The 5 Best Moments of Las Vegas Hardcore According to The End of Everything

Things Are About To Change… Just wait until tomorrow and you’ll find out for yourself with the release of The End of Everything’s brand new EP via War Against Records. Despite the lack of touring, the release of the EP ends off a productive year for the band, with Things Are About To Change serving as the follow-up to the band’s early 2020 digital-only EP release, This Means War.

Things Are About To Change is a more mature effort, both musically and lyrically, and shows how much the band has grown as a unit in less than a year. There are some overarching themes that extend through the EP’s four new tracks, including elements of lost love, broken friendships, and pain that provokes perseverance. The four songs feature the most personal lyrics that lead singer Joel Staniszewski has ever written. Even though they are close to the heart, Staniszewski’s lyrics are such that most people can relate to them. It’s been a relatively quick rise for the band since they made their presence felt in the Las Vegas scene in 2018. Each member of The End of Everything has been in multiple bands in the past, and now are really gelling together thanks to a shared musical vision.

Commenting on the new album, Staniszewski said, “This release has probably the most personal lyrics I’ve ever written. While these are things that have happened to me, or things I’ve done to other people, the topics are such that most people can relate. (First single) ‘The Company I Keep’ is a plunge into the pain that someone can cause in a relationship or that can be done to you. At the end of the day, the hurt is real, but there is still something that keeps certain people together.”

In celebration of the release of Things Are About To Change tomorrow, The End of Everything have offered a fun Top 5 list of the best five moments of the Las Vegas hardcore scene, according to the band themselves.

5. Our First Show

“Of course if you’re going to ask us about the best moments, we are going to have to include this. After getting our demo recorded and five songs hammered out, we got to talking to The Garth Haus (RIP) and Safe Inside Records about a tour happening with Clear Focus and Dying For It. The additional bands playing that show were Burned Alive, us, World Tension, and Oversight. What a great first show. The only downfall for this show would be the heat. Picture the middle of June in Las Vegas in a tiny room with no air conditioning and a packed house dancing. Very sweaty and a great moment.”

4. Last-Minute Shows

“We are lucky enough to have had a few very memorable last-minute shows happen in Las Vegas recently. The two that come to mind right away would be The Acacia Strain who was on their way home from a cancelled tour thanks to the Coronavirus Pandemic. With local support from Misdirection and Dredge, the show was short and sweet. Las Vegas, like most cities, has been hit hard with COVID-19, and if this was the last show you would see for a year, it was quite a sendoff. Also, last February, we were graced with a last-minute Sunday matinee featuring Dead Center, World Tension, and the almighty Death Threat. Played at a tiny venue called the Truth Spot, it quickly filled up and the room went ballistic while Death Threat fired through their set.”

3. Curl Up and Die Reunion

“Local boys made good, Curl Up and Die (CUAD) was a huge band here and around the world in the early 2000s. My first ever trip to Las Vegas in 2001 allowed me to see them for the first time (along with other local power house Faded Grey as well as Throwdown and 18 Visions at the Huntridge Theater). This was my introduction to Las Vegas hardcore and it was impressive. In the summer of 2019, CUAD planned a reunion show at The Bunkhouse Saloon. It quickly sold out so Outlook Fanzine planned a second surprise set at the Naked City Collective. Some members of The End of Everything were playing in another local band called Suffer The Loss who opened the show and World Tension also played. Much like our first show, it was a tiny room with poor ventilation (same owner as Garth Haus), but that added to the overall absurd evening.”

Artwork for ‘Things Are About To Change’ by The End of Everything

2. Knocked Loose at a VFW Hall

“Shortly before A Different Shade of Blue came out, Knocked Loose was really hitting their stride, and they somehow agreed to do a show at the American Legion Hall in downtown Las Vegas. When Blackpath Booking (one of the main reasons our scene even exists) announced this show, I knew it was going to be one for the record books. This tour, along with The Acacia Strain, Harms Way, Sanction, and Higher Power was a banger from top to bottom. The best way to summarize this show would be to quote Knocked Loose’s Instagram post from the next day, ‘Las Vegas in a VFW. Irresponsible.’”

1. Blackpath’s Annual Giving Everything

“The years 2018 and 2019 ended with great shows for a great cause. 2018’s lineup was Minimal, Dead Center, Close Combat, The End of Everything, World Tension and Acid Rain (reunion). The show was awesome, but the greater cause was even better. I don’t know the exact number, but the mountain of toys, bikes, blankets and winter coats collected was massive. The second year’s annual show had Misdirection, The End of Everything, Suffer The Loss, and a Folsom reunion.

Although most of us didn’t live in Las Vegas when Folsom reigned supreme, we are all well aware of their importance in our scene and the turnout for the show supported that they are still one of the best bands to ever do it in our city. Folsom has since become Spirit World who just dropped a full-length and it is out of this world good. Unfortunately due to the pandemic we are currently in, we cannot do a Giving Everything show this year. It is a shame as we cannot showcase our incredible local scene, but also because we are unable to collect an incredible amount of items for the less fortunate. Let’s hope for a huge comeback of shows, and this show in particular, in 2021 so we can get back together in our tight knit community and have some fun again.”

Honourable mention: Eastside Joe’s

“Somewhere around 2009, some friends of mine played in a band from Buffalo called Rhinoceros. They were on tour and stayed at my house the day before. I made it out to their show at Eastside Joe’s, a small emptied out apartment of sorts down a dirt road behind a 7-11. You couldn’t find it if you didn’t know where to turn down this dirt road. They ran extension cords from another building to get power inside this tiny house/venue/skate park/hangout. I don’t recall who else played with the exception of Donnybrook, but this night was definitely memorable.”