I love NYHC and many of the bands I have shared the stage with, interviewed or saved my life. That said, I am super bummed out right now by a lot of people I love and the reckless 2,000+ social distancing flaunting Madball, Murphy’s Law, Bloodclot, Wisdom In Chains etc. show in Tompkins. Yes, shows are important for mental health, as Wisdom In Chains noted on Insta. Supporting Firefighters and the Burn foundation is great. So is protecting our most vulnerable and adhering to the bare minimum to help us have real solidarity and get through this. This show was not the triumph hardcore bands and fans are claiming it was. Period. Sorry if that makes me the ‘woke SJW mob’ and not a concerned diabetic who has loved and lived their life for punk and metal for over three decades.
As my pal Ryan Butler of Landmine Marathon fame said online ,“Tompkins Square Park in NYC yesterday looked like the Rose Garden at the White House a few months back times 1,000.” Hard to disagree.
Update. I don’t know if this is true but the Parks Dept. are saying organizers lied and said the event was a 9/11 memorial with a hundred people expected. Classy if true! Wow. WTF, y’all. I know some of you were around for 9/11 and love the city more than that. For real?!! WTF. Cuz you donated to firefighters doesn’t make it any less misleading. And how about the healthcare workers who have to take care of anyone who gets sick? (BNB Productions now say the permit never mentioned 9/11 and that people just “suck the dick of the media” but failed to show the permit to back up the claim the media is lying, so I can’t verify one way or the other. It is immature af though to just downplay people’s concerns as sheeple and pussies, tough guys).
Further update: Chris Flash told EVGrieve: “Nowhere did it say anything about September 11. We did apply for a September 11 memorial event, but it was for September,” Flash also said,”…Why would we apply for a September 11 memorial in April?””We were given a 3-page list of things the Parks Department wanted us to comply with — we complied with all of the stipulations,” Flash said. “We were required to provide gloves, masks, sanitizer and a clipboard if someone wanted to voluntarily provide contact tracing. We provided two tables with all the necessary supplies. We cannot enforce rules, we can’t — we’re not the police. Even the police said they can’t enforce.”
(Um, you can’t enforce the rules but anyone could have kept urging the crowd to mask up at the very least. Or the band members and scene folx -who’ve posted tons of selfies to their own insta feeds with the vast majority in no masks- could have also done the right thing and masked up). I also hear that people were being mocked for wearing them at the event, though can’t verify. CDC has eased masking guidelines for vaccinated people as of 4.27 but still say “vaccinated people should still wear masks in public settings indoors and outdoors where there is a substantial risk of Covid-19 transmission, such as concerts, sporting events and other crowded gatherings,” the CDC said.)
People have been saying that maybe the vast majority of unmasked moshing and screaming people were already vaccinated (as if that means you can’t still carry it home or elsewhere, fucking duh). It was harder for young people to get vaccinated until very recently in New York.
For the wary, I can’t force people to trust big pharma companies with awful track records like Johnson and Johnson (who have sucked ass for years). I especially am not tone policing women who have fertility side effect fears when we need way better long term clinical studies or bipoc folx who are afraid because they have historically been guinea pigs to racist medical research practices before. I sure as hell also agree that it is fucked it seems -if I am understanding things right- that Reagan made it so you can’t sue lots of vaccine makers if something goes wrong (tell your conservative leaning Libertarian pals that). H.R.5546 – 99th Congress (1985-1986): National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress says that ,”Provides that no vaccine manufacturer shall be liable in a civil action for damages arising from a vaccine-related injury or death: (resulting from unavoidable side effects; or (2) solely due to the manufacturer’s failure to provide direct warnings.”
I agree that is completely bullshit to not be able to sue someone if there is a problem. That goes for the Covid vaccinations as well. No one should be above lawsuit if there is a huge fucked up problem with any of them.
That is still besides the point when it comes to this concert.
I am personally diabetic and fully vaxxed. I am absolutely glad I got it. But if someone “healthy” with doubts can’t even do bare minimum compassion to wear a mask cuz they think it doesn’t work (as if having none will somehow protect others more!?) or social distance cuz moshing and peacocking is more important …yikes. And most of those people on the crowd aren’t gonna go green diet anyway and just want to fucking party, c’mon.
John Joseph wrote this on social media: “For the last year in New York City there were protests – tens and thousands of people in the streets – some rioting and looting engaging in bias attacks – nobody said shit – the media condoned it. On 4/20, thousands filled Washington Square Park sharing blunts and weed pipes no masks – again nobody said shit. This was our fucking protest – this was our rally – people came out from all over the country and enjoyed live music! Those who didn’t want to come stayed away – good nobody Missed their ass. They were free to live in fear – hide under their table and talk shit on social media.”
I don’t know about the 4/20 day stuff so can’t speak on it and can understand how that would bother a straight edge person. I am sober a year and a half and John’s description ALSO sounds like 4/20 was reckless and should have been discussed. It sounds like you think it is just hypocrisy that they weren’t called out and the hardcore show was, not that people have valid super spread concerns. Also, the idea that just because our elected officials and others have done hypocritical things is ALSO a good reason to be irresponsible as a ‘protest’ to hypocrisy is the epitome of two wrongs don’t make a right.
Ok, and while I super respect John’s veganism and love his books on the subject and think everyone should become one to save the planet (watch Seaspiracy and stop eating fish today PLEASE), this BLACK LIVES MATTER statement is simply a false equivalency. Most people at BLM protests were masked and it was outdoors, with a combination that helped soften the blow of those who weren’t substantially. That is not thousands of people crammed in a small park with masked folx being mocked and people screaming gang vocals and pitting in close proximity and breaking social distancing suggestions and max outdoor capacity guidelines. That isn’t ‘united blood’. It is fucking telling immunocompromised people that y’all don’t care when this is over or just don’t believe in it.
We all wan’t shows to come back right, but this aint it. At all.
Again, the current law in New York, according to our shitbag, rapey, bad clemency record, Weinstein money accepting and CNN softball question champion Governor Andrew Cuomo is that “outdoor venues with 2,500 person and overcapacity can begin holding live concerts at 20% capacity.” Proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test would be required for entry. I hate Cuomo for almost killing my mom in an old folks home as well and for playing chess with lives and refusing one of Trump’s only decent ideas by not using the hospital boats, but these capacity and safety limitations I cannot fault him for.
The Warzone tribute I covered there was one of the coolest things I have ever been to and it was great to help document it that day several years ago. I did not expect to hear that this new event would completely disregard respectfully making sure shit was done right and call people who are concerned ‘beeyotches’ (wow super feminist and inclusive, punk rawwwwk).
I believe in Christ consciousness and healing and growth and lifting one another up when we fall or make mistakes, but that requires self-awareness. I don’t at all enjoy now feeling alienated from all these bands and people who went who I admired. You can’t talk about making everyone considerate enough to live better and take care of the Earth and animals (as they should) if you also don’t care enough to protect the most vulnerable humans or try to lessen the ongoing impact of the pandemic in even the most minor ways.
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