RIP my Blitz Shirt: Nostalgia and a show I attended in 1997

Yes, you can see me in the lower left of this video getting aggro with Hatebreed in my old white Blitz shirt. I REALLY loved that shirt, but after this show, it had so many boot and sneaker prints on it that wouldn't wash off. I tried to dye it gray, but then it just looked like a GRAY shirt with shoe prints all over it.

The author, part of the mayhem

This set was just a part of what destroyed my beloved Blitz shirt. The true set of the night was the Slugfest reunion. Slugfest were near and dear to my heart my senior year of high school (1991-92) and I saw them many times from 91-93. Hell, there's even a picture of me getting kicked in the face in their 1992 demo.

Lower Right- OUCH!

I literally joined Halfmast because they sounded like a Slugfest ripoff. Even though the undisputed "kings" of Buffalo Hardcore was Zero Tolerance, those guys were older and kind of unapproachable in a way. You could talk to the Slugfest guys, they were my age, they had a long haired metal guy in the band! Funny enough the first time I met the guitar player Jay in 1991, he was "shot gunning" stolen beers in a bathroom stall at the Tonawanda American Legion before the band he was playing bass for, Against All Hope, with Scott also on drums went on. I bought the Slugfest "Music to Dance to 92" demo at a show at Randall Studios and got home, brimming with excitement; only to find that it was blank! I called Tim Redmond, the drummer and arranged to exchange the cassette at a show at a short lived club in Clarence called the Toybox. Even though the recording quality of the demo left a lot to be desired, the songs were great. I also remember really loving the song Chuckidoo's Flight when I first heard it at a show they played with my old band Childish Intent. I went off for that song at every show after.

Slugfest didn't make the flyer for some reason.

By 1993, the line of Slugfest had changed a bit, Jay and the long haired guys were out, replaced by Tim and Flipowitz from Agaisnt All Hope. But man, they were STILL good. The last weekend of August 1993, they played a matinee show with Integrity in Rochester and there were limited cover versions of their 7" for sale. I picked one up and poured over the lyrics to learn them all for the show the next night that they were playing in Buffalo with Shelter and 108.

Sadly the show on Monday 8/30/93 was their last. I'm not sure why the band fell apart, though I heard at the time it was due to Tim joining Snapcase, who knows? All I know is by the point, I loved Slugfest and couldn't stand Snapcase, so I was pretty bummed. 

But, there was unfinished business. In 1996, Slugfest recorded 4 songs written before their break up and paired them with the 7" for a CD on initial records, who was now home to Scott's then current band, Despair. It stoked the flames, that's for sure and in April 1997, Slugfest did their reunion, we all went and enjoyed, and my poor blitz shirt suffered.

Rest in Peace you incredible shirt and Rest in Peace Slugfest.