Hardcore punk and extreme music taught me when I was young that when you see someone fall down, you help pick them back up.
The underground community responded quickly to the tragedy of the Boston Marathon bombings with This is Boston: A Benefit for the Victims of the Boston Marathon Attacks,
brought to you by Lykaion Cult Productions and Ammonia Booking. The event hosted some of the biggest underground hardcore and extreme local bands, including Slapshot, Converge, Dropdead, a special reunion show with Wrecking Crew, Doomriders, New Lows, Alpha & Omega, the Revilers, Insult, and Sexcrement! Over 6 hours of music. Tickets sold out in no time for this unbelievable lineup, which was put together at the last minute.
To be at this event was special.
To prepare for a show like this I make sure to bring the bare essentials. There’s a good chance I’ll lose everything in my pockets. I’ve even brought an empty glasses case to put my prescription glasses into so they don’t get broken. At some point some crowd surfer will land on my neck and or a limb connects with my face.
There is no guessing here. This will happen.
Raffle
The South Shore Music Hall is the perfect venue for the event. Far off the trail, tucked away in Quincy where this music scene has thrived for decades. I’ve descended into the dark underground basement venue. The walls behind the merch table are covered with brown envelopes that are individually labeled with winnable prizes for the raffle, one of the ways the event is raising money for The One Fund. Prizes vary from gift certificates to tattoo parlors, dinners, prize packages from artists, and
even a guided tour of Boston from Aerosmith’s Tom Hamilton.
Alpha & Omega are filling in for For the Worse, who had to drop out due to unforeseen circumstances. There’s a good amount of people here already. The TVs with the Bruins game on in the back are distracting many people from the show.
By the time I arrive the Bruins are racking up goal after goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
After New Lows’s set I attempt to go to the bathroom, but the hall in between there and the stage is so packed it’s very difficult to get through.
As I try to get by I find myself halted by walls of stubborn Bostonians with attitudes.
New Lows. Photo by Reid Haithcock
I forgot earplugs and my ears are already ringing before Wrecking Crew. They keep raffling off prizes as the night progresses and I can’t hear the numbers being called very well. I did hear the announcer say that ticket numbers would be posted on the event page later.
The crowd is ecstatic for hardcore punk veterans Wrecking Crew to reunite for this one off show. This is a band that may never hit the stage together again. The ceilings are so low at one point he raises his fist and with the help of the microphone puts a hole in the ceiling. Dust flutters down and can be seen through beaming stage lights. The mosh pit looks more like a massive hardcore kid bar fight.
Kids are falling from the pipes hanging from the ceiling and by the end of the set the singer drops the microphone into the crowd, for the crowd.
Providence grindcore legends Dropdead take the stage next. “It’s an honor to be here,” Dropdead frontman Bob Otis says, “We feel your pain Boston.” And in no time flat the place once again erupts into a massive pit of pushing and shoving. In between blasts Otis talks to the crowd, sending Dropdead’s political message of changing the world for the better against hierarchy powers.
“Don’t give into what they want you to think. Numbers equal power, and this is proof of that,” Otis says as he swings the microphone and points to his head.
Drop Dead. Taken from Myspace
Dropdead finish up their set and are followed by Boston hardcore legends, going strong since 1985, Slapshot! The crowd in the front knows every word of the set. Bodies are climbing on top of bodies trying to get on the mic to scream along with Jack “Choke” Kelly on Slapshot classics like “Chip on My Shoulder,” “Hang Up Your Boots,” and “Old Tyme Hardcore.”
Choke seems to be conducting a symphony, grandly waving his arms.
The last band of the evening is Converge. Last time Converge played in Boston it was to a packed room downtown at the Royale. Today they’re playing a much smaller venue. This may be one of the last times anyone will ever see Converge in a venue this size away from the mainstream. It’s almost unbelievable that after all the music I’ve seen tonight there is still one more band to follow so many other great ones.
Converge in Switzerland. Photo by Matteo Bosonetto Layne Gustav
Converge frontman Jacob Bannon is pacing the stage, jumping up and down, and stretching out his neck and jaw as he prepares for the set. “Alright you ready?” he asks.
“Thank you so much for coming out and making this show a beautiful experience.” And then almost with a sigh he follows, “Let’s just get this fucking over with.”
Kurt Ballou begins playing the opening riff for “the Saddest Day” and Converge rip right into their set.
Within seconds, I receive a hard elbow to the nose and a thumb to the eye. I can feel the blow from my forehead, to behind my face, all the way down to my top row of my teeth. I immediately bury my face in my hands and assess the situation. I’m bleeding a little and for a moment I consider going further back to somewhere safe. “No way,” I tell myself, “ I’ve been hit harder and suffered worse injuries than this. Injuries I probably should have gone to hospitals for, this is nothing.”
I would later discover I chipped one of my bottom front teeth a little.
There’s a lot of love here in this dark concert hall amongst the punks, the grime, and the tattoos. It’s a shame that it had to take the horrible events of this year’s Boston Marathon to bring this amazing event together.
According to Lykaion Cult Productions the event raised nearly $14,000 for the One Fund and the show brought out 750 people Monday night. This is what hardcore is all about. In this scene we help pick up our community.