Complete coverage of the Fest 6 is going to start coming your way tonight! For now check out this live video of Dillinger Four performing - “Putting the F Back in Art” at The Venue.

Tags: Dillinger Four, video by bill
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Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to annouce a new column I will be updating every Thursday here at LNWF; The 7-inch corner (Ta-dah!). Every week, I will be talking about one or two (or seven) 7-inchs, some new or old that I’ve picked up on my travels of late. So follow after the jump for the first edition of the 7-inch corner, with Government Warning’s Arrested and Dillinger Four’s More Songs About Girlfriends And Bubblegum.

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Tags: 7-Inch Corner, 7-Inchs, Album Review, Dillinger Four, Government Warning by Matthew
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Photo:Brian Kelleher

Here it is finally. Paddy Costello, bass player for the best punk band on the planet, Dillinger Four, shedding some light on the band’s new record C I V I L W A R, which is easily the most anticipated punk record of 2007.

Let me just introduce this interview with a few notes. I had previously talked to Paddy about two weeks prior to this conversation but my recorder fucked up and I ended up losing most of the interview (except my questions, naturally). A big thank you goes out to Jason and Vanessa from Fat Wreck for helping out again and to Paddy for willing to talk to my ass for another hour.

After a few minutes of rambling about how Motorola Razrs phones do not work properly, how sick he was last time we talked, putting together a hotdog eating competition at the Triple Rock and the dynamics of the Wing Bowl in Philadelphia, we began. Enjoy.

Paddy Costello-Did you see the competition where they had the hotdog eating contest between a man and a bear?
No
Yeah, I saw it on TV. I was bartending one day and they showed it on ESPN or something. It was this big ol’ brown bear and man sitting there. Obviously the bear won like a motherfucker.

I wonder who came up with that idea; “We should have a competition between a man and a bear eating hotdogs.”
I just couldn’t believe there was a man who took him up on it. Like who the fuck is going to be the dude who is like “oh dude, absolutely. I can eat more hotdogs then a bear.” What the fuck?

So, the new album. Do you guys have a specific release date in mind for it or are you just aiming for the Spring?
We’re aiming for the Spring but we’re not being that vague just because of concerns of when the record’s ready. It’s more to do with when we want to tour. Right now it’s more that Lane’s having a baby and Billy might be selling his house. Just all sorts of crazy shit like that. We’re waiting to see when would be the best time that we could leave for two and half months. It’s a domino effect.
Actually to tell you the truth, that’s all bullshit anyway. We like having secrets. We like kind of being almost a secret society. In this day and age, music’s lost its magic. Thanks to things like the Internet and the over-abundance of music magazines and fanzines, the world’s gotten so small that we like to have a little mystery. We think that’s what underground music is missing is mystery.

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Tags: Dillinger Four, Interview by Matthew
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I think I have finally physically recovered from the madness that was the Fest V. The annual event has become, as Mitch Clem stated perfectly, like “Christmas” to the many hordes of people who worship these bands. The thing that makes the festival unique is that they get a handful of bands that do not play every three months in your town. This year’s lineup was seriously jampacked with some of my favorite bands. Let us begin.

Friday
Unfortunately, due to Lauren and I being stuck at work, we could not get down to Florida in time to catch the opening night of shows. Missing Minus The Bear, Latterman, and The Lawrence Arms was a bummer but we all kept telling ourself that we were going there and that was all that mattered. Arrived in Jacksonville (after a 30 minute to hour delay at JFK) around 11ish to a warm, sticky downpour. Atom Goren was arriving from Philadelphia at the time we were trying to get our car and that obviously was amazing. We were on our way though…with an SUV in tow. So punk rock. Gas guzzlers unite! Arrived in Gainesville after a decent while (rain and getting lost about forty times is not fun). Met up with Lauren and the rest of the Measure [Sa]. One word of caution, be picky with your Waffle House selections in the South. The one we went to was utterly disgusting. We were all in pain to say the least. We couldn’t find a place to crash (go figure!) so our humble SUV was turned into a make-shift room. I felt like I had been up for 48 hours so I could have probably slept on a bed of nails at that point.

