Boston hardcore
Boston Hardcore is the influential hardcore punk scene of Boston, Massachusetts. It evolved due to the city's American working class traditions, large numbers of colleges and art schools, independent record labels and possibly a revolt against the conservative values upon which the city was founded.[citation needed]
Boston hardcore music history
The colleges and universities of Greater Boston offered a favorable venue for non-commercial music to be played. Several schools have their own radio stations, such as WMFO, WUMB, WMBR and WERS. The colleges also supplied young patrons for the local nightclubs and bars where local hardcore bands had gigs.
First-generation Boston hardcore bands as documented in American Hardcore included SS Decontrol, Gang Green, Jerry's Kids, The F.U.'s, Uncalled 4, Negative FX, D.Y.S. and Impact Unit.[1]
Hardcore quickly usurped the existing "alternative" punk scene, which included bands such as Mission of Burma. This created a generation gap-type conflict that could be seen at such events as Mission of Burma's "final show," where members of many leading hardcore bands created a near-riot when, due to the slam dancing supposedly ruining Burma's swan song, Negative FX's sound was shut down.[2] This militant straight edge group, pioneered by SSD guitarist Al Barile, was known as the "Boston Crew". Their hard-line attitude became a defining characteristic for later bands such as Slapshot, Eye for an Eye, 2004 Red Sox, Ten Yard Fight, Crossface, and Blood for Blood.
When the Boston hardcore scene was later overrun by neo-Nazi skinheads, some Boston hardcore fans created a group called Friends Stand United (FSU), who were credited with getting rid of the neo-Nazis. FSU's claim to fame was targeting racist skinheads. Their methods were aggressive, and they would attack Nazis by numbers at concerts. They also went after the jocks who would frequent the bars and clubs on Lansdowne Street, just opposite of Fenway Park. They were reported to have attacked kids for drinking alcohol or doing drugs, activities which went against their straight edge beliefs.[3] FSU has since spread to other cities.[citation needed]
The Boston hardcore scene has been relatively quiet on the musical front in the 2000s, although bands like Death Before Dishonor, For The Worse, Colin of Arabia, Shere Khan, The Confrontation, The Emergency Guns, The Hope Conspiracy, Shipwreck and Mouth Sewn Shut keep it going with concerts at venues such as Tigers Den (Brockton), Artspace (Gloucester), and the Central Square Elks Lodge (Cambridge). On the violence front, even though the "crews" are almost defunct because of lack of neo-Nazis, they re-emerged with the DVD release of Boston Beatdown - a self-produced documentation of show violence, which attracted local media and police attention.[citation needed]
Record labels and famous records
Independent record labels like Taang!, X-Claim Records, Modern Method, Bridge 9, Rodent Popsicle, Welfare, Hydra Head, Big Wheel, Rock Vegas, and Deathwish Inc. help to fuel the punk culture in Boston . A highlight of the early New England hardcore era was the This Is Boston, Not L.A. LP, which was a compilation of local artists. It includes the song of the same name performed by The Freeze, who advised: "if you look the same and you act the same, there's nothing new and you're to blame".
Boston hardcore was based more on Washington D.C. hardcore (Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Teen Idles, Government Issue) than it was on Los Angeles hardcore, although Los Angeles hardcore had its influence as well. Los Angeles hardcore included such bands as Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, and the Germs.
Boston's hardcore bands were leftist and rejected the neo-nazi and racist associations of UK bands such as Skrewdriver. They did appreciate Stiff Little Fingers and their message of tolerance and unity. Boston hardcore bands, for this reason, appreciated the D.C. bands more than the L.A. bands. Hardly any L.A. bands played Boston when Boston hardcore was happening in the early 80s, with the exception of a Black Flag show at the Paradise on Halloween 1981, which was attended by 12 people, including John Belushi, who had driven up from Martha's Vineyard just to attend. This is why one of the first Boston hardcore compilations was called "This is Boston, not L.A" and contained a song with the lyrics "This is Boston! Not L.A.!! This is Boston! Fuck L.A.!!"
Scenes
Kenmore Square
As a result of Kenmore Square's now-defunct club The Rathskeller, Captain Nemo's pizza parlor (as well as the Pizza Pad), and its few used record stores, Kenmore became a hangout for skate punks and members of the hardcore scene.
