On October 17, 2009, the world lost one of the best hardcore bands of all time. Have Heart played their final show at Club Lido in Boston MA last Saturday to a 2,000 + crowd with bands like Shipwreck AD, Bane, Foundation, and labelmates on Bridge 9 Records Cruel Hand. I was lucky enough to catch this band on their 2nd to last Southern California show ever, and seeing as how that was all kinds of astounding, I can only imagine how amazing their final hometown show was. These guys represented something different in music. They were not just a "chuggachuggabreakdownscreamchuggachugga" band, they were a band that meant every word they said, every song was pointed and had a message, and these meanings and messages were about living a positive life with the people you love around you. Vocalist Patrick Flynn wrote lyrics that addressed themes not usually addressed in hardcore: family, the failures one feels when compared to them, the struggles they face with problems like alcohol, and the fight to break from the family tradition of addiction. Who else in music writes about things like that?
My point here is that a great band lived for 7 years. From 2002 through 2009, Have Heart showed us what hardcore had the potential to be. I am grateful that I got to experience them for myself, and I encourage all of you who don't already know their stuff to go and check it out here. Then go to Bridge 9's site and buy their entire discography. Honor the only band in hardcore that could make me permanently etch their words onto my body.
