photos by Helena Van Leirsberghe & Jeff "STRESS" Davis

Gorilla Biscuits needs little in the way of introduction for fans of hardcore. When they were ready, a pair of horn players came out and played the intro to "New Direction." This was an awesome touch, definitely better than playing a sample. After the intro, as the first few guitar notes to the song rang out, pandemonium exploded on the dance floor. In addition to "New Direction," the Biscuits played a wide selection of their most popular songs including "Standstill," "Good Intentions," "Sitting Round At Home," "High Hopes," and "Cats and Dogs," among others. They also managed to find time for two covers: "Do Something" by CIV and "New York Crew" by Judge. Anthony Civarelli partly dedicated the song to Mike Judge, who was in the audience, but Mike declined to perform the song with the band, much to everyone's disappointment.

Watching Gorilla Biscuits play, you'd swear it was 1991, not 2011. Every song sounded great, and the whole band was full of energy. For their last song, "Start Today," Civ invited the audience on stage to sing along: "There is no barricade here. There are no bouncers here. Trying to control something that should not be controlled is impossible. That is what this is about. You cannot control a tiger in the jungle. You cannot control gorillas in the jungle. We are the animals here. This is our jungle, so for the next two minutes, the stage is yours, the floor is yours, act like the fuckin' animals you are."

The audience took his words to heart, and quickly swarmed the stage, nearly overwhelming the band. They played on, as people crowded around them and flew over their heads. Surrounded on all sides, Civ relinquished the mic to the audience. Walter, who abandoned his guitar, climbed on top of the drum set with his microphone to play the harmonica part, and sing the final chorus with the audience." [Verbicide]

Gorilla Biscuits headlined the Black & Blue Bowl back on May 28th at Webster Hall. We'll have more pictures of the whole show coming soon, but for now check out more pictures, videos and the setlist from the reunited hardcore band's set (confirming much of what is written above), below...

Continue reading "Gorilla Biscuits @ the Black & Blue Bowl (pics, video & setlist)"

by Black Bubblegum

You should see his Vampire Weekend tattoo!

The Black And Blue Bowl (aka Superbowl of Hardcore) is back at Studio B in 2009, with a lineup heavy on reunited and classic hardcore bands and headlined by the recently reunited Earth Crisis who, for my money, peaked with the line "A FIRESTORM TO PURIFYYYYYYYYYYYY!". Beware, similar to the previous statement, the following announcement CONTAINS LOTS OF CAPITAL LETTERING:

Continue reading "2009 Black & Blue Bowl lineup & Earth Crisis tour dates"

by Black Bubblegum

Vinnie Stigma, guitarist, hardcore monument, and philosopher extraordinaire, has gone solo from the legendary hardcore crew Agnostic Front (temporarily), releasing his debut album New York Blood as Stigma for I Scream Records. In celebration, Mr. Stigma will lead audience chants at two NYC shows including an in-store at Generation Records on Feb 26th at 7PM and a second show at The Pyramid on Ave A on March 1st. Full tour dates are below.

The record comes only a month after the release of New York Blood THE MOVIE on DVD:

The latest project from writer, director, cinematographer Nick Oddo is a criminal slice of life starring Vinnie Stigma, guitarist of the legendary hardcore band Agnostic Front. Heavily-tattooed Vinnie (Stigma) is a mid-range mobster who works the streets of Manhattan's Lower East Side with various schemes, including up-and-coming boxers, Chinatown drugs and opening a new nightclub. Vinnie's father Lorenzo (Marvin W. Schwartz), has just been released from Sing Sing after a 12 year stint, and the only thing on Pop's mind is getting revenge... The laid back, rambling script mostly follows Vinnie, and sometimes Lorenzo, throughout their daily routine, capturing the rhythms (and occasional roadbumps) in Vinnie's life, as he juggles a young son and an ex-wife with his coke snorting criminal ambitions. But while Vinnie keeps a relatively level head when it comes to crime, Lorenzo is a major psychopath who's liable to ruin everything his son has built...
- [Shock Cinema]

Stigma playing a tattooed tough guy from the LES. Hmmm. How do you suppose he prepared for that role? Trailer is below.

In other AF related news, the band is currently on tour, but announced that they are on the hunt for a new drummer... contact at their MySpace if interested. Roger Miret's (AF)'s brother band, Madball, also recently added some tour dates with Reign Supreme, though none in NYC. Full AF & Madball dates are below.

In other NYHC news, Subzero have announced they are calling it quits after a twenty-year run:

We will be playing a few more shows through out different regions of NY and out of state before we end it. Our first is @ Popeyes Pub in Westchester, NY with Jasta on FEB 27th and then In Brooklyn @ Europa with The Casualties & The Krays for the A CLOCKWORK ORANGE FEST. That's the last time you'll be hearing The Suffering Of Man / Necropolis set. Then we'll be going out with a bang at the SUPERBOWL OF HARDCORE aka BLACK N BLUE BOWL @ STUDIO B in Brooklyn MAY 30th. There we will be reforming as the ORIGINAL band doing a strictly OLD SCHOOL set. All the demo and HAPPINESS WITHOUT PEACE classics. You don't want to miss any of these shows! Thanks for the good times and the memories! COURAGE! STRENGTH! PRIDE! LIONHEARTED!!!!!

That Europa show, scheduled for March 15th is FREE and the show is all ages. Full tour dates are below. As more details on the Superbowl of Hardcore trickle out, we'll let you know.

Tickets for the Cro-Mags show at Europa on Mar 29 are still available.

Videos and tour dates below...

Continue reading "Stigma album & shows, New York Blood (the movie), Subzero calls it quits, Agnostic Front & Madball dates "

Bloodclot @ Studio B, April 5, 2008 (Destroy Babylon)

Tickets for the five NYC Rancid shows go on sale Saturday @ 10am....

Rancid
AUGUST 13th with Sick Of It All & Bloodclot
AUGUST 14th with Theo and the Skyscrapers & Westbound Train
AUGUST 15th with Capital Radio And Big D & The Kids Table
AUGUST 16th with Murphy's Law & Shiragirl
AUGUST 17th with Madball & Bomb the Music Industry

Some of the same bands played last week's Superbowl of Hardcore in Brooklyn. Videos from that below....

Continue reading "RANCID - openers & TICKETS +++ Black n Blue Bowl footage"

by Black Bubblegum

The brothers Koller (aka Sick Of It All) won't be there, but the brothers Miret (Roger Miret, Agnostic Front) & Cricien (Freddy Cricien, Madball) will..... and by there I mean the Black & Blue Bowl 2008. This year's festival (FKA the Superbowl Of Hardcore) will take place at Studio B (same as last year) and will feature, in addition to NYHC legends and headliners Agnostic Front & Madball, LA's Terror, a reunited Breakdown, Fahrenheit 451, Backfire, Setback and many others.... Tickets are on sale here.

So just because the Koller brothers won't be there, don't mean they slackin on they pimpin.... au contraire! The boys will be preparing for a two month European tour with Wisdom In Chains, but not before showing the east coast some love... including this Saturday night (Feb 9) at the Highline Ballroom (tickets are still available) with Black & Blue Bowl participants Death Before Dishonor & Bloodclot (featuring John Joseph of the Cro-Mags, who just released his memoirs). SBOH flyer, and all dates, below....

Continue reading "Sick of It All, Agnostic Front, Black n Blue Ball, Tour Dates"