Exactly a year ago minus one day, Black N' Blue Productions had
a permit for a hardcore punk concert and political rally in Tompkins Square
Park that drew thousands of rockers out of COVID hibernation. That show, which featured Madball, Murphy's
Law, Bloodclot, Wisdom in Chains and the Capturers, made local headlines,
largely because it attracted so many people during a pandemic and because
social distancing and masks were not observed by all the participants. Although
no incidents or arrests were reported, the unsurmountable negative media attention and subsequent
political response led to a ban on most live music performances in the park for the rest
of the year.
Black N' Blue Productions had more or less the same bands
return to the makeshift stage this year, and this time the bands performed without
a trace of controversy or media attention. This year's show featured Madball, Murphy's Law, Burn,
the Cro-Mags JM, Wisdom in Chains and the Capturers. Chris Flash, one of the
promoters, said he would invite these bands again next year as well.
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| The Capturers |
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| Wisdom in Chains |
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| The Cro-Mags JM |
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| Burn |
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| Eugene Hutz (left) of Gogol Bordello, shown here with James Drescher of Murphy's Law, joined Murphy's Law for one song |
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| Madball headlined for the second time |
Related article: "Local Concert Promoter Defeats the Authorities on Their Own Ground," The Manhattan Beat, August 8, 2021
***
The Manhattan Beat covers New York City's live
music developments as they happen. All articles are written by Everynight
Charley Crespo. All photographs are taken by Everynight Charley Crespo, except
when noted otherwise. For a list of Manhattan venues that are presenting live
music regularly, swing the desktop cursor to the right of the home page and
click on the pop-up tab "Where to Find Live Music in Manhattan." For a listing of
upcoming concerts for live audiences, visit The Manhattan Beat's April
and May
calendars.
Could this be more generic? This scene brings all races , sexual orientation and religious or non religious people together all in peace and love of the genre. NYHC FOR LIFE !!
ReplyDeleteThere’s some serious history missing here. There were definitely issues with Parks’ at the beginning of the day, as the parks department refused to issue a variance allowing us to plug into a poll just meters from the stage for electricity. Instead, we were forced to use generators at a great expense and a loss of time. And the only reason we were allowed to return was because we took the city and parks department to federal court over claims of due process and first amendment violations, among others, and we received a court ordered settlement out of SDNY allowing the show to go on. Still, the war goes on. Email me at george@gcgrassolaw.com if you’d like the full scoop.
ReplyDeleteThere is some serious history missing here. The only reason that we were able to have the show this year is because we sued the city and parks in federal court for violations of due process, first amendment rights, among other things, after their illegal actions trying to shut us down after last year. We won that battle with a court ordered settlement out of SDNY allowing the show to go on. Still, this year wasn’t without issue. Although Parks’ could have issued a variance allowing us to plug into an poll for electricity just meters from the stage, we were forced to use generators for power, at a great expense and loss of permitted sound time. There’s so much more to all of this than any media outlet has cared to properly cover, in regard to the true foundations of freedom of speech and civil liberties being upheld in the face of authoritarian tactics by the city and the defamation by the media, all taking place in greatest city in the world, no less. Please feel free to email me if you’d like the full scoop. George@gcgrassolaw.com
ReplyDelete