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VIEW NEW YORK CITY ROCK 'N' ROLL |
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THE DO IT YOURSELF ethic spearheaded by early '80s punks is being rekindled around the world. With a thriving New York underground happening, it only makes sense that some of the Americans show off their stuff. Well, they're doing it - and all in one night - with the hopes of making some new fans and potentially bringing some Canadians back home. New York City rock and roll comes to Hamilton with an adventurous tour brought together by an internationally renowned promoter, journalist, DJ and author. "There's not a lot of money to be made as a rock author, so for the past three–plus years, I'm promoting and DJing the Röck Cändy parties at the club Don Hill's in NYC," quips Steven Blush, author of American Hardcore: A Tribal History. As a student of music, Blush has filled virtually every position in the industry and now stretches out some of his promotional activities. "When I started these parties, rock was a total dead issue in NYC, and it took a few years of nurturing cool new bands until a new scene arose," explains Blush. "I saw that many of the new bands were fronted by fierce gorgeous women, so I ran with it. The success of my parties led to an offer from Radical Records [to make a compilation to document the scene]. The attention received by this New York City Rock N Roll compilation led to us taking it on the road." With CDs in hand, Blush brings with him riff–driven, punk–inspired, trashy rock 'n' roll with a focus on some of the brightest female contingent. Gina Volpe of the Lunachicks fronts the band Bantam, Abby Gennet of Slunt is a noted MTV VJ and photographer, Queen V has toured with Billy Idol and Twisted Sister, Jea Scott is a Playboy model, Aria of Apocalypstyk is a known model as well. "When I started promoting rock parties in 2000, the rock guys seemed old, tired, beat-down and pretty damn boring, while these women were powerful, energetic, sexy, exciting," offers Blush on the musical programming of choice. "But it's not like they're superstars, or that people were flocking to sign their rock bands. This compilation brought the whole scene together for the world to see. These bands are totally from the streets of New York." So from the streets of the big apple to the clubs of Hamilton comes a group of people looking to rekindle what some say got lost in underground rock where bands and fans seemed more of a community even though their numbers were much less. "This scene reminds me of the punk and hardcore days, where you had to really look to find those one or two cool, like-minded bands in every town," Blush ponders. "One purpose of this record is to 'connect the dots' between the hot new rock bands bubbling underground and deserved of a real shot." What might be a wintery Wednesday night in mid–February could end up being one of the hottest nights of the year, as a bunch of New York's other finest show up to continue what's been a burgeoning relationship with Hamilton. It's a relationship spurred by some of our own finest a couple of decades ago. "Teenage Head and The Forgotten Rebels are great names in Punk history," Blush proclaims authoritatively. "Anybody who was really on the scene back in '79–'80 had that first Teenage Head album - that was one of the first punk records I ever bought, and still love every minute of it." "We're driving all the way up from New York to rock you motherfuckers in Hamilton," Blush concludes. "If you think you've got something better to do than witness sexy smokin' New York City Rock 'n' Roll right in your backyard, then stay home. That just means more beer and more broads for me." Wednesday February 11 for the New York City Rock 'n' Roll compilation release. Contact the club for more details. RIC TAYLOR |