Live: Stick To Your Guns + Support, Schlachthof Wiesbaden

Alex Loeb
Dec 12, 2023
4 min read

Ten years of Diamond. Stick To Your Guns have risen to the status of a household name in the realm of hardcore music alongside the likes of Terror or Sick of It All. Following the trend of celebrating defining records in a band’s respective discography, the Orange County musicians embarked on a short European stint without any days off. We visited Schlachthof Wiesbaden to get a glimpse of the impact this LP has had on an entire generation and bands to follow.

Stick To Your Guns (Picture by Frederic Metzler)

Starting things off rather solemnly, Koyo from Long Island are the only band of the evening to lean strongly into melodic hardcore and catchy choruses throughout their stage time. Considering the venue is still filling up during their set, the band sticks to music instead of entertaining showmanship and speeches. Akin to Senses Fail, the quintet implements aspects of post-hardcore and even emo: The intro of Life’s A Pill wouldn’t sound out of place in a 90s sitcom and brings out a sort of teenage naivety that is simultaneously endearing and riskless. Although each song is well-crafted, Koyo unfortunately rely on simple structures, and fail to unveil interesting nuances to this widely-popular style of hardcore. Fans of hooks and compact songwriting will however find bits to cherish here - the perfect summer jam band for a festival.

END IT earn the prize for the most left-field approach to live shows this evening. Serving bitesize tracks that rarely reach the two minute mark, it quickly becomes clear the quintet from Baltimore care little about taking themselves seriously. Shouter Akil Godsey sprinkles funny announcements throughout the set, acknowledging how starting the day off with booze was probably not the brightest idea. The band’s zero fuck attitude must be applauded, effortlessly switching back and forth between an obnoxious comedy show and raw hardcore tracks that run on the principle ‘what you see is what you get’. No backing tracks, no commentary on the songs, no sobriety. This feels a bit like a missed opportunity considering song titles such as New Wage Slavery or Hatekeeper. Godsey feels oddly similar to Brendan Yates in his vocal delivery, which can be linked back to Turnstile also stemming from Baltimore and the hardcore scene there. The sheer speed at which he is spitting verses is remarkable, cramming seamless tempo changes into a matter of split seconds. Even though this set is met with mixed reactions and confusion, it can’t be denied this show left a lasting impression on the audience due to its uniqueness. If Turnstile’s Step 2 Rhythm were looking for a brother in spirit, END IT’s discography would surely be considered.

“Welcome to Québéc City, you son of a bitch”

Muscle, guns and glory: Up next, Get The Shot take to the stage. The Québécois formation mixes elements of beatdown into their suckerpunch songwriting, cherry-topped with multiple poetic mosh calls such as “Nowhere to run you spineless scum” or “Welcome to Québéc City, you son of a bitch” in Deathbound. During the performance, frontman Jean-Philippe Lagacé finds a specific interest in climbing the barrier and showing off his biceps to breakdowns that hit harder than a hammer to the head. The macho attitude unironically suits this style perfectly and makes for an entertaining set that is rewarded with laughter and heaps of hardcore dancing. It could be labeled a crime to watch this band in a venue that includes a barricade when all one wants to do is stage dive to tracks like Divination of Doom. When setting aside the dull yet instrumentally punishing nature of their material, Get The Shot definitely put on an energetic show with the most crowd engagement, properly earning their slot as a main support.

Grinning in anticipation, Stick To Your Guns briefly introduce what’s to come and kick things off with the title track of their breakthrough record, Diamond. It feels sad to know that many key tracks of this album only secure a spot for the anniversary shows and will probably be dropped from the setlist again afterwards. On a record this jam-packed with barely any filler tracks, it is hard to pick favorite moments: Beyond The Sun, Against Them All and Bringing You Down emerge as the heavy hitters in the moshpit, while the more tender moments (D(IAM)OND, Ring Loud (Last Hope)) convey the large emotional component to Jesse Barnett's lyricism.

Forever more than just surviving / this is my life and this life is my diamond.

The notorious curse of muddy guitar sounds also haunts Stick to Your Guns this evening, but the madness and fervour of the audience plays into their hands. When you write a record connoted with such strong symbolic meaning and messages of solidarity in face of adversity, introspection and struggle, sound issues become less of a talking point. We Still Believe still stands as one of the most celebrated songs off the record, still finding its way into every show to this day. Another one of the many highlights throughout the tracklist is Empty Heads, which addresses homophobia and conversion therapy in the most blunt way possible. With fists moving at the speed of light, it becomes clear this song especially resonates with the younger LGBTQ+ generation. Closing off the playthrough, Built Upon The Sand beautifully ties the different nuances of the record together with a bang. Without leaving the stage, STYG jump straight into the final four songs. Married to the Noise brings out the last stomping energy in the fans, while Amber closes the event with one of the most anthemic choruses the band has to offer. With the band members and audience drenched in sweat and tears, the emotional rollercoaster comes to an end.

This evening has offered a varied lineup to celebrate what is arguably one of the best hardcore records of the 2010s. Fortunately for Germans in the Wiesbaden area, there is almost not a single year Stick To Your Guns have not visited Schlachthof, calling it one of their favorite places to return back to. And even though it's clear the band will not be able to - nor should - reproduce an album of this style and magnitude again, the sheer timelessness of these songs is something future generations of hardcore bands will surely continue to take note of.

Rating: 3/5 feathers

Stick To Your Guns played:

Ring Loud (Last Hope)