For the first time since its inception, this year’s Restock stretched to two days turning the weekend of January 27 and 28 into a musically competitive throw down for food, clothes and other necessities to help Dayton’s homeless and families in need. Prior events have been one day affairs, showcasing metal bands and jam bands per respective year. The community love and support got spread out all weekend as hippies gathered for the musical feast, packing the venue Friday night with ears ringing with the metalheads Saturday.
The weekend was dubbed hippies vs metalheads with genre and city pride on the line, though it was the donation truck that benefited the most. The winning night would take home a personalized trophy handcrafted by Bretamus Acidbery. If the hippies won, the trophy would get a time warp trip to Peaches in Yellow Springs and if metal won, it would stay, standing proud at Oddbody’s.
Restock Weekend Trophy
Friday’s Hippiefest jam featured The Almighty Get Down, Kommunity Service, Zane and The Sway, The Mainline Funk, Jojo Stella, In Ten Cities and Sharon A. Lane.
Darkness fell across the land Saturday as the blackened brood showed up with The Ram Ones, Fighting The World Band, Half Lit, Black Tractor, Letters To The Blind, Engraved Darkness, Omeni and ZUEL.
After it was all tallied, the Hippie’s brought the crowd and their share of goodies but the metal heads reigned showing hardcore dedication bringing the bulk of the donations.
A total of 825 lbs. of food was collected over both nights, 454 of which went to the Dayton Food Bank with 250 ready to eat meals to Helping The Homeless Dayton. HTHD also received winter shoes, bathroom necessities, six bags of coats, two bags of scarves, hats, gloves and 16 bags of winter clothing including military issued winter wear. The Steele family, victims of a recent house fire, received 75 lbs. of food along with an electric guitar and a large bag of toys. The Sneider House of Hope received 46 lbs. of food along with 14 bags of size specific clothes and shoes.
The Mary Queen of Peace Senior Shelter received 50 packages of underclothes. The Daybreak teen/young adult shelter received 18 bags of business attire, teen clothing and starter cookware. The YWCA was given infant to child and women’s clothes.
Hippie Fest donated 15% of the clothing and $434 and $904 from Metal Fest.
One very devoted fan of The Almighty Get Down drove over 3 1/2 hours to attend Hippie Fest Friday, with donations and was offered lodging at the Forces of Nature lair.
Donations came from Missouri, Indiana and Ohio. The Local Xenia Fraternal Order of the Eagles and VFW Hall sent out collection boxes and the Missouri Air Force Service donated military issued garments, coats, thermals, and civilian clothing along with food and cash. The Missouri First Steps Preschool donated bags of children’s mittens and gloves as part of their winter giving tree charity.
Tam Cline’s Metal Fest creation.
Nightly raffles were held auctioning everything from guitar, to band merch, gifts cards and baskets and artwork. Local artists Tam Cline and Acidberry painted both nights with flow artists Elizabeth Owen, Shaun Ross, Audra Hayden, Ty Drumm, Sara Owen, Steve Baker, and Stephanie Peters performing over the weekend. Restock visionary Jacob Collins was also in attendance with Michelle Palmer Rush and flow artist/Restock Committee President Elizabeth Owen.
Saturday night, The Ram Ones started Metal Fest, dressed to impress Ramones fans. It was their debut as a tribute band, like no other. Pinhead started the noise. Born and bred Sheena is a Punk Rocker as the sirens brought out the Psycho Therapy. The KKK took my Baby Away, with an aye, oh let’s go for the Blitzkrieg Bop. Now I wanna Sniff some Glue parlayed into Street Fighting Man. Mama’s Boy got Beat on the Brat. They finished with I wanna be Sedated.
Fighting the World brought out the old school hardcore thrash and grind sound with a nasty blister knuckled kiss. Like their Saturday Night Live frightening forefathers, they showed what Fear sounded like. The country’s a political hotbed and everything’s turning into a corrosive, unfriending Sick Society.
