By: Jarrett
11.16.06

Well, I had a really great set of NYC updates lined up, but it seems that this month I somehow deeply offended the music gods and ended up getting a good taste of the differences in the New York music scene from the ones I am used to. Despite my greatest efforts, I was not actually able to see any of the action at any of the awesome events I am writing about. My time was spent on trains, in lines, and on sidewalks, fortifying the use of the word "fuck" in my vocabulary.

Saturday, October 7, was the Guinness Oyster Music Festival in Dumbo, Brooklyn. The event took place at the Water Street Lounge which is located at 66 Water Street, sexily beneath the Brooklyn Bridge. The festival ran from noon until 6:00 on the street where the place was absolutely full of beer sampling, raw bars, bagpipes, and people having a really fantastic time. After that the show raged on for another 6 hours until midnight underground, where the bands kept on playing. It featured a wide array of music styles from rock to bluegrass to folk. The headlining act (and the band that initially made me want to attend this show) was Holopaw (Subpop). Holopaw is a really great indie-rock folk band from Florida. Their songs are relaxed and sexy with raspy vocals that often remind you of sitting around a bonfire on the beach. Holopaw songs like "Hula-la" always make it onto my summer playlists.

The next day, Sunday, October 8, was supposed to put the Guinness festival to shame. For those of you who don't know, the legendary CBGB is CLOSING. As the twilight fades on the corner of Bowery and Bleeker Street, some of the most memorable punk and hardcore shows of late are going down there. Sunday was a hardcore matinee featuring Sick of it All (Fat Wreck Chords), Murphy's Law (Who have released on so many labels that I'm not sure what to put here), and Agnostic Front (Nuclear Blast/Epitaph Records). All three of these bands are brutal and increidble examples of the NYHC scene. These bands have been around for quite some time and their influences have been far reaching into the more mainstream worlds of metal. For example, Hatebreed was heavily influenced by the style of Agnostic Front. I wish that I could give the goriest details of how amazing the show was, and how high the energy level inside CBGB was......but, my ass didn't have tickets and waited in line for hours, hoping desperately to get let in anyway....to no avail. Still, I heard good music from outside on the street, and you'll have to live with my opinion that the show was amazing.

Anyway, I didn't totally miss out. I did meet up with plenty of other people that were in the same boat as me in the line. We laughed, we drank, we high fived, we all said "fuck it" together. That sort of unspoken brotherhood and the understanding you all have with each other -- the connection that great music brings you -- well, that's the best part of being at a show anyway.

so, fuck it. rock and roll.

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