In 2019, I was ready to relocate cities. Good shows were few and far between, there was a rift in my friend group, nothing really felt right. I spent all of 2020 both hoping that the scene in East Tennessee would get back to normal as soon as possible, while bracing myself for the worst. Honestly, I didn’t think we would ever recover.
Looking back at my archive of photos from 2019, I went to fewer than 20 shows the entire year, many of which friends invited me out to. I wasn’t keeping up with the scene and I really thought the Big Event™ of 2020 would kill off any semblance of a fun, strong live music scene in my area. Thankfully I was completely wrong.
While I was already going back out to shows, it was in late 2022, when I went to two East Tennessee Hardcore shows and it completely reinvigorated my love the scene here. About 10 months have past since then, and I’ve been to roughly 50 shows, seen hundreds of bands since, and spent many late nights with my closest friends.
The work that Jay and everyone involved with ETHC has put in to this scene has made an immeasurable difference in the community, shaped the scene in ways that will be felt for decades to come, and most of all, provided a safe space for mere fans like myself to enjoy some of the best live music from bands all over the world.
In just the past two weeks, ETHC has thrown three absolutely unbelievable shows that I’d like to take the time to highlight here. Make sure to give some of the bands a listen and watch the video at the top of the page to see East Tennessee’s very own Every Promise Kept performing a legendary cover of Underøath’s 2002 ripper “Angel Below”.
9.25.23 Valleyheart, Every Promise Kept, and Knucklehead at Brickyard
9.20.23 Symphony in Peril, Idle Threat, Stay Lost, Every Promise Kept, at Brickyard
9.15.23 Surfaced, The Extinct, Lust Witch, Melee, at The Dungeon
Well, that’s it for this week! I hope you enjoyed the photos and gave the music a listen. Next week, I’ll have a media post with some digitized tapes for you to check out, but until then, check out my page on Archive.org for a full list of digitized media. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message right here or drop a comment below. Lastly, you can check out all of my previous posts here. Thanks so much for checking out this week’s edition of Diptych!
See you soon!
—Forrest
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