Ceremony

Ceremony play Trees on Saturday, November 7, with support from Slippers and World Peace. It's a hardcore punk bill in the heart of Dallas, and the headliner is one of the more enduring names in the scene.

Ceremony started in Rohnert Park, California, as a grade-school friendship that grew into a full band. The current lineup is a quintet: vocalist Ross Farrar, guitarist-keyboardist Anthony Anzaldo, guitarist Andy Nelson, bassist Justin Davis, and drummer Jake Casarotti. Over two decades, they've pushed the boundaries of hardcore punk, moving from the breakneck ferocity of their debut Violence Violence to the 2010 underground landmark Rohnert Park. They've released albums for Matador Records, and their seventh record, Tell Me Your Dream, saw them reunite with producer John Reis of Rocket from the Crypt and Hot Snakes. Their most recent full-length, In The Spirit World Now, came out in 2019 on Relapse Records, followed by the 2022 single "Vanity Spawned By Fear."

If you're wondering where the sound comes from, the band points to Discharge and Crass as early anarcho-punk inspirations. That lineage runs through their whole catalog, from the early, fast stuff to the more expansive records they've put out later on. They've spent twenty years shifting the sonic, lyrical, and aesthetic possibilities of the genre, so the set should draw from a deep well of material.

Trees is at 2709 Elm Street in Dallas. Doors open at 7 PM, and the music starts at 8 PM, with Slippers and World Peace opening for Ceremony.