Feb 7, 20203 min read

CEREMONY's Home Sick Festival welcomed an array of musical excellence: Photos + Review

Pomona welcomed all with open arms.

Photos by Heaviest of Art at The Glass House in Pomona on January 17th, 2020.

Friday evenings in Southern California are never easy to drive through, let alone from county to county during rush hour. Some of us get through it with our favorite records on blast, others nag and complain. We do both. However, when Anthony Anzaldo (CEREMONY) brings Home Sick Festival to town, you pay no mind to the clustered Downtown LA streets from whence we came, though said streets did cause us to miss a few performances.

Now entering it's third consecutive year, Home Sick Festival expanded to back-to-back nights in the cities of Pomona and Berkeley instead of continuing as a one-day event in Petaluma. Each night had slight lineup variations, thought the main four (CEREMONY, DRAB MAJESTY, JOYCE MANOR, FULL OF HELL) remained consistent, offering an interesting musical palette for fans of all kinds to gather. Surely so, the crowd was an interesting mix of hardcore heads, goths, punks, and everything in between.

The sold-out event completely owned The Glasshouse in Pomona from the outdoor queue to the upstairs balcony, packing the place to the brim. As mentioned prior, work and traffic hindered our evenings, forcing us to miss VOWWS, GLITTERER, ENTRY, and NICE. This said, our opening act was none other FULL OF HELL, who gave us warm welcome with uncompromising deathgrind.

Those who have experienced any of the band's compositions will attest to the sheer rage at hand, of which the live experience was no different. Frontman Dylan Walker exploded with blood-curling screams as the veins popped from his neck, shrouded in red hues and loud crowd response. Mosh pits ensued while FULL OF HELL left the stage hot for the complete musical contrast to follow.

The ethereal DRAB MAJESTY followed the extremity of FULL OF HELL, tapping into our souls with smooth acoustics and vivid blue and purple visuals. Tracks from last year's Modern Mirror made their way into the set, received by head bobbing and great vibes throughout. The classy duo had many fans in the audience, each of which sported the group's shirts and other merchandise available at the event. No moshpits here, until CEREMONY came up that is.

Melodies, synth, screams, and more collided as the iconic punk ensemble burst onto the scene. The crowd roared as Anthony, Ross, and co. opened with the mighty opening track, Turn Away the Bad Thing. Crowds began to move and so did the energy, which went from at peace to complete and utter chaos. Ross came towards the barricade on multiple occasions to scream alongside those at the rail, becoming one with the audience. Anthony switched from axe to keytar, demonstrating the array of musical elements present throughout CEREMONY's discography. As the band closed their set, exhaustion, sweat, and pure joy filled the venue. CEREMONY had delivered.

Enter JOYCE MANOR, who closed the festivities with teenage cheer. Nostalgia hit hard for many, especially the rail crowd, who knew each and every lyric. Refer to the picture gallery below for confirmation, but anytime a human soul takes the energy to recognize lyrics to this extent, it's clear that music transcends the physical form. The rock band performed with great enthusiasm, feeding off the energy that crowds were feeding. With that, Home Sick came to an end, or did it? The memories made, the sweat and tears shed; all of it will forever live on in the minds of those present.

Needless to say, Pomona will have no issue welcoming CEREMONY and co. once again for another edition of Home Sick. As a matter of fact, I'm sure they're already waiting. Enjoy the slideshow of the performances below.

FULL OF HELL (Bandcamp):