Murphy's Law at The Kingsland
photo by Rafe Baron

Murphy's Law, Urban Waste, Drunken Rampage & Ache @ The Kingsland (pics)

It was a bittersweet night of NYHC as veteran bands Murphy’s Law and Urban Waste shared the stage at The Kingsland on Halloween night. It was Murphy’s Law frontman Jimmy G‘s first night performing again after needing to undergo multiple surgeries, which caused the band to cancel several tour dates, but the show was dedicated to — and tears were shed for — Todd Youth, one of Jimmy’s oldest friends and former Murphy’s Law bandmate who passed away a few days prior. Urban Waste were also suffering a loss as their former singer Kenny Ahrens passed away earlier this month. They dedicated their set to both him and Todd Youth.

Murphy’s Law had a sense of humor about Jimmy’s medical battles, though, as they got in the Halloween spirit by dressing as doctors with Jimmy dressed as a huge penis, in reference to the almost deadly infection he got from a catheter in the hospital. And even with all the sadness in the air, the show was as wild as you could imagine. Nobody stood still whatsoever during Urban Waste, but it was tenfold for Murphy’s. Jimmy’s heartfelt words for Todd made way for the intro to “Push Comes to Shove” into “Quest for Herb.” From there, all the old classics were played like “Attack of the Killer Beers,” “Sit Home and Rot,” “Ska Song,” “Panty Raid,” and “Care Bear.” At one point Jimmy quipped “Toby (from H2O) always sang this and I always made fun of him for it, but my friends really do look out for me like family” as he was thanking everyone for the Kickstarter campaign that raised so much money to cover his medical expenses.

Opening the show was Ache, whose lineup includes Ryan Bland (dressed as dead David Bowie) who used to sing in old New York bands Bushmon and Home 33. After them was Drunken Rampage (who were supposed to open the Murphy’s Law cruise in August that was cancelled), who came onstage saying they hope Jimmy is wealthy now, and fuck $10 for an aspirin. They played a blistering, fun set, ending on a song dedicated to singer Simon’s beer belly that he said his wife hated.

Pictures of all four bands are in the gallery above.

words & photos by Rafe Baron