Burning Down the House- my review

I realize the few screenings for this movie soldout quickly so I'll share my feedback for anyone who missed it, as I just saw it last night.  Although I hate long, intellectualized movie reviews, I found I have more to say than I expected.

 First of all, due to the fact that this movie hits New Yorkers on a more emotional level than anywhere else, I'm extremely surprised and disappointed that I saw no attention paid to this film on NY1, the Village Voice or the papers.....especially after the onslaught of coverage or support upon the club's closing.  It’s a special movie that deserves more.

 The filmmaker Mandy Stein is the daughter of Seymour Stein (Sire Records), a native New Yorker with a lifetime’s exposure to the Ramones, etc., and also made “Too Tough To Die (tribute to Johnny)”.  The post-movie panel included Tommy Ramone and Chris Frantz (THeads), but I found more interest in what Jesse Malin and Trigger had to say about other NYC club closings and the sad state of affairs, as well as Mandy’s insights on Hilly (& Muzzy).

 As the title suggests, the movie focuses more on the politics and the emotions of CBGB’s latter situation, as opposed to hours of live concert footage (though it certainly includes some).  And if you happen to have spent years there, it’s disturbing to watch the place being torn apart, and watch Hilly’s health deteriorate.  The ending brought back to me all the frustration and anger we dealth with, towards Muzzy and Mayor Bloomber's inability to negotiate.

 Thanks to Mandy for making this documentary which will stand the test of time as a historical account of a universally important rocknroll era, not just a club.  It’s a witness for  those who never made the trek there, and certainly puts ‘closing’ rumors and questions to rest.

 Unfortunately there’s no distribution deal for this film yet, but as soon as any more viewings or a dvd become available, you’ll be sure to know here!  I’m sure some of you will find yourselves in cameos.

 On a personal note I once again want to thank Kabi, Little Steven, Tommy Ramone and Blondie’s members for their constant support to Hilly and CBGB, when so many others who started there could not be “found”.  As well as the CBGB employees and Mandy. You rock.

 More info @  www.myspace.com/cbgbmovie

Overall Im pretty happy with the way Punk Island Fest on Governor's Island turned out.  All the cops and security left everyone alone (until 5pm) and I saw no trouble, arrests, or the like, all day long.  Y'all did the right thing regarding alcohol and thankfully there were also a couple drink stands and soda machines on that wicked hot day. Of course having a cold 6pack and a joint on the lawn wouldve been prime but it seems we've adjusted to the new NYC.

A personal thanx to the organizers, and all the bands that played to small crowds in the heat for free, and dragged PA.  You made it a good day for everyone there.  I was beat by the end of the day walking from one stage to another to another to catch as many bands as I could, and still missed too many.  But many good bands played and there was definetely a good vibe happening.  It was a good place to run into many friends, and packed or not, brought me back to the Nausea days since I havent seen that many punx in a park in a long time.  The tourists sure had a pleasant surprise, haha.
Since it was actually pulled off I believe this will be a yearly event!  NYC will finally have its own big, free, DIY annual punkfest!  (Granted it can never be as good as the old Beer Olympics.)

 I'm aware that some bands arent happy with yesterday's events.  I will acknowledge it was less than perfect and sympathize for whomever was screwed yesterday, including Reagan Youth who only had a ten-minute set.   As I publicly forewarned, the PA situations Saturday were unorganized and nearly cost Punk Island future festivals, as well as other problems. But as everything got ironed out several stage areas put on good shows and fans were happy to be there.  But I have to mention there were some bands on the main stage that should NOT have been put there and brought everyone down.

 BANDS:  IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THIS

Punk Island is not your typical festival and expectations of having everything done for you was not an option.  As I stated in an earlier bulletin, since the festival is run by a non-profit org. it certainly tests our DIY abilities.  It IS hard to understand that people putting on such a huge show are not financially prepared to at least provide PA & more advertising, at least flyering.  But with no budget they basically just offered us (new york punx) the island and see how much they could accomplish with collaboration of the bands.  The more experienced bands were essential in helping gell their stage setups in sharing PA, equipment or whatever.  Year by year the festival is bound to run smoother as kinks will be predicted and squashed.

