More Body-Pierced Skinheads - Volume 15, Number 11

By Josh Cohen

Last Sunday night I went to Church– Sam Black Church, that is. Ho ho ho, what a witty pun. [I pity the one who wrote this - Ed] I sure had you guys for a moment there. [Two-tenths of a nanosecond, to be precise - Ed] This band was playing at the Middle East along with four other “hard-core” bands: 7th Rail Crew, Big Wig, Nothingface, and Miltown. This show was something of a “Boston Hard-core Fest,” seeing as all the bands except for Nothingface were from Boston. I can't really say I enjoy hard-core music, but it's certainly better than Dave Matthews. Whatever the case, I had a great time at the show.

The first band that played, 7th Rail Crew, was acceptable. the band’s two singers who were generally annoying, just screamed a lot of unintelligible monotone junk into the microphones, while moving their hands above their heads in a poor attempt at being cool. The bassist, on the other hand, was awesome. He had this really cool goatee that had a little bob on the end, and the bass he played was really loud and pounding. The band also had two drummers, one of whom hit a couple of bongos with drumsticks whenever he felt the urge. In one song, he husted out some cowbells and played on those.

The next band, Big Wig, was the best of the opening bands, and were really good. Instead of singing in a monotone, the band’s singer actually sang several different notes! I was impressed. The guitarist also sang some cool backup vocals. I was tempted to buy their album, which was on sale at the show. The next band, in the words of Mike Brownell (Class III), “not hard-core, but SUCK-core!”

The next band, Miltown, was also pretty bad. As the end of their set drew near, though, everyone in the room, which was now packed, started crowing around the stage. Sam Black Church was about to start. 

While the band was getting ready to begin, some 70’s funk was played over the speakers. Hearing some low-key disco felt quite strange after a light of some loud noise. The bongo player from the 7th rail crew, who, as it turns out, was John Travolta’s stunt double in Saturday Night Fever, put on a quick performance, in which he did so many backflips that he permanently lost rotational awareness altogether. After the ambulance carted off our disoriented friend, the audience anxiously awaited the ensuing noise. Sam Black Church came onto the stage, and when they started their first song, the whole room went nuts. People were pushing, shoving, throwing elbows [I don't want to know - Ed], and jumping. This throng was moshing like a sea, and I was caught in the undercurrent. I thrashed and pushed just to stay above the surface– but a 5’4” 15 year-old is not much of a match for a 200 pound, skinhead, face-pierced monster (there were several). People were really psyched to hear Sam Black Church play, and rightly so: these guys kick ass! The lead singer is crazy. He looks pretty old, and his hair is entirely gray. He wore these strange black shoes that were like aqua socks merged with ballet toe shoes. Mike Schlauch (Class III) figured out that they were magic shoes that enabled him to walk on the crowd. This guy had taken off his shirt and was climbing on the pipes that hang from the ceiling, screaming in a semi-harmonious fashion, looking as though he was possessed. Every once in a while he doused the crowd with a bucket of water. It felt nice. Mmmmm.

Like I said, I’m not really into hardcore music, but the cojncert was cool, except for the thick cloud of cigarette smokethat was not unlike the feeling of a lime being poured into my eyes, forcibly held open by rusty safety pins. The concert was not only fun but also funny. Guys decked ouy in SBC merchandise (or “Church Merch,” as they say) walked around all night with SBC women. People from the Boston hard-core scene’ (comprised mostly of poseurs) wore lots of Adidas, which I learned is a Boston trademark. Mosh pits formed, and everyone surrounding the pit would put out a fist, warning whoever was in the middle not to come near them. All these people had their eyes open really wide, and their faces had intense looks. Then everyone would run into the circle and thrash around, pretending to be Kung Fu masters kicking some enemy ass. Actually, they looked pretty silly. But hey, you gotta get the testosterone out somehow! [Word- Female Ed]

I found out that there is something I really enjoy about hard-core music: its so loud and throbbing that one’s internal organs cannot help but to jiggle to the beat. Despite my constant tone of mockery, I really do like hard-core music’s ability to get me psyched.