GRIND FEST
April 16, 2011 / Marikina Heights Covered Court
Words by: Ish Capparas
There are sure signs that the crowd is enjoying a performance: When they’re on their feet and banging their heads to the beat, when they’re pumping their hands in the air, and when they’re ready to jump up and down as the song picks up at the chorus. That was exactly what I saw when I went to Grindfest at Brgy. Marikina Heights Covered Courts last April 16, 2011.
Amidst a sea of black shirts, I watched as the first band, DIEGRAM, properly introduced the theme of the night: hard, heavy, underground metal. They also began their set with the words, “This is the sound that we believe in.” With a statement like that, you have to deliver. And deliver, they did. True to the theme, every band that night was a composed of an assortment of lethal riffs grinding the stage, double pedals banging at maximum velocity, plus a mix of screaming and growling vocals that thoroughly ring at one’s ears. Indeed, it was a show that’s not for the fainthearted.
With a lineup made up of more than thirty bands, standing out can be an issue. One particular standout for me was the band Saknidas (short of Sakis ni Hudas). Their drummer, John Gonzales, delivered intense, pounding beats that set the crowd on fire. Everyone was making noise, jumping, even running in circles to form a Wall of Death (think Lamb of God). AS if that’s not enough, people were even ready to catch the band from on stage to crowd surf. Everyone was as wild as they can be, even after a few bottles of beer.
