On a night that I got to see Burn for the first time in 20 years - a band that changed the way that I saw what hardcore was in the late 1990's I got to shoot a band that was at the very least partially responsible for keeping me going to hardcore shows.
American Nightmare did not look like a hardcore band. But there is more to hardcore than any single aesthetic. The lyrics weren't deja vu with each "mosh" part as singer Wes Eisold instead wove words into feeling describing the despair of being young and and wanting. His screams and delivery fit perfectly over the beats and riffs that were similar but not the same as their Boston brethren. Boston was having a resurgence and American Nightmare was both at the forefront and running a totally parallel line away from it. Less defined by the need for breakdowns the band instead followed a pattern of sing alongs and pile ons that both brought me back and moved me ahead. The first time around for the band coincided with me deciding to pick up the camera and document rather than dance. Here we are almost 20 years later and I'm an old man at the shows with my Nikon in my hand and I'm screaming along to the words while a new generation of kids jumps on my head and slams into me while I try to produce an image that captures what's going on in my heart and head.
