Stuyvesant Invades Ludlow Street's Cake Shop

Sunday night I awoke from  my anti social coma and headed down to Ludlow St. to enjoy a set from one of my favorite live acts, Stuyvesant. Though I'd been making excuses all week when it came to going out. I felt that I somehow owed it to myself to brake out of whatever slump I was in. Wedged between two other acts, (Guy with a keyboard and a computer) and Miss Lonely Heart, ( reunited act that, just two nights prior, played it's first show in more than ten years.) Stuyvesant were just what I needed musically. There uplifting, energetic power pop is always there when I need a lift or a reason to brighten my already cheery demeanor. The band just recently wrapped up recording a new album. One I hope sees a release date sometime this summer. Look for it on Dromedary Records and look below for some pictures of the band. James Damion

 Ralph Malanga

 Sean Adams 

Brian Musikoff

 Pete Martinez

Hispanics Causing Panic In the Early NYHC Scene.

Earlier this month Freddy Alva put me on to his latest post to the Quixotic Dreams blog. 

In this recent post Freddy (Born in Peru) highlights the many contributions hispanics made to the early NYHC scene. Individuals from varied nations and family backgrounds who played a major part in building New York's rarely documented underground. Roger Miret of 

Agnostic Front (born Rogelio De Jesus in Havana, Cuba…passport shown above), 

The Cro-Mags, The Stimulators, Antidote, Heart Attack, Major Conflict, The Mob, 

Token Entry, Leeway, The Casualties and many more. Freddy has a unique gift for story telling and recalling interesting and personal pieces of his and our history. Go check out his blog and see for yourself. James Damion

http://quixoticdreamsnyc.blogspot.com/

A Night of Vodka and Pure Hell on the Lower East Side

I'm really lucky to have a wife who not only supports and even encourages me to indulge in my passion for going out to see and enjoy live music. On this occasion we shortened up our trip to Long Island City in order for me to make it to the lower east side's Fat Baby to catch 70's Afro Punk icons Pure Hell. As I arrived at 112 Rivington I was greeted by my buddy and fellow photographer Jason House.

Dead Serious opened and played with just as much, if not more intensity and energy as they displayed at the Meatlocker the week before. Playing closer to their Brooklyn home base and to a crowd that might have been more familiar with the band gave the band an invisible home town advantage and overall shine. The band packs a lot of intense and unbridled energy into their set. The bands reach extended much further from the small stage with singer Ryan Bland and guitarist Rikk Koncicki taking their act to the dance floor with purpose, making sure everyone knew that this was a punk show and that no matter what the local real estate investment group was calling it this week, it is still the lower east side to many of us.

Dead Serious NYC

Brooklyn's World War IX followed with their fun core style of high energy punk. As the bands set progressed from song to song I found myself becoming more and more gravitated to their infectious sound. While the early moments had me thinking of them as somewhat as gimmicky mid level fun punks, I became more and more drawn to their style as they reminded me of some of the early punk bands like The Vandals and The Adolescents that initially helped launch my addiction to punk rock. Before I left the show I was given the bands CD 'Off the Wagon' along with a thirty six page illustrated comic book 'World War IX Presents; Earaches and Eyesores.' Not a bad haul if you ask me.

World War IX

Cranking up both the skill and energy level while keeping the Brooklyn vibe alive and loud were the Dead Tricks. Now I won't say for sure if the name alludes to played out magic tricks or dead hookers...I expect the latter, I'll leave the final conclusion up to the reader. The bands set which often took the band from the stage to the dance floor was a pure adrenaline rush that had me on my toes for the entire length of there performance. The Dead Tricks display a dirty form of roll on the floor New York Dolls meets The Dead Boys at a hammer fight with Jersey City's Wyldlife style of punk rock that every punk rock fan needs to witness. Featuring all the balls out swagger and debauchery or Punk Rock N' Roll these guys (and one stunningly beautiful female on bass) really hit me in all the right places. This is the band you always wanted to party with.

The Dead Tricks

 Having missed Death's (another recently unearthed Afro Punk band from the 70's) I was dead set on catching Pure Hell's set. Though I had Death's 'For The Whole World to See..." to pour salt in the wounds caused by missing their much talked about set. All I knew of Pure Hell came from my friend Jason. Perhaps due to that and the hype and the legendary status a lot of reformed bands get, my expectations were pretty high, but as the band played through their stop and start set with a singer who at times brought to mind a current version of the Bad Brains H. R. I found myself feeling a bit underwhelmed. And though there were some serious moments where I felt the power of this deservingly praised act, it resembled more of a flicker than a flame.

Pure Hell

A stellar night of music and new friends. Fat Baby is by far one of the best places to catch music in NYC. I look forward to any and all opportunities to catch more shows there in the future. 

Thanks to Jason for alerting me to the show. See you in the pit. James Damion

Archie Alone, Polyphony and International Override play L.E.S. Stronghold ABC No Rio

While many of my friends and contemporaries were getting their groove on at either the Black N Blue Bowl or the countless other shows that were scheduled around the tri-state area. I decided to take the more relaxed approach and head to one of my old stomping grounds to catch a handful of Jersey locals play their first sets at the Lower East Side's Punk Rock holdout ABC No Rio.

I got to ABC around 3:00 (The time the show was listed to start.) and there was not a guitar, amp or snare to be seen. So with the help of ABC kingpin Escheider, I finally got the keys to ABC No Rio's zine library. Over the years I had heard of this massive archive of fanzines but having gone to shows there for over twenty years and having been friends with just about anyone and everyone involved in putting on shows there. I'd pretty much regarded it as myth. Likening it to that of Bigfoot or The Life cereal kid dying from an overdose of
Pop Rocks. As I stood amongst the endless bookshelves of zines I thought thought
"I can kill an hour or a decade up here." It was insane.

After a couple of years of not seeing or hearing much from New Jersey's Polyphony I've been experiencing a renaissance of sorts with the band in 2013 with their recent series of shows at Montclair's hole in the ass The Meatlocker. The band plays a mix of screamo and hardcore that I really enjoy. Their live sets alway seem to always ignite the crowd and get everybody moving. Marshall and Cameron (Polyphony's singer and guitarist) provide energy and a sense of anything can happen unpredictabilty while drummer Wiggins and bassist Ariel seem to anchor the bands sound. It's really great to see the progress these kids have made over the past couple of years. After the show the band jumped in their go karts and headed south to Philly for their second show of the day. Impressive

Polyphony

Clifton New Jersey's International Override played an excellent set of punk that fused elements of soul, funk, punk and even 90's revivalist ska. They totally had the uplift mojo party plan in check. International Override

If you've been reading my recent show reviews you are well aware of how much I've grown to enjoy Archie Alone. The self desribed Pop Punk band from Jersey deliver their sound with a lot more kick and power than that sub genre might limit them too. The more I get to hear them the more I'm reminded of former Jersey noise makers Kid Dynamite. Their set had a ton of energy. Keeping everyone in the room on their toes.  Archie Alone

I was in a pretty bad mood due to a lack of sleep and an overabundance of clashes with local junkies in recent days. However, despite the weather, the turnout and the fact that I decided to forgo a huge Hardcore show in what was this years Black N Blue Bowl. I really enjoyed seeing some new favorites play a venue that for me, holds a lot of good memories. Thanks to Polyphony, Archie Alone and ABC No Rio for reminding me that life is always about the little pleasures. James Damion