Terror split open Chicago’s Metro on their 2026 tour

(Photo: Mark Miller)

A broken rib and rant about a banana costume were just a few fun things brought to Chicago on the June 4th date of the Terror North American 2026 tour.

The first note I wrote during End It’s performance was: “banana costume?”; I feel like I predicted a natural disaster. We couldn’t have known that just a few days later in Toronto, this innocent fruit would be forever tainted in the hardcore community. Despite the strange misplaced rant, End It put on a great show with progressive reminders like “fuck AI centers” and “fuck Israel” sprinkled in. Through their performance I found myself wishing the crowd was more hype for them. I was stoked to see them and acted as such (from the safer sideline) and I wondered what the crowd knew that I didn’t. Maybe a crowd psychic passed the news around Metro before I arrived. Reflecting on their silly banana-man scandal and vocalist Akil Godsey’s reply of “we’re a hardcore band, we do hardcore things”…I’ll take cringe for $500, Alex. I was going to save you readers from a ramble on such an over-saturated subject, but hell I’m the editor, so pull up a chair. The hardcore scene is one of the only ones that actively participates in the type of behavior the genre was created to avoid in the first place. Corporate normies were running the world of rock n’ roll until DIY punk entered the space. Soon enough, whether you think it came from New York or Washington, beatdown hardcore brought in songs about over the top integrity, often shouted by the largest egoists in each city they played. Fast forward a couple decades and we have a band like End It, with their sick 2025 record Wrong Side of Heaven and the gorgeously performed Maximum Penalty cover, being legitimately pissed off about some goober showing up in a banana costume. Getting angry and ushering the angry kids looking to hit something towards some random guy because the way he was dressed made you angry? I haven’t heard anything more corporate than that.

I digress. End It ended the show with Akil solo signing “Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys” and I have to admit, the mans got pipes.

Pain of Truth entered with sirens and just a ton of backing beats, and I couldn’t decide if the amount of it was cheeseball or not. I love a good intro don’t get it twisted, but the last few times I’ve seen Pain of Truth, they seem to take themselves a little too seriously. This time was no different but I really enjoyed their switch up where Michael took a guitar while one of their guitarists took over vocals and jumped into the crowd. It shot energy into the crowd that seemed a little tired.

Once Terror hopped onto the stage, the pit expanded to fill the entire ground floor of the Metro, something I haven’t seen before. Although not surprising, I was in awe of the energy. After a few songs, it became obvious that something was going on with Scott, clutching his back with a bit of a hunch. The sub-ins and features kept coming, Start Today and Pain of Truth members hopped in at one point, and finally Scott admitted to the crowd that he suspected he had a broken rib from a previous show. With my eyes closed I wouldn’t have had a clue because that man just doesn’t stop. Like every hardcore show I see, watching stage divers and surfers is half the fun. Metro had their barriers up so surfers were just being pushed back into the crowd (collective booing), causing a few too many to surf straight into the floor. The crowd injuries along with the FSU “guards” standing on stage (along with everyones third cousin twice removed) reminded me how wonderfully predictable Terror is. Truly, no shade, I know what I’m getting with this legendary, decades old band, and I can’t stay away. We had clappy-clappy time for “Keepers of the Faith” and I watched two giant dudes probably fall in love as they were caught together from one of their key rings catching the others. God forbid we put our keys in our pockets. Afterwards while waiting for an Uber, some guy standing side stage was being screamed at/kicked out by the head of security for allegedly kicking a security guard in the back of the head. I didn’t see it happen but the girls were definitely fighting.

The cubs game ended right as the show let out and as I gazed upon 500+ people in Cubs gear with zero discernible features in sight, I’m happy to be among this crowd. Even if they act like a bunch of nerds sometimes.