V Space all weekend.
– I think they covered “Nervous Breakdown.”
– I seem to recall a story about the bass player and how his story influenced “Night Shift At The Potato Factory.“
Mark Newell: I always remember how foggy the undies in AV Space were
Mark Newell (realizing he’s been auto-corrected): I meant to say windows but that’s way funnier
Max Quattrociocchi: There were people lined along the windows behind the band and then there was just a wall of people in front of the band falling into them while playing. Absolute insanity.
I received multiple confirmations that Borrowed Time dropped off the show.
Thanks to Axe To Grind Podcast for answering my question on the air. Thanks to Birkir from I Adapt for reaching out. Thanks to @rochesterhardcorehistory for sharing my call for extra voices. Extra special thanks if you helped me put the pieces back together or contributed a quote. Thank YOU for reading.
Links for the curious:
Axe To Grind
Modern Life Is War – Witness
Achilles – Hospice
I Adapt – Chainlike Burden
Videos for the curious:
Brotherless, underscore, yo. 