Hardly Any Bruising: Webster Hall's Black And Blue Bowl

The Black and Blue Bowl at Webster Hall annually features a variety of hardcore bands. Considering my hardcore roots, I thought I would know more people at the show, but the bill was mostly mid-period bands.  I did see some great metal shirts throughout, which made me immediatley comfy- Behemoth, Sodom, Gorguts..and at some point I did hear some Celtic Frost over the PA. The sold out crowd surfed, dove, piled-on and stared in awe at the slew of bands presented in this 9 hour day. There were no barriers in front of the stage, what a welcome touch. When the dancing actions of the hardcore genre were misconstrued as 100% aggression years ago, the barriers were born in almost all mid- to large-size clubs. It was nice to see more interaction with the bands. One of the bands on the bill early was Holland's Born From Pain, their new release: The New Future is available as a free download on their Facebook page; recommended. The Dave Smalley led DYS were a band I was really looking forward to seeing; full of fury, the Dag Nasty, Down By Law, and former ALL singer was all heart as usual, punchy as hell; most of my photos of him were blurry -running around on the stage like it means everything to his survival, he always brings all he's got to a live performance. Here is a shot of Dave with guest vocalist Drew Stone of NYC's Antidote. Drew will be a guest on the Peer Pressure segment of my program June 21st; he's the director of ALL AGES, The Boston Hardcore Film. The NY debut of this film will be June 29th-July 1st at Brooklyn's Nitehawk Cinema.  From the west coast, the crowd was treated to a swift kick in the butt by Rotting Out from LA, who mixed their hardcore with thrash, in a super-infectious manner. The Mob, who debuted their soon to be released 45, Back To Queens to the sold out crowd, probably goes back furthest in NYHC history than anyone else featured at the BnB Bowl. With a few demos recorded previously, their first release: Upset the System came out in 1982, and they helped push initial recordings from Urban Waste and Agnostic Front in the early 80s as well. Vocalist Ralphie G was a featured guest on the Peer Pressure of DKFM in December; listen here. They were laser tight, heavy, and frenzied revealing their seasoned confidence. Paul Bearer's guillotine edged wit was center stage when Sheer Terror took over, taking out the audience with his barbs and his vocal braun.

Rancid finished out the night with their punk singalong style. An upbeat end to a day that at some point or another became an endurance test, whether it was trying to push through the crowd to get to the bathroom, or waiting for your favorite band who was last; the final performance of the night culminated with Ruby Soho and a lot of cheers and people bouncing up and down with glee. There were some moments during their set when the extra people onstage outnumbered Rancid members exponentially, but it didn't seem to bother the band at all. Unity anyone?

Photos in order: Rancid, Sheer Terror, The Mob, Born From Pain, Rotting Out, the lineup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Jorin Reddish]

what about the tribute to Raybeez? was it that mediocre that it didn't merit a mention?

[Jorin Reddish]

But thank you for skipping Hazen Street

[jennifer]

Great summary of the show!

[Michael Yahwak]

Did most precious blood play at the show?

[Nautica]

There have been many great party, everything looks great

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[Mariel Laplante]

I would know more people at the show, but the bill was mostly mid-period bands.