Saturday
Honestly, this was the day to be in Gainesville if you had to pick. We started off the day by wandering over to the No Idea house where they were having a yard sale of sorts. Pretty much all of their catalog, with the addition of some rare collectibles, was available for purchase. This notion was scary and I probably could have spent about five paychecks that day alone. But I held strong and realized it was only Saturday and I was on a budget. Next up, it was over to Common Grounds for some bbq. Hung out for a bit, enjoyed my first vegan bbq experience and proceeded to go pick up my pass for the marathon. Walking around town, it becomes obvious just how this town bred such an amazing DIY movement. Granted, it’s a odd little town (for christ sake, it was called Hog Town for pretty much it’s entire existence!) but I could see how the community aspect jelled in Gainesville.
Roamed around town for a bit, stopped at 1982 for a bit and caught a bit of No More. Left before the hoards of kids came in for No Trigger and made our way over to Downtown Plaza to catch Saw Wheel, Matty Pop Chart, and Rhymodee. Saw Wheel and Matty Pop Chart weren’t really my thing but Rhymodee (the dude from This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb) was good times. The sun and lack of sleep was affecting my mood, so i went over to the Atlantic to catch Tiny Hawks and Coliseum. Tiny Hawks played a very inspired set of raw, Army Of Ponch-esque spazz punk. It’s always inspiring to see genuinely compassionate musicians doing something they really care about with all their heart. Coliseum, simply put, is just good ol’ aggressive, loud and pissed to the core punk rock with a Motorhead penchant. Nothing fancy. They kinda scare me too. Like I’d be afraid if I said something wrong to those dudes they would put a bass amp through my skull. I was pretty amazed at the line getting into the club as I was leaving. It was a pretty interesting lineup though including Das Oath, Planes Mistaken For Stars, Ampere and Hot Cross. Food and beer sounded much more like an option at that point though. I mean, how can you argue with 50 cent beers? Honestly.
This is what sucks about the Fest (if anything really does). On the same night, you have a lineup headlined by This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb, Grabass Charlestons, and Toys That Kill and another with Radon, The Bomb, and D4. Tough decisions were to made, no doubt. But I did my best trying to see as many bands as possible from both lineups.
Perhaps one of the highlights of the entire Fest was the set from The Ergs! The crowd literally erupted in jubilation when the band strummed their first chord of fun, energetic pop-punk. Where the fuck have I been with this band? Why did it take me so long to get into them? This band should have been dominating my speakers for years now. Better late then never I guess. Next up was Richmond VA’s champions of balls-to-the wall “real” pop punk Pink Razors. In a day when the lines between pop and punk have become so misinterpreted, it’s cool that a band like this exists. It’s snotty, it’s aggressive but it’s got those accessible sensibilities. Now, one of the most anticipated shows for yours truly the whole weekend was seeing Armalite (in the flesh!) play. It’s no secret that this band has played only a handful of times in their existence. Everyone was freaking me out saying that I might not get in to see D4 if I stayed for the band, but I honestly needed to see them. My weekend might have been ruined if I didn’t. I’m glad my conscience was right for once. Dan Yemin, Atom, Mike McKee and Jeff Ziga were on point! It bums me out that they can’t be a full-time band but with Atom settling down and Yemin pursuing every other band sans Kid Dynamite currently, it’s understandable. It makes the shows they do play that much more important. Obviously, they played much all of their self-titled debut in its entirety and I was ready to move over to Abbey Road for easily one of the best combinations of bands imaginable. Got in with relative ease (could have probably stayed a little longer at Common Grounds but no complaints) to watch The Fleshies open up. Old-school and Iggy-inspired, they were entertaining. I hadn’t known a ton about them beforehand but they made me a fan. Next up was Radon. The Fest and Gainesville is pretty much the only place to catch this band these days. Was this there last show? Who knows, the band breaks up and reforms all the time but it was an inspiring, fun-filled night and the band was having a blast up there. I didn’t know till day of that The Bomb was playing this show (I think I overlooked it because of Radon and D4). The Bomb is Jeff Pezzati from the legendary Naked Raygun. Any chance to hear some classics in a live setting is always welcomed and people went bonkers. Hearing “soldiers Requiem” set me off and I was prepared for what was next.
Dillinger Four. D4. Obviously, this was the selling point in making the trip down to Florida. All these bands, together, for a weekend but throw in the best punk band on the planet and it’s a done deal. The truth is, I don’t really remember their set very well. My head was in the clouds (I’m sure that sounds cheesy but I don’t give a fuck) as soon as they walked on stage. Simply put, their set was perfect. Chaos, nudity and almost every one in attendance shouting along to every single word. This is what you live for as a music fan. We were all there and we all WORSHIP this band. It’s good to see that D4 has been raised to that level while they are still existing as a band. They don’t tour nearly as much as they should and the new album, who knows when it will actually come out, but at that moment, nobody cared. I left the venue completely drenched in sweat, feeling like I had just ran a marathon. Nothing could top Saturday.