It was late January outside but nothing’s colder than the Witches Kiss. If you were a ‘80s kid, everyone warned you with parental guidance about that damn head banging Devil Music.
The genre bending, defying sounds of Half-Lit filled the room next. They’re not sure what genre they are and with how they play, they may not need one, combining blues and grunge with seductive strings and waves of thrash with a whisper of death metal.
Among other tunes played, Crash started with hard blues and groove, Talking in Circles was dark and ominous like circling vultures ready to swoop. They played a song so new it was christened The Bluesy Jam, stirring the pot with a bit of Planet Caravan ‘peppered’ with COC and some classic smokey blues including 53 seconds of pure f’ing death metal.
From Cincinnati, complete with laser lights, cowbell and a literal smoking pulpit spewing mist Black Tractor brought their Pink Floyd meets Rev Horton Heat roadshow to the Restock stage. Only the bible-belt could spew up these southern rich, country boys, dressed in their rock star Sunday best, sunglasses and hats. It was a holy mountain union, kinda like BLS and Skynyrd, sorta.
The congregation welcomed The Thief and the Trumpet as the honorable vocalist Reverend Johnny Potatoes tore the stage a new heavy countrified corn hole welcoming The Littlest Entrepeneur.
They whipped out the devils whisky, filling glasses on My Best Drinking Friend, doing shots till you dropped and tasted the floor. The Second Coming came at the end in all its loud, biblical glory.
On the other side of the rock/metal spectrum and western side of the state brought the technical mastery and speed of Letters to the Blind. Ringleader Chaz Bond lead the way through Generation Sin, Suffocate and their tribute to the troops on Creed on Honor. Namesake Letters to the Blind followed, ending with the dual personality disorderly types of Beauty and Chaos and defiantly standing up to the robotic status quo on Bow to the Machine.
From the light to the dark, the foreboding misanthropy of Engraved Darkness came forth. Lead by the wisdom of the goat. Intro’d and outro’d by bassist Colin Glovers standup bass.
The ancient crypt opened for business on Darkened Grave. The morbidity flowed like ritualistic crimson. Hell’s metronome hammered down the time on Fate Divine. Deep Inside, where the inner darkness resides. The Ritualistic Sins were counted and recorded in the book of the damned as the Purity of Evil crept forward slowly with a menacing claw.
The sounds of Omeni pistol whipped the crowd with the gutter scraped growls of Tim Hasty and after midnight riffs of Chris Elliott. Keeping the congregated faithful awake and moving they delivered the tender kiss of Cannibal Corpse with a hard fist to the ear, so you remembered they were there.
The unforgiving throws of Addiction started things off. The building got loaded on some loud, vicious Krank. Some premeditated corruption was jammed out. Everybody seems to be drinking the political Koolaid at the moment, one way or another like there’s Whiskey in the Tea. The powdered and peppered face punch, Forcebled ended things.
For those that still roamed, prowled or staggered around the grounds, Zuel came out to crank out the closing numbers. Guerillas on a Bus started the rumbling with some Gorguts-like jamming and melodic midsection. With some groovy morbid grooves Shit Hammer pounded in the early A.M. effects of too much partying into a wonderful hangover cocktail. Ruined Buried and Dead brought out the moody sentiment of broken bodies thrown, discarded and left to the earth while The Eyes They See had an almost Zeppelin sound twisted into their version of a classic.
In addition to playing several bands donated merch with local businesses donating gift cards, products and musical instruments. Sarah Morris, Lora Polanski, Heather Gregory, Elizabeth Owen, Aunt Betty Cook, Fairborn Canoe Club, Forces of Nature, Road Runner Records, Letters to the Blind, Artistic Delirium Tattoos, Engraved Darkness, Chris Goode , Johnnie Wallace, Jacob Collins, Backwoods Guitar of Missouri, Marc Godsey, Johnny Klink, Art’s Rental, Randy Walton, Just Ink Tees, Sam Holliday, Music Feeds Ohio, Helping the Homeless, Lyle Runner, Amy and James Cavender,
Images by Mike Ritchie
