GIG REPORT: UNABLE TO FULLY EMBRACE THIS HAPPINESS & PAGENINETYNINE @ARENA WIEN, VIENNA, AUSTRIA

YUP! You've seen it and you all know what i am coming up with. That's right! I went to see one of the classic cult screamo acts ever from Sterling, VA - pageninetynine and let me tell you: it was such a fucking blast!

The event itself was managed by Hardcore For The Losers and Generation Noir, taking place in Arena, Vienna, Austria. The band opening for them is a local emoviolence act Echelons aka. Unable to fully embrace this happiness.

It was a typically windy Monday in Vienna, slightly rainy too. As soon as I arrived by bus, I realized the venue was just an 8-minute walk away. Since doors didn't open until 8 PM, I took my sweet time wandering around the area. Truthfully, I hadn’t been to Vienna since I was about 10 or 11 years old. My only vivid memory from back then was visiting the Belvedere Castle.

Getting close to 8PM, i headed back to Arena and caught up with Dimitar of DIY Conspiracy, who was also excited to see. The doors open and the people gathered around at the merch table. They're mostly kids ranging from teens to young adults, who were eagerly discussing about both classic and contemporary screamo and sasscore.

I met up with the vocalist who was selling Echelons merch and we talked about 'Enjoy Life To This' - a 5-way split with Commuovere, Fei Lung and Te Lloraria Un Puto Rio. We agreed that it was somehow solid and it could've been so much more. He also mentioned never receiving the tapes from the labels — especially from me — which I was honestly surprised. I bought the tape and the classic pg.99 shirt (that was infamously used as a part of the 'skramz revivalist' character which haven't took off until years later). That was supposed to be it… until pg.99 absolutely floored me and I had to grab the Document #5 repress as well.

ECHELONS (FORMERLY UNABLE TO FULLY EMBRACE THIS HAPPINESS) hit the stage with some of the ferocious React With Protest influenced screamo for half an hour. Their debut 2017 album The Morning Sun & The End of the World gained a lot of traction for their lo-fi microwave production and raw, frantic energy. With that being said, their sound on stage is a bit too polished and would be better off with tight, on-the-floor squat setting. Still, their intensity and crowd interaction held strong.

PAGENINETYNINE (OFTEN STYLIZED AS PG.99) consists of nine people and they hit it off with the iconic, crushing track from Document #4, as well as all classic songs from 5, 7 and 8, having the crowdgoers let loose however they wanted. And it's not just that, it's Chris Taylor doing handstands, climbing on ceilings or crawling on the floor or Blake Midgette going off stage to get himself a can of beer is what makes it so memorable. Especially the encore where David of Echelons joins the hypnotic drumming sessions during 'By the Fireplace in White' where Chris literally gets off the stage, crawls on all fours, all around the room and into the backstage for about 5 minutes or so before the last blow.

At the end of the show, we all came out sweaty and immensely satisfied. If Garfield were there, this would’ve changed his entire opinion on Mondays :)