Sunday
Another night, another night in the car, another cleansing session in McDonald’s, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I decided to bail out on the vegan breakfast for a walk and a place to watch the Eagles game since there were no bands on that I wanted to see and I pretty much had explored Gainesville non-stop since arriving. I managed to sneak into the Atlantic a bit early to watch the game with all the Philly boys who were there. It worked out perfectly because I was set to spend my first half of the afternoon there anyways. I forget the first band that played but Static Radio followed them. The Jersey boys played a very solid set from what I witnessed (the game was in its final few minutes) and seemed to attract quite a solid fanbase along with them. The game ended and next up was Affirmative Action Jackson. Josh and Andy from Paint It Black and True If Destroyed/Armalite’s Jeff Ziga play it simple; short, fast and loud. They do it in a fury but they do it incredibly well. This type of music can get repetative but they manage to make it interesting and more technical then most who attempt to play this fast. I skipped out on Clock/Dagger and Paint It Black to go see Lauren and Mike and The Measure [Sa]. I was so happy for the band to be down in Florida and playing to a sizable group of people. As I said before, I really love their band and I know they are truly heading places with it.
The weekend was starting to wear on us all but there was plenty of music to be heard still before we headed back to cold land of New York. Oh and one word of advice; Never eat Taco Bell. I usually don’t but this weekend will serve as an example of just why. I was sick as a dog but I fought through. Managed to stumble into Abbey Road for None More Black. There have been a lot of rumors that the band is breaking up. Despite all of that, the band played the best set I’ve seen from them. They continue to get more and more tight as a live band and I remain hopeful that the rumors are not true. Riverboat Gamblers, Fifth Hour Hero and Lifetime is an incredible lineup but there is no way I could deny seeing Chuck Ragan at Common Grounds. It’s no secret to anyone that knows me that I worship Hot Water Music. While their breakup was sad, it’s good to see that they are still friends and still forging on as road warriors. Chuck has always been one of most the genuine, compassionate individuals I have ever watched. He seems better suited and free with his solo project. He closed with my favorite Rumbleseat song “Cursing Concrete” which was obviously, a crowd favorite. Stayed for a little bit of Drag The River before returning back over to 1982 for O Pioneers! Fans of older Against Me!, Young Pioneers, Latterman and even HWM will not be disappointed. Nothing too groundbreaking but still passionate and moving. After this, show-hopped around town and caught the tail end of a few more sets (why can’t I remember who?)

My sickness prevented me from enjoying a house party from This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb but soon enough we head back to Jacksonville in the early morning hours. Exhausted, hung over, some-what lost, irritable, sweaty, and dirty, it was a whirlwind weekend but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ll look forward to making the trek down to Gainesville every year now.

Tags: Dillinger Four, The Fest, show review by Matthew
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