Every once in a while IMP sends out one of its rogue journalists on a machine to go to a festival, get super drunk, see a bunch of old friends – and hopefully see some bands to write about. Matt Bacon got a chance to attend this years House Horror Film Festival and this is what happened to him. HUGE thank you to Dante Torrieri (Useless Rebel) of Blow The Scene for his photography work!
Housecore Horror Film Festival is one of those weird and sacred moments in the metal festival calendar. It’s an event that see a confluence of the horror and metal communities to create a truly special experience. Even as I sit here at my airport gate, literally twenty feet from Agoraphobic Nosebleed, I can’t help but get the impression that the magic of this festival still has yet to dissipate. Housecore is one of those rare momentous occasions that makes this whole heavy metal thing worth doing – year in and year out.
Though last year was marred by tragedy and the future of the festival was placed into question I think most people would say this years edition was executed with aplomb – leaving us with a heavy metal experience to be reckoned with. Moved from Austin to San Antonio the festival layout was distinctly different than last years, and perhaps a bit too spread out. That being said – given how little time they had to bring this whole thing together I was impressed to see them running the massive event on a profit, even with the over-the-top drink prices..
In retrospect, I realize that I sound a little bit bitter in the previous couple of sentences – and let’s be clear, I’m not. Housecore this year was a distinct and exciting experience in and of itself. The fact that it was so different from last year actually added to the fun – not only were regular attendees given the chance to explore a new city, but the new press set up seemed to make a whole lot more sense as compared to the way that it ran last year. Sure they have their kinks to work out – but it seems like, for now at least, that the festival has found a great new home at the twin venues of the Aztec Theater and The Korova along with the films showing at the convention center at the Holiday Inn just across the street.
Simply put, part of why Housecore is great is because things at this festival make sense – a lesson that a lot of other similar fests could learn from. There is a logical press layout, and an easy to comprehend structure for how the entire thing flows for everyone, from the artists to the fans. In fact, multiple artists commented to me that they enjoyed this festival a lot more than its peers precisely because of the friendly atmosphere and laid back attitude. The ability for the artists (Even headliners!) to easily mix with the people led to some fun times and unique memories that I think will leave in indelible mark on attemdees.
And so – after an extended delay (I got to spend a night in Houston everyone! Guess what – don’t eat at the Hot Biscuit.) my 23 hour voyage came to an end. Despite the nightmare my traveling buddy and I had getting there, their was still a sense of excitement in the air. After all – on our flight to Houston a Texas business mogul decided to get us drunk and shoot the shit with us – clearly things couldn’t end up going that badly!
I think by the end of the journey we were merely sustained by the knowledge that we would see friends we bump into but once every few years, and be amazed by bands we had never before seen. After all – isn’t that what makes these things so special in the first place? We landed in San Antonio six hours before my Exodus interview and the race was on. The hectic madness and the chaotic struggle that would come to define the weekend, and help to make it so fantastic, started to come to fruition. Their was a very palatable sense of magic in the air – as if the sacred memory of Corey Mitchell was sitting there watching over us all.
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