Sorrowfest 3 Next Weekend: Voluminous Music for a Vital Cause

Visceral exertions of ones emotions, especially at high volumes with voice-discarding melodic declarations over amplified guitars, can render profound clarity of existence. What I mean is, the music that was marketed as “Emo” at the end of the 90’s, is a muddled, and even diluted strain of what actually began in the mid 80’s as a taut, tension-releasing offshoot of hardcore punk’s fast-paced, unrestrained expressionism.

The certain clarity, or catharsis, that this inherently eruptive, yet intimate, music can manifest for its fans, is something that can serve as a means of coping and even incrementally healing, from tragic loss. September begins with National Suicide Prevention Week, the advocacy of which is reinforced this weekend with Sorrowfest 3, at the venue known as West Cross Station.

Sorrowfest was started in 2015 by local musician Dustin Lince as a means of dealing with the loss of his best friend to suicide. Sorrowfest is not only a celebration of the vibrant crop of rock, hardcore punk, and emo bands around the SE Michigan music scene, but also to raise awareness about prevention and raise money for local charities concerned with issues involving suicide and mental health.

“I had been doing charity shows for a couple years,” Lince said, “and I just wanted to find a way to help people who suffer from depression, and to stop anyone else from losing a friend, or a family member.”

Lince acknowledged that the genre of emo music has been pigeonholed by popular perception as thriving on depression. What you can see with this lineup, is how much nuance and further substance each band brings to their music, their lyrics, and performance.

Night 1
Friday September 8th
Young Pioneer
Complainer.
Parkway & Columbia
Seaholm
Nothing Gold
Red Robe
Shindig Machine
Battersby Takes Bronze
Junior High Cheer Squad
The Bruised Reed
My Living Ghost

Night 2
Saturday September 9th
Silver Age
Greet Death
Forest Green
Copneconic
You Rest, You Joy Life
Alchemists
Welman
Guts
Dogleg
Normal Park
Vena Morris
Good Pictures Of Bad People

All proceeds benefit Suck It Suicide/Six Feet Over (an organization aiding families touched by suicide.  “And we also ask members of the bands and the people who come to the show to give us names of loved ones they’ve lost and take donations in their names,” Lince said.

Sorrowfest 3’s Pre-Party is Thurs., Sept 7, in Ferndale, at the New Way Bar. (info)

Then, on Fri., Sept 8 and Sat., Sept 9, doors open both nights over at W. Cross Sation, here in Ypsilanti, at 5 pm, with music starting at 6pm sharp. Admission is 10$ for 21+ and 12$ for 18-20.

 

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Jeff covers music for Current, posting weekly show previews and highlighting new bands in the area.

Jeff Milo
Jeff Milo
Jeff covers music for Current, posting weekly show previews and highlighting new bands in the area.

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