By Mark Zurlo
Illustrations By Louis Roe

In a way, hardcore bands are kind of like race horses. There are a whole lot of them and they work really hard at what they do, but for the most part, most people have no idea they exist. Then every once in a while, one of them will do something crazy and get people talking.

If we want to keep this metaphor going, Toronto hardcore stalwarts Fucked Up are kind of like current horse racing hero and Triple Crown hopeful California Chrome. The band has defied the odds to become the type of hardcore act that people who don’t listen to hardcore take note of.

They get mentioned by Pitchfork and Rolling Stone, and in a bunch of other places that hardcore bands have no business getting ink in.  On tour, their shows attract a lot of people who know of Bane more as a psychopath with a creepy mask than the guys from Worcester who released Give Blood.

That’s  what happened at the Sinclair on Wednesday when, thanks to Converse Rubber Tracks, a few hundred people showed up (for free) to find out what the hype was about.   And they definitely got what they paid for. Actually that sounds pretty bad – they got a lot more than that – especially the guy who ended up with a free pair of shoes.

First up was Bent Shapes – a Boston based band that I should probably know more about. Frontman Ben Potrykus used some type of old-school telephone receiver as a mic that created a  sweet delay/distortion effect that worked nicely with the band’s indie pop sound. Definitely an act to watch.

The Menzingers

Then came the Mezingers. I must say I’m a bit partial here, as the Menzingers are, in my option, one of the best bands in any genre right now. Their new album Rented World slays, and so did their performance here. Watching lead singers Greg Barnett and Tom May trade vocals is like watching siblings finish each others sentences. The next time they hit Boston, it’s unlikely they’ll be playing second fiddle like they were here.

So the Menzingers were good, but Fucked Up…. they were on a completely different level. Lead singer Damian Abraham is a madman. Throughout the first few songs, he was basically coming unhinged right in front of us. I couldn’t  tell  if he wanted to sing, scream, cry, or kick babies. And then he left the stage, climbed up to the balcony, threw on a ski mask, and gave big sweaty hugs to anyone who wanted one – all while continuing to sing.

Fucked Up’s Abraham get friendly with the crowd

He then proved his hardcore street cred by name dropping just about every notable hardcore band to come out of the Boston scene, as well as Armageddon Records in Cambridge.  And  since they didn’t fit right, he then took off his free pair of Converses  and gave them to someone in the crowd.

You didn’t need to be a fan of hardcore to enjoy this set. You didn’t even need to be a fan of paying for tickets to get in the door. And just like  you don’t need to be a fan of horse racing to appreciate the triple crown, you don’t need to be a fan of Fucked Up to understand just how impressive this performance was.