 I do think important suggestions need to be made for next year:

1. Everyone agrees planning needs to start 6 months prior to the show!
2. Having it in May or September would be a lot more comfortable so bands arent playing in boiling heat, etc.
3. 12-6pm! Starting at 11am makes no sense, no one wants to play or go that early.  Why it ended at 5 makes no sense to me when the sun doesn't set until after 7 (i.e. no lampposts on the island.)
4. Portopotties and trash cans by each stage area.
5. Massive amounts of flyers posting which bands are on which stage numbers with a more detailed map on the back, that people can keep with them.  Many people simply couldn't find the stage areas or bands they wanted to!
6. Three stage areas is enough for the fans to juggle.

It was a good day.  Thank you MAKE MUSIC NEW YORK for your efforts in supporting and making local music free for all........without commercial involvement.  Thats what punk is about.

 
So believe it or not, the NY Times actually wrote about it...... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/nyregion/22music.html?_r=2&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Feb. 12 2007

My apologies for the problems with my mp3 player. it was working fine until it exceded bandwidth bullshit.

and unfortunately all of the free file-hosting websites dont have decent bandwidth & make you reload the player every 30 days, which is a pain in the ass.

So Im searching for a site worth paying for so i can put up the player & not worry about it.  if you use an mp3 file-hosting site---that gives URL codes---(w/ 50 MB file capacity) and a large bandwidth, give me the link and cost.  thx

so bands and fans, hang in there Im working on it.

Jan. 28 2007

FINALLY, your patience in awaiting new songs has paid off.  The mp3 player is a great opportunity to feature many more local bands (4 bands just wasn't cutting it).  It took a long time for me to scan through our scene and pick just a few of my favorite songs in all different styles.  Whatever your taste, I think youll find kickass stuff there.

Don't expect to see many bands NYC is known for, the goal of the mp3 is to present active bands you may not be as familiar with; an important point of NYC Punk is supporting newer NY bands out there.  If you like 'em, of course search 'em myspace, or better yet BOOK 'EM.  Yet of course we love and support our well-known bands wholeheartedly.

Thanks to all the bands, etc. who helped with this and apologies to all the great bands who arent currently featured.  Im a definite fan and friend of many more bands not yet featured.  Im always up for hearing new material so drop me a line if you've got some or if we havent spoken… & you might be featured on the next.

Other US scene pages do the same! theres a link to the player & the mp3 storage site, its pretty easy it just time consuming.

Listen carefully to the words of NYHC Olde York's "Still Believe" (on the mp3);  Im feeling encouraged about our local scene.  The lack of CBGB & other closing venues had left us crawling out of a ditch. We're now learning to adjust to a whole new ballgame out there.  But new venues are taking on more shows and theres lots of new music arising.  Should I be surprised? Nothing holds down New Yorkers no matter what SO KEEP IT FIERCE.

Thanx for always payin attention- now go blast those speakers!  Oi

Monday October 16, 2006

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I JUST CANT BELIEVE THE DAY FINALLY ARRIVED; IT ALWAYS SEEMED LIKE A FAROFF REALITY.
I couldnt even deal with saying siyonara to 20 years of my life at the club last nite; not just the great music, but the many friends I met and the happiest memories. All the work I & others put into trying to save it, couldnt. Ill definetely need time to shake these very heavy feelings.

MOST OF ALL I want to wish all the employees new jobs soon
AND best of health to Hilly 'MR. COOL'.



 A SPECIAL THANX TO :

BRENDAN RAFFERTY, a great friend to me over the years, and a friend to all, whose generosity too many people took for granted. Dont forget to give him your thanx (myspace.com/cbgb top 4) for all hes done.

AND TO DEB HARRY & LITTLE STEVEN, whose support for Hilly & CBs was/is exceptional!

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

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Not seeing any CBGB shows in the Village Voice for the very first time......or in the NYC PUNK calendar for that matter.......struck me this morning. The autopsy has begun, as the club gets gutted today to move its interior to Vegas (where is yet to be announced).

Its been said repeatedly that the closing of clubs is simply a City's evolution, a part of life. But any of Manhattan's previous clubs with a memorable history cannot hold a candle to CBGB, considering this is the only one to outlast ALL the others...and Max's by decades. CBs has given people years more of experiences to revel.

Patti Smith's statement Sunday that "the kids will find a new venue" makes me pretty skeptical. Aside from the obvious that nothing could compare to CBs, finding affordable matinees for all ages is a challenge our scene is facing head on. Our City's changes over time have complicated so many club issues.

