Face To Face, Sparta, The Bollweevils, and Sludgeworth

Although some say that California punk music reached its peak in the 80’s, Face to Face’s music showed that the 90’s punk scene had a unique and exhilarating style that should not be forgotten.
Trever Keith has been the driving force behind Face to Face since the band’s beginning and remains as the band’s only original member. Face to Face undoubtedly draws influence from the hardcore punk scene that was so vibrant in the 80’s, but they also have a more accessible sound to their music. They often perform songs in a catchy and lighthearted manner that allows their audience to sing along with them in the choruses. Trever Keith often sings part of his songs in a call and response manner, where he calls out a lyric to his song, and the audience then sings it back to him.
Face to Face is highly energetic throughout their whole performance. They are head banging to their music and shouting out their lyrics at the top of their lungs. Fans are highly excited to see Face to Face perform. They run up onto the stage and then lunge into the audience to go crowd surfing. Songs like “Disconnected” clearly show Face to Face’s talented songwriting abilities. They are able to create a heavy tune that delivers an intense sound, but are still able to keep it catchy with vocal harmonies and simple chord progressions.
Face to Face play a wide variety of their songs when they perform live. They play several songs from their self-titled album such as “Blind” and even perform some cover songs by such bands as the Descendents. Face to Face have been known to participate in festivals such as Warped Tour, and frequently embark on headlining tours throughout the world. Face to Face will be sure to play an in your face type concert that will be both highly fun and exciting.

It’s a tough gig being the sensible ones in a band fronted by complete mentalists. Jim Ward, Tony Hajjar and Paul Hinojos probably had it tougher than anyone else as the rhythm guitarist, drummer and bassist (respectively) in one of the most influential punk bands of the last twenty years, At The Drive-In. It says a lot about the sheer amount of chaos that they created that the only reason why their new band Sparta could ever be considered sedate is in comparison to them. On their own merits, Sparta are a seething, pummelling post-hardcore band whose sound, equally accessible and serrated, lends itself perfectly to the live arena, with Jim Wards given far more room to show off what an expressive and commanding voice he has than he ever did in his old band. The bands live performance is also far more focused than the band that they made their name in, which means that every performance they put in is passionate, intense and deeply exciting. Not to mention how this band remains very much a cult concern, so every show they put on is a chance to see some of the true pioneers of underground rock do what they do best mere metres away from your very eyes. The band are currently busy making their fourth album but once they return they’ll be better than ever and a truly unmissable sight for any fan of emotional, intelligent rock and roll.