Sasquatch! may have sold out months ago, but even if you didn't get tickets, you still have a chance to see dozens of bands over Memorial Day weekend—they just might be a little, uh, heavier than Vampire Weekend or Tegan and Sara.
Over 50 hardcore, thrash, and punk bands are playing the Viaduct in Tacoma for the fourth annual Rain Fest (Fri–Sun May 28–30). Here are a few of my personal picks for the weekend:
On Friday, old Seattle hardcore favorites Left with Nothing are reuniting for the first time since breaking up sometime around 2003. The show will no doubt be electric, but it will also be bittersweet—last September, the band's former bassist Brian Redman (who also played in Trial and 3 Inches of Blood over the years) died in a traffic accident. He will surely be in everyone's thoughts this weekend.
On Saturday, bouncy pop-punkers Broadway Calls play early in the day before Seattle's own Vanguard play their final show ever that evening. On Sunday, another pop-punk act worth checking out: Title Fight, from Pennsylvania, who play aggressive but melodic songs in the same vein as Shook Ones and Kid Dynamite, with lots of big, sing-along choruses.
The Carrier, who play Saturday, are a little too generic chugga-chug/cookie-monster hardcore for my taste, but they still might be worth watching, if only for this reason: Last year, at a show in Philly, the lead singer apparently sang so hard that he puked all over the stage in the middle of a song and then KEPT PLAYING. Hardcore indeed!
Rain Fest passes are available at the door in one- and three-day increments, for $20 and $60 respectively. Who needs Sasquatch!? The new Hold Steady record is boring, anyway. 
This article has been updated since its original publication.
Thurs May 27: Paleo, French Quarter, Shenandoah Davis at 20/20 Cycle, 8 pm, $5.
Tues June 1: Isis, Jakob, Tombs at Neumos, 8 pm, $16.
Wed June 2: Buzzcocks at El Corazón, 8 pm, $18.50 adv/$20 DOS.