Some people were ready to accept the close of CBGB a long time ago, but ive read so many msgs, bulletins, blogs from people who are, like I, having a hard time letting go of the place. I found it very frustrating that the many musicians (still alive) who made it big through the club were never there to help Hilly in his time of need. And although the Mayor's offer to help was nothing more than a typical politician's publicity stunt, it actually had given us & the SAVE CBGB campaign a ray of hope. So I can at least THANK the lot of YOU worldwide who went out of your way to help save the club with benefits, petitions, donations and so many other ways.

To quote an ironically appropriate statement from one of our members:
"The Black Flag waves at half-mast, for the death of CBGB's."

****THIS LIST WILL BE UPDATED*******

Punk- U.S.:  TOP 10! =
(theres tons of great labels, these are just some thatve signed great bands)                                  
myspace.com/byorecords  (CA)
www.chargedrecords.com (NJ)
myspace.com/mymysticrecords  (CA)
myspace.com/punkcorerecords  (NY)
myspace.com/radicalrecords (NY)

myspace.com/sosrecordsus (CA)
myspace.com/taangrecords  (CA)
myspace.com/tkorecords   (CA)
                                             

Punk- N.Y.=

myspace.com/845records
myspace.com/amajorrecordlabel
myspace.com/asspunkrecords
myspace.com/blackheartrecords
myspace.com/boomstickrecords
myspace.com/chainsawsafetyrecords
myspace.com/chaosgeneration
myspace.com/cheapskaterecords
myspace.com/daggermanrecords
myspace.com/dead40records
myspace.com/doublenegativerecords
myspace.com/fbrproductions
myspace.com/freeindiemusic
myspace.com/givebackrecords
myspace.com/glacialrecords
myspace.com/gloomrecords
myspace.com/gunshotrecords
myspace.com/hitormissrecords
myspace.com/kaninerecords
myspace.com/longshotmusic
myspace.com/mighterthansword
myspace.com/pinkpandapromotions
myspace.com/poolpartyrecords
myspace.com/queensbororecords 
myspace.com/raiseyourfistrecords
myspace.com/ratcagerecords
myspace.com/roir
myspace.com/septonicrex
myspace.com/stateofmindrecordings
myspace.com/staygold
myspace.com/terramotorecords  (NY/FL)
myspace.com/vulturerecords
myspace.com/wrongisland
myspace.com/fuckittapes (?)

Hardcore only- N.Y.=

NY mixed=   

Theres been alot of response here since posting his cause and the benefit being held at CBGB.  That roster is full but HERES A LIST OF BANDS THAT ARE INTERESTED IN DOING BENEFITS FOR GEORGE.  Im putting alot of effort into the one taking place on July 15th so this will be my way of helping others.  PLEASE CONTACT EACH OTHER BELOW;  I cant get involved with other benefits but i'll gladly promote them here.  George needs all the help he can get so the more the merrier.

BROKEN CONDOM (PA.!)  www.myspace.com/angryyouthsite

SECRET CERVIX  www.myspace.com/secretcervix

DEVIL SPADES   www.myspace.com/thedevilspades

PLEASE MESSAGE ME WITH YOUR MYSPACE BAND LINK TO BE ADDED TO THIS LIST.  I have no other information regarding other benefits being planned so itll be amongst yourselves to do so. My efforts have been maxed out but THIS LIST WILL BE GROWING DAILY SO KEEP CHECKING BACK!!  Ill post benefit show listings here as i get them.

& HERES A NOTE FROM GEORGE:

.........Just wanted to update everyone on what's going on with my health and stuff.

Like my friend David tells me, there are good days and there are bad days. I have been fortunate over the last few days to have a few good ones. One was so good I actually got to go outside and take a walk through the park. For me, that's a huge deal!

Anyway, I'm fighting this thing and still need your help. So please donate and spread the word if you can.

It is becomming more clear that the government knows about all this stuff. There have been recent New York Post articles and New York Times articles about the amazing amount of people who got cancer and have died from this shit.

Me? I'm gonna kick it's ass. And with your help, I'm gonna do it fast and furious. Also, letting everyone know about this is great. We have our own Chernobyl in New York City and people need to know. The terrorists killed a lot more people on 9/11 then they thought. And with real estate owners and corporations in New York keeping all of this secret, they are helping more people die. To me, that's treason. And no way to treat our heroes like the firefighters and cops who saved THOUSANDS of lives.

Anyway again, thanks for all your help, it has STARTED me down the road, but I got a long way to go to recovery. But knowing that a lot of you are my friends and on my side and are helping me makes me feel great. And I thank you and bless you for that.

The best thing anyone on Earth can do is help one another out. I've always believed that, and acted that way. It's great to see it goes the other way as well.
Thank you and help me and yourselves continue to make the world a better place for all of us.

Peace.

Love,
George

I obviously wrote this quite awhile ago but never found time to edit it.

April 22^nd:   NY SHITTY RECORD RELEASE PARTY

The show billed:  777s, Beer Drinking Fools, Blackout Shoppers, Distraction, No Place to Piss, Rabia, Sammytown Jones, Spunks, Stackers, SMUT, SQNS, Test Specimen, World War IX .all bands can be found on myspace.

To all the great fanzines on my subscription list, I dont write like a professional reviewer, I just try my best to bring the energy of the show across.  For those of you who didnt come to Punkfest due to the cold rain, etc. you made a mistake.  Im surprised it wasnt packed for such a huge great lineup.  But it was worth the trek and all the bands kicked my ass.  Thanx to each band for giving 150% whether they played to a big crowd or not.  Its disappointing that all the local bands who werent booked didnt go to support & check out their fellow musicians.  How the fuck is Unity supposed to survive if punx only turn up for rare bands; that doesnt say much about our own scene.  The same bands that keep playing the same shows together need to branch out & play with other bands theyve never seen before.  I guarantee one will always blow your mind.

As for me a few bands knocked my sox off, but the Spunks probably took the cake.  I thought their myspace tunes were too rock/not enough punk for my taste, but live is another story.  Holy Shit can they rock!  When they were done, the crowd was like Who the Fuck was that?! Wow! Rabia also got everyones asses off the floor in a frenzy over their fast anarcho-political style and altho Id seen them before, I found my arms raised with goosebumps- powerful stuff.Blackout Shoppers are sure to stand out in all the attendees minds; their singer Seth lost all control when they hit the stage, spending much of his time rustling in the pit getting everyone to speed it up.  People went nuts for them, grabbing the mic & singing along.I could go on & on about every single bands great performance but the Stackers surely ended it with a fucking bang!  The Stackers, known for their fun poppy punk style, hardened it up for their final US performance.  The crowd nearly took over the stage, like a Casualties show at CBGBs.  All & all the pit gathered alot of momentum for the last few bands and the musicians fed off it like pigs in a trough.  Two days later I was still elated from all the new music Id heard/seen and the authentic, loyal attitude from all the fans there.

Nonetheless, theres much more needed to be said about our scene and possibly the entire US scene.  It seems as though the Japanese punk bands such as Spunks, Stackers mainly have a large Japanese following.  We need to open ourselves up more to checking out all the Japanese punk bands in the country.  There are more than we realize, great stuff out there thats not being booked with out local bands.  From what I see, the scenes are strangely divided for absolutely no reason.  The best thing about Punkfest was the vast variety of different punk styles that played, to satisfy every type of punk there.  As Tony SQNS preaches, It takes all kinds to make the scene complete and I agree heart & soul.  So if you really want to make a dent in the scene book shows with great bands youve never seen, bands of a different style, or bands just starting out.  Now thats what I call Unity, its up to you.   Im not in a band or book shows but ive started a group to gather & support all people that do NYC booking; these people and venues are the shit.

http://groups.myspace.com/BOOKMEPLEASE  

A final thank you to all the bands who gave me CDs and moreso, let me get onstage & in their face with my fin camera so I could post the photos here.

Immigration is now affecting our scene directly.  The Stackers drummer has been deported back to Japan for 4 damn years.  Due to their incredible loyalty, theyre on a 4 yr. hiatus since they wont play any shows without him.  You can read their short blog at http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=6415345&blogID=49388733&MyToken=c95dffaa-e601-4d44-9cb5-45ad7867fc91

Last but not least, congradulations to Shun from the Stackers and Joey Methadone of Blackout Shoppers for compiling a terrific DIY compilation of the new NYC punk scene.   Check it out!!!!!!  www.myspace.com/nypc  (it was recorded in 05 but released in 06.)