After Boston Red Sox games it was common to see fights break out amongst the punks and the more conservative suburban Red Sox fans, known as "batheads". It is likely that it was at least partially due to this common occurrence that a decision was made by the MBTA to add short spiked fences to the relatively low roofs of the Kenmore T stations, considering how many hardcore kids were apt to spend time sitting atop them and that most Red Sox fans taking public transportation were obliged to appear from below.[citation needed] Mr. Butch was a fixture in this scene, and could often be seen playing air guitar with his dreadlocks swinging. He was a legendary character in Boston hardcore culture.
This neighborhood has changed quite a bit, and the building that held the Rathskeller, Planet Records, and Captain Nemo's along with several other businesses was demolished to make room for the Commonwealth Hotel. With the Rathskeller gone, the scene moved closer to Lansdowne Street, which is a street of clubs and bars on one side, and Fenway Park on the other.
Other scenes
- Harvard Square: The Pit at the Harvard Square subway stop is a longtime punk hangout.
- Allston: The large college population living in Allston continues to fuel the music scene in the area.
- Central Square: Clubs like The Middle East and TT the Bear's are a part of this scene.
- North Shore: Small art centers and bookstores like The (Fishtown) Artspace and Feed Your Head
Boston hardcore bands
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Venues
The following Boston venues have hosted hardcore concerts:
- 1st and 2nd Church - Marlboro Street
- The (Fishtown) Artspace- [closed]
- Avalon- located on Lansdowne Street next to Axis, and is prime location for many bands. It generally serves as a night club on weeknights, but on weekends hosts more rock-oriented artists.
- Axis - A Gothic night club that would host the occasional hardcore band. Mostly though it was a bunch of kids in fishnet and black eyeliner.
- Bill's Bar - A bar on Lansdowne Street with cheap beer where bands will sometimes play. It is in contrast to the huge dance clubs that surround it.
- The Berwick- Basement of 18 Palmer St in Dudley Square, Roxbury
- Bloodstains across Somerville- [closed]
- Brighton Elks - Late 90s venue in Brighton Center
- Bunnratty’s/Local 186 - Now The Wonder Bar on Harvard Ave in Allston
- Cantone's
- Cambridge Elks Lodge - Number one D.I.Y. venue in the greater Boston area, this hall is booked by many different individuals and holds shows nearly every weekend
- Castle Grayskull - [closed]
- The Channel - One of Boston's earliest locations that would allow hardcore bands to play. The Club would headline local bands such as Gang Green, Slapshot and The F.U.s as well as out of state bands like Butthole Surfers, Gorilla Biscuits, Pantera, Waltham, Fugazi, Hüsker Dü and The Dead Boys. It was well known for its pit where punks and later jocks who thought they were punks would mosh.
- The Club Central Square, Cambridge.
- Club Lido
- Feed Your Head The basement of this independent bookstore in Salem, Massachusetts is the center of the North Shore punk scene. It opened right before the Artspace closed, and the basement is booked over twice a week by bands like Colin And The Cancer and Rejected Society.
- Gallery East - Art Gallery by day, venue for all-ages shows in the early '80s, it was demolished during the gentrification of the leather district by South Station.
- Great Scott
- Green Street Station - Venue in Jamaica Plain was dirty and rickity with cheap beer and great local bands now closed.
- Harpers Ferry
- The House of Suffering Succotash (HOSS) - [closed]
- The ICC (International Community Church)
- Johnny D's
- Karma Club - Landsdowne Street
- The Kells Basement - on Brighton Ave in Allston
- The Library [closed]
- The Middle East - Located in Central Square Cambridge they have two venues Middle East upstairs a smaller venue and Middle East Downstairs a larger venue.
- O'Briens Pub
- The Paradise - not to be confused with the gay bar in Central Square (Cambridge), this venue is on Comm. Ave. in Boston, and -- like Axis -- is also a dance club.
- The Rat - Located in Kenmore Square. In the basement was a bar where the music was loud and the sweating concrete floors were always sticky and smelled of stale beer. The bathrooms were quite often frankly terrifying to those that needed to actually use them for purposes more in-depth than re-applying eyeliner (for perspective, The Rat has most often been compared to CBGBs). Many bands got their start at the Rat and it had one of the best jukeboxes in Boston. If a band did not play there they would wind up there for beers later. The club flooded in 1997 during torrential rains and was closed soon after.
- Reflections
- Romans (Tigers Den)
- St. Jean's Church -- hosted by Seth Putnam, and the venue itself later made infamous by defrocked priest Paul Shanley.
- TT The Bears