Show Recap: The Woodstock’s Beatdown
Oh yeah, you read the title correctly. We have a show to go over, and quite honestly I think this is one for the history books. After almost six months, I finally got to shoot for Sparce again, and the Santa Barbara emocore band put on one of, if not the best show I’ve ever seen in Isla Vista. They played at Woodstock’s Pizza, which is a spot I’ve seen shows at quite a few times, but nothing ever like this. The shows there are played on the patio, which there are normally tables on, but it was fully cleared this time and the potential for a crazy pit was high. The night started off strong with an opening set from Uncle and they played great. Zoey (guitar, backing vocals) debuted a new guitar, and the band played a very strong 40 minutes. After their set was over, it was time for the headliner. Sparce played their new EP in full and it was very good. I’m definitely going to be tuning in when it drops on Saturday morning and I recommend you guys do the same if you want to get an idea of how this show went. After a more mellow start to their set, they got into the heavy stuff and the mosh got crazy very fast. Matt (drums) was playing super hard and broke his snare drum head after two songs. We got lucky and Gavin of Uncle fame was there to save the day. There was a girl standing right in front of the band holding a full pint, and I’m not sure if she knew what she was getting into. She was in a very bad spot for someone who isn’t moshing to be in and got caught in the crossfire of the pit by someone crowd killing. Her drink spilled everywhere, and she made her way to the back. Keep your head up at shows, guys. Then, the second equipment incident happened. There was one point where the PA got bumped hard and the stand gave out, so it fell over into Matt’s kit. It didn’t break anything luckily, but I want to give a huge shoutout to Joey for stepping in and holding up a huge speaker for probably eight songs. We also saw several people crowd surf. There was no stage to jump off of, so people were climbing onto the patio railing and jumping into the crowd. I don’t know if that’s ever been done at Woodstock’s before, but it has now. One of my favorite moments of the show was when Duke and Gavin of Uncle and Acekid came on to sing a song. Super rad. Pretty legendary show, and it’s going to go down as a classic for sure. If you want to see the photos (you absolutely should, they’re sick), there will be a link to the show’s gallery page. I’m also going to leave some favorites right here on the post. That’s all I got for this Show Recap, see you next time!
- Anthony
