REIGN IN BLONDE : HARDCORE REIGNS SUPREME AS I (ALMOST) MEET MY IDOL

HARDCORE REIGNS SUPREME AS I (ALMOST) MEET MY IDOL

**For those asking…Yes, I have seen the picture of Mike Patton’s “woodpecker from mars.” Have a look for yourself over at MetalSucks, if you haven’t already. But it’s now being reported that the photo was fake. Looky here to see what I mean. Anyway, onto important shit…

I don’t really go to whole lotta “old school” hardcore shows. But lately, my buddy Gary Suarez has been inviting me to some, and I’ve discovered a couple bands that I actually quite like. Last night we went to Killing Time’s record release show at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. They had one opener I really dug, which was Deathwish’s own Reign Supreme, who consist of members of a bunch of other legit hardcore bands like Blacklisted and such. I feel mad late jumping on this bandwagon, but…whatever. I’m endorsing them now, and that’s all that matters. Here’s one song they played last night called “Persevere and Overcome.”

Kinda makes you wanna punch someone in the face, does it not? Well, you’ll never guess what happened…

At the very beginning of the set, Reign Supreme’s singer (whose name I can’t seem to find anywhere) noted that he had an injury: a strained rotator cuff, I believe is what he said? During one song, a fan was up front singing along, and ended up punching the RS dude in the face. (I guess he was THAT into it.) The singer announced that the next person who did that would be punched back. (He had an injury, after all.) So…during the next song, a fan (I’m not sure if it was the same kid) got in the guy’s face again. The singer was apparently just THAT paranoid about getting punched again, that he ended up whacking that dude in HIS face. And oh man….that kid was KNOCKED THE FUCK OUT. They rushed him to the hospital and everything.

Now…I don’t bring this up in any effort to “talk shit,” because I think the band is awesome and they were EXTREMELY apologetic after the whole thing happened. I’m just telling you what I saw. I’m not one to think that violence is “cool” or whatever, but hardcore is a very violent genre altogether and shit like this happens. Not necessarily because of the band on the stage, but pits can get rough, and people get hurt all the time. It’s just something you gotta roll with. However…I wonder how the crowd would react if it was say…me, a girl?

Anyway…I watched some other bands including Vision, Ensign, and of course the headliner: Killing Time. I was feeling pretty tired before the end of it, (must’ve been all that pork belly I ate before the show), and I decided to peace out.

I’m retrieving my coat from the coat check and notice a guy walk over and lean on the wall next to me. I look up, and it is none other than WALTER SCHREIFELS!!!!!!!! (of Quicksand, Rival Schools, The Gorilla Biscuits, etc) I love this dude so hard. I literally stopped breathing for a few seconds. I froze and had no idea what to do. Now, it’s not that I’m totally surprised that I’d see him at a NY hardcore show. These are his “people,” after all. I’m sure he’s a been at a bunch of the same shows as me in the past, and that people are pretty much no longer phased about seeing him out and about anymore. But…Quicksand came and went long before I was ever old enough to go to shows, and this was my first time ever seeing him FACE TO FACE. I mean…there was seriously no one else around. Just him, and me….and the coat check dude (but he doesn’t count). Everyone else was still inside watching the show.

It was as if someone put him on a silver platter and shoved him RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. And yet….I could not speak words. Instead I stood there and stared at him for a few seconds…and he caught me…and I smiled back awkwardly…..like an idiot. Seriously…kill me? I wanted to die. Before I knew it…a friend of his approached him, they started talking, and walked away. The moment was over. Sigh…

Anyway, what’s Walter been up to lately? This:

Yeah…it’s not so great. I think everyone can agree he’s much better than this. But for whatever reason…hardcore dudes tend to go wayyy soft after a while. It’s weird.

Let’s remember Walter at his most awesome-est-est: