Few hardcore bands have relentlessly toured in the past few years like Haywire. Just take a look at the band’s tour schedule at any given time and there’s an exhausting number of dates around the world. “I just try to do everything to the extreme,” frontman Austin Sparkman remarked in an interview with Rolling Stone earlier this month.

Haywire pushed to those extremes this past week when the Boston-based band played at Rockstar Energy‘s intimate, free event in Dallas on Friday, and then at the Sick New World music festival in Fort Worth the next day. Despite the drastic change in crowd size and environment, Haywire never strayed away from making a statement and staying true to the ethos of community and perseverance.

Friday night’s event was held at 4DWN– a South Dallas skate park and community center that became the embodiment of what Haywire is all about. Besides providing a safe, empowering place for skaters of all ages, 4DWN also does important work in the community by providing free food to families in need.

Starting out the night of sets was Houston’s Ancient X Ones and Fort Worth’s own DEFCON 1 were on hand as support and helped warm up the gradually increasing crowd for Haywire.

During the Haywire’s set, Sparkman announced that the band was giving the money earned from the show to 4DWN, and it became clear that community and giving back to the organizations that help foster them is paramount.

Exclaiming that Rockstar Energy is part of “subculture, not pop culture,” Sparkman discussed the company’s support of the hardcore community, and noted how important making it a free event was to be accessible to as many as possible. Oh, and the free energy drinks and Haywire shirts were a nice perk too.

Rockstar Energy’s skate team was on hand for skate demos throughout the evening, even using the vert ramp while the bands played in front of them. The decades-long, interconnecting history of skateboarding and punk is still going strong, as skateboarders as young as 14 marveled at the moshing and general chaos from on top of the ramp.

It’s easy to see the connection. There’s a rebellious spirit and defiance of social norms between the two that is still being threaded throughout the communities today. The other factor is the constant energy. Whether it’s fast riffs or kickflips off the ramp, there’s a commonality of that adrenaline rush no matter how many times it’s experienced.

There was an additional reason why the crowd was so amped for Haywire: there was also a music video shoot. Announced ahead of time on Instagram with lyrics as homework, “Flex Your Head” was given the proper hardcore treatment, with fans flooding the stage and a few sketchy jumps off of stacked speakers and a nearby roof.

It’s this visceral, living-in-the-moment element that makes hardcore shows really come alive. It would be easy to think that the same band playing Sick New World with an attendance of more than 80,000 would lose that spark, but watching the audience of thousands at Texas Motor Speedway still shouting the words and spin kicking into oblivion showed that no matter what size the venue is, it’s the feeling and connection that matters most.

Over at the Rockstar Energy tent, attendees sipped on free energy drinks with a new, bolder logo, and sang their hearts out at the karaoke station (including an excellent rendition of Evanescence’s “Bring Me to Life”).

Skaters such as Keegan Palmer, Chris Joslin, and Lilly Erickson entertained the crowd on the vert ramp throughout the day, giving fans some relaxing moments between crowds and lots of walking. It was a very casual atmosphere- skaters chatting at the top of the ramp, high-fiving onlookers, and free shirts being chucked into the crowd.

Sparkman visited the Rockstar compound and chatted about how incredible the last two days were. They were exhausting like any festival, but after witnessing the kindred spirits of hardcore and skating come together, it felt like a moment to remember just how special the communities are when they’re together, even if it’s loud and a little crazy. Or maybe that’s the reason it’s special in the first place.

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