In Boston on Sunday night, there was a small riot at an Angelic Upstarts
show that was started by a self-proclaimed White Power "mod" Here's the
details.............
With all the subtlety of a baseball bat to the face, the Angelic Upstarts
rolled into Boston on Sunday night, with a crew of punks and skins in tow.
The Upstarts are one of the UK�s best punk bands, and this tour, sponsored
by RASH, Insurgence Records, and other anti-fascist groups was the final
stop. Although the show was planned to support the Upstarts� latest record,
�Anthems Against Scum,� there wasn�t too much record promotion happening at
all.
The show kicked off with The Relix, a year-old punk band from NYC with
harsh female vocals, vaguely remniscent of fellow New-Yorkers The
Devotchkas. Although The Relix played incredibly well for such a young band,
their style of punk is still far too formulaic to be greatly enjoyed. Also,
someone might have reminded the band of what audience they were playing to,
as their chorus of �we�re not communists,� was met with the chant of
�U.S.S.R.� from a pack of delusional Marxists in the front row.
After the girl punk ended, I settled in with another Guinness and tried to
listen to the Spittz. This band, featuring ex-members of the Showcase
Showdown put forth a great effort, but was met with not much more than blank
stares and half-hearted applause. It seemed that almost every song on their
set list was just way-too familiar, stealing sections from the pantheon of
punk rock songs that are always stuck in my head.
The show finally got kicked off when Montreal�s Street Troopers hit the
stage. Warning the crowd that this was going to be their last show, they
began to unleash their own brand of hard-edged anti-fascist Oi! upon a crowd
that had been subjected to two mediocre bands. The Trooper�s live set was
absolutely incredible. As soon as the first notes of �Don�t Let Them Win�
fell upon the crowd, the skinheads surged to the front and began a mildly
violent but highly amusing circle pit. The crowd happily sang along and
danced as the Troopers worked their way through their crowd-pleasers like
�Oi! Against Racism,� �Traitor,� and my personal favorite, �Street
Troopers.� The Troopers finally answered the chants of the skinheads when
they finished off their set with the sing-along anthem �Streets Of
Montreal.� The talent and presence of this band is unparalleled by American
streetpunk bands, and the fact that this show marked their demise is a sad
day in the punk scene.
As the Street Troopers left the Stage, there was a marked tension in the
room. The next band up was the infamous Oxblood from NYC. There has been a
longstanding battle between Oxblood�s fervent supporters, mostly from
Brooklyn, and certain elements within Boston. As Oxblood began to belt out
their set, the play-fighting and roughhousing of the previous bands sets was
replaced with a flurry of fists at the front of the room. Finally, for
reasons yet to be discovered (read: I�m not telling you) all hell broke
loose. Towards the center of the room, a swastika-tattooed individual
decided to comment that the lead singer of Oxblood was in fact a �nigger�
and that certain members of the NYC contingent were in fact �spics.�
Almost as soon as he said this, the collective fury of a room of
anti-fascist skinheads and punks was unleashed. As the cool taste of my
Guinness was replaced by a crushing right cross to the forehead, I realized
that something had gone horribly wrong. The sound of guitars stopped
abruptly as the members of Oxblood dove off the stage and into the fight
with all the dexterity of an NHL line change. Moments later, after the nazis
had been driven from the club, Mac from Oxblood climbed back up on stage. As
the crowd chanted �Oxblood, Oxblood,� Mac raised a fist and immediately
silenced the crowd. �There�s a bunch of White Power kids outside!! Are you
ready to fight?!?� As soon as Mac dropped the mike, the increasingly
pissed-off crowd surged to the exits. Greeting the friendly neighborhood
police with cries of �Bullshit!� we were greeted by the sight of 200 or so
punk rockers and skinheads and the familiar glare of blue lights from a
fleet of police vehicles.
The carnage continued long into the night, but the show was over. The
Angelic Upstarts would never see the stage of the Middle East, and Oxblood
would never finish their set. As disappointing as it was to have the show
cancelled so abruptly, the show was still an interesting night. Like REO
Speedwagon�s popularity, my bruises will fade. However; the memory of this
show will be around for a long time.
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