My parent's weren't the most strict, but it seemed like until I was 17, they really weren't too keen on me participating in the music scene I felt a part of. Maybe once every two or three months, I could garner the permission to go see Overkill or Cannibal Corpse or Sacred Reich but for the most part, they shot me down. When they denied me a Testament/ Wratchild America show I REALLY wanted to go to, I decided that it was best to cut them out of the process completely.
In the waning days of 1990, my friends and I took a trip to Home of the Hit and found out a devastating all NYHC bill (with local heavy weights ZT opening) was coming at the start of the new year. Slyther, local scene guy and record store clerk, gave us the details and explained to us that the Biohazard record, a band we had never heard of, was already something people were really talking about. We all knew Agnostic Front were legends, we had their most recent release: "Live at CBGBs" and loved it. Sick of it All's "Blood, Sweat and No Tears" got a lot of rotation in our friend Jeff's (our personal chauffeur) car. ZT were the local heroes. This show was a MUST SEE, even if I had no idea who No Joke was, at the time.
I wasn't going to chance that my parent's wouldn't allow me to go and a plan was enacted. I would spend the night at my friend Greg's house and all was set, although the night before, our plans were almost ruined.
Jeff, Bob and myself were coming home from the mall on January 4th and it was snowing pretty hard. Jeff took a turn too sharp and BLAM we ended up jumping a curb, bending the rim to his front tire and getting stuck in the grass/ ice for hours. I remember walking to a shitty motel on River Road and convincing the owner to pull us out with his pick up. I also remember Bob flipping off the cop who stopped to help us out; of course, he did this every time the cop turned around so it was enough to get a punk rock half- point, but not enough to get us arrested. The next day, Jeff almost didn't find a rim at the junkyard, but at 6, he did and with just enough time to spare, we all piled into the aptly named "Skylark of Death" and headed off to the show, with Bob in the trunk, I should add. We parked and waited in line for a long time on the winding stairs that led up to the Skyroom.
Going to shows almost 20 years ago was much different than it is today. There were hardcore kids, skater kids, nazi skinheads, metal heads, punks, weirdos and all other types with us in that stairwell. I should also mention there were hardly any girls. I should point out that that is the BIGGEST difference between then and now. After the "alternative music" boom in the 90's more and more woman came around to check out shows. Hey, I'm not complaining, I'm just saying that's how it is.
No Joke played first and were terrible. I saw them many more times opening shows over the next 3 years or so and they never impressed me. But they did leave an impression, as all the singer Justin would talk about how nobody was dancing for them and that it must be because of the blizzard-like weather.
Zero Tolerance played second and blew my mind. This was my first time seeing them and although I had a tape of their recent tracks and their "bad Blood" record, those recordings did them no justice. They were a live powerhouse! I'm glad that not only did I get this introduction to them, but that I saw them 5 more times before their demise in '93. This is a band that should be legends and hopefully their "Fuel the Fire" ep that just came out on vinyl through Reaper Records; 19 years after its initial release, will help solidify that.
Sick of it All became my favorite hardcore band of the time that night: the energy and passion they exuded was massive. They not only played pretty much all of Blood, Sweat and No Tears, but a new song and a Minor Threat cover, both of which came out on the "We Stand Alone" ep a week later. Which I, of course, went to Cavages at the mall and bought. ON CASSETTE.
Agnostic Front were kind of a disappointment. They sounded bad and used almost the same banter as the live album I spoke of earlier. I guess they did this because they thought it's what we expected? I don't know. I remember thinking they were ok, but the REAL disappointment was them playing for only 25 minutes (the show started late) and they didn't play "Anthem" my favorite song of theirs. Looking back on my 20 year of show going, Agnostic Front have kind of been a disappointment nearly every time I've seen them (10 times) except once. One time the stars aligned properly for them and I was satisfied. Still, a 10% success rate isn't that good. I'm just glad I got to see them, when I did and where I did.
My parent's never questioned that I wasn't just sleeping over a friend's house and with the successful "wool-pulling" over my parent's eyes, I concocted more tales to be able to go to shows. Like for instance when, 2 months later, on a school night, I went with a girl named Kim to see Fugazi and Quicksand telling my parent's it was a "date."
Thankfully, a mere week after the Fugazi show, I turned 17 and they loosened the reigns a little. Which is good, because I was running out of things to tell them.
