If you grew up in the 198os and you liked heavy music, New York Hardcore has a profound effect on you. If you were born too late, say the little bros and sisters of hardcore kids, you too might have been influenced by this massive scene. Some of you formed bands yourself, that matched the style and fire of the earlier wave but did their own thing, like Madball. Others included their own influences, emo, thrash, rock, reggae and other subgenres to shape and mold what musical sound was coming next. What came next was post-hardcore. Not exclusive to NYC or even the east coast, it soon became a worldwide phenomenon, and like it’s older brother, it also came in waves. All these years later, two of the most impressive and talented bands ever Quicksand (first wave, helped create the genre) and Glassjaw (second wave, equally defining and crucial) not only have recent new albums out, they are both vital today as they were back then.
Brooklyn Steel feels ginormous, even when jam-packed. The place was pretty full early, with folks filing in to see Brooklyn’s own Primitive Weapons. If you are not familiar with them, they are one of the best bands on the Party Smasher Inc. label and you need them in your life. Heavy, smart, and highly entertaining live.
By the time Glassjaw hits the stage, the fans were in full froth mode! They were already moshing to the pre-show music and singing along. You could feel a strange energy in the room like it was gonna pop off something fierce. When they opened with ‘Cut And Run’, it was incredible. Everyone around me was singing every word, some girl near me was crying happy tears, and I also spied a few (old tough) guys, try to hit the pit to mosh. They quickly found out time waits for no one. Singer Darryl Palumbo sauntered around the stage, finding his zone vocally and the crowd matched him word for word for 95% of the show. They played a majority of songs from 2017s Material Control (Century Media) and the fans didn’t seem to notice. Since the band has not over-toured, and especially not played their hometown much, there was a definite special feeling in the air. Other highlights for me were ‘Tip Your Bartender’, ‘Pink Roses’, ‘New White Extremity’, ‘Shira’, ‘Bibleland 6’ and their legit hit ‘Siberian Kiss’, which had every voice lifted toward the ceiling.
Glassjaw set list:
Cut and Run
Tip Your Bartender
You Think You’re (John Fucking Lennon)
Pink Roses
Jesus Glue
Mu Empire
The Gillette Cavalcade of Sports
New White Extremity
Shira
Citizen
Strange Hours
Two Tabs of Mescaline
Bibleland 6
El Mark
Closer
My Conscience Weighs a Ton
Intermission (Material Control)
Siberian Kiss
Being a major fan of Gorilla Biscuits and Youth Of Today, I have been a disciple of the temple of Quicksand from the beginning, with Walter Schreifels as my personal songwriting yogi, in my dreams, at least. Rather than an explosion, Quicksand hits the stage to cheers, but they kill the crowd methodically with a perfectly planned set list. They played songs from their debut Slip (Polydor), their mega-followup, Manic Compression (Island) and their most recent and third full-length, Interiors (Epitaph). Walter is one smooth mofo as a performer. He practically sexes up the audience with his voice and amazing guitar ministrations. Having now seen the band as a trio twice, he is covering the basses for the classic tracks and he and Sergio Vega (Deftones) play amazingly off each other. Vega occasionally straps on a guitar too, and we saw Walt jump on the drums for good measure. Alan Cage still slams the drums something fierce too. The new tracks flow right along with the classics, which is a credit to these guys.
What a treat to witness this hometown, co-headline throwdown. Both bands, please come back soon.
Quicksand set list:
Omission
Head to Wall
Brown Gargantuan
Divorce
Freezing Process
Illuminant
Warm and Low
Fazer
Blister
Shovel
Cosmonauts
Hyperion
Lie and Wait
Thorn in My Side
Dine Alone
Delusional (with Landmine Spring chorus in breakdown)
WORDS BY KEITH CHACHKES
PHOTOS BY OMAR CORDY