We've all been there

Admit it.

You pride yourself on calling them 'shows' instead of 'concerts' like the rest of mainstream America.

You carefully choose your outfit before each show, being careful to not wear a t-shirt of a band that's playing - preferably wearing the most obscure t-shirt in your wardrobe.

And lastly, you listen incessantly to the band you're going to hear to 'study' for the show.

There is very few experiences quite like attending a show and being able to sing every word back at the band. Hardcore shows are quite similar, except it's much more common for the singer to shove the mic in the 'front row choir's' faces during the singalong parts.

My favourite of the three hardcore shows I've been to at The Globe in Milwaukee was the first Link 80 show. This was in 1997... I still had the mullet and was probably the only one in the small crowd that knew the lyrics to their songs. Accordingly, Nick (RIP) not only took a request from me (the band told me before they played it "you're going to sing it") but came to me to shove the mic in my face for all the singalong tunes, including the song 'Nothing Left' whereas the band stops playing leaving just the solo vocal "nothing to say!" which I got to take. I remember one of my friends being totally floored that all that attention was paid to me, but he studied for the second Link 80 show, but so did many others. During that show, there was a group crowded around the mic for those parts, but Nick did toss me the mic for one song and I held it out for our 'choir' to sing before tossing it back onstage for him. If I remember correctly, his leg was in a cast, so his usual jumping around was inhibited, as was his crouching at the front of the stage to share the mic.

Later that year, we saw AFI at the globe... this was pre-goth AFI, back when their singer still had short hair and didn't need to be surrounded by security. They shared the mic for that show also, but not nearly as much, as there was more of a crowd.