Blanks 77 / The Parasitix / Opposition Rising / The Murder / Moose Knuckle / Destroi
Middle East (Up), Cambridge, MA 8/27/16
I’m a second shift guy (not a second story guy) and on Friday I work till midnight. I see that this show on Saturday says “12 pm doors” so I figure on getting there at one to see the first band.
I check facebook, right before I leave at 12:30, and it says the first band went on at 12:15.
Fuck! I’m gonna miss the first band and Fuck! it’s a band I really wanted to see- it’s DestrOi a young Oi band from Salem.
I’ve seen them twice before and they have become one of my favorite bands. This is what I previously wrote about them, “Not overly reverent when they play this style. This is like revved up Oi. These guys just blaze in a flash of hardcore energy that rocks with the realness and emotion of early punk.”
I can say the last time I saw them that their set ranks in the top five I’ve seen this year. And I like them enough to ask them today to play TNB’s Xmas party in December.
I do walk in on Mooseknuckle’s set, a band I’ve seen several times before. And soon after I see the lead singer borrow the crutches from Colman, drummer for Worm in the audience, and use them as stilts to walk across the stage while still singing. A little later he does a perfect somersault off the stage and lands on two feet in the pit.
This band calls themselves Street Punk/Oi, while I think of them as an anarchic, fun, punk band that needs no title but encompasses equally hardcore, punk and Oi. They play a great set and do a song called “Pussy Whipped” which actually, just taking the words, sounds like a good thing to me. Remember guys- women are smarter and if you’re really smart you’ll learn that earlier than later.
The Murder is next a band I’m unfamiliar with, though I do notice Taylor, the drummer from Bad Movies on stage with them. I learn that this is the first time they’ve played in five years and they do sound pretty tight.
Their style is more a rock’n’roll/punk sound, though I do hear touches of ska, metal and hardcore along the way. Not my favorite band of the day but they do play a good set.
Opposition Rising is next to play. As I’ve said before, along with Disaster Strikes, I feel these bands are the best politically orientated hardcore bands in Boston. They have a great front man and a top notch group of musicians backing him up.
The singer talks a bit between songs, a lot of self-deprecating remarks. “Either you just started doing this or you’ve been doing it twenty years. Either way you’re fucked,” he predicts.
This band really gets the moshing and crowd interaction going. They end with the song “Fuck The World.” But this is a band that truly cares about fairness and justice, the hardcore community and about always playing an awesome set.
The Parasitix, a band from New Jersey, take the stage next. And though they describe themselves (covering all bases) as punk/ hardcore/ street punk/ Oi- they, along with all the other bands playing today, have their own distinct style.
This band has a very tight rhythm section and an engaging front man and music that, I think, borders more on thrash metal than hardcore along with a good dose of Oi spirit.
The crowd seems a bit tentative at first but, eventually, warms up to their excellent music. Songs that stick out to me are “Not Alone” and “Pogo On A Politician” and during the later I notice Miss Lyn and Blowfish from bostongroupienews.com in the audience. They’re surprised to see some of the crowd pogo-ing to the song but I mention that’s not the first of that, that I’ve seen today. They entice me to enter the pit with them and pogo away! And after the medics are called to revive us, we continue to enjoy the show.
They end their set with a cover of “So What.” Unfortunately, it’s not a hardcore version of the jazz standard by Miles Davis but, is in fact, a rousing cover of the Anti-Nowhere League’s song with which they end their fine set.
Now Blanks 77 are also from New Jersey but are a bit more well known and have been around since 1990. I can see that no one in the band is in trouble of not getting served at the bar and, observing them, I make a mental note: Dark sunglasses helps one to appear younger.
I, also note, that I’ve never heard a singer sound so much like Johnny Rotten or the other early English punk singers. And on their facebook I note that they describe themselves simply as punk and that’s what they are and that’s all that you need.
This is totally unpolitical, totally wild and totally fun- punk. And I’m glad to see a band that just embodies the fun, crazy part of punk.
And, I also note, that they have an excellent, female guitar player (and I hope that someday pointing out gender won’t seem necessary.)
They do a song about pogo-ing also, with the members of DestrOi and Mooseknuckle pogo-ing (including one carried upside on someone’s back with his pants pulled down). They end with a great cover of The Dead Boys “Sonic Reducer” to end their terrific forty-five minute set- only stopping when the club says- no time for an encore.
I don’t know if it’s the best set I’ve seen all year but it might’ve been the most fun.
Thanks to promoter Viviam Lorena for putting together this show, she is the best. Thanks to all the bands and fans that made this a great punk/Oi show. I was gonna pogo on out of here but I’m afraid it will be mistaken for the bunny hop.
(Slimedog)
