GANG GREEN / TREE / THE F.U.’s / WORM / LOCAL HERO – THE SPACE
By Kat Gullage
Gang Green brings their 40 Years Of Wasted Nights tour to the Space Ballroom in Hamden with Tree, The F.U.’s, Worm and Local Hero for support.
A CT hardcore band was our hors d’oeuvre (one-bite, meant to wake up your mouth) in this five-course feast of punk. Singer Chaz Hendrick intro’d the first tune with “We’re a band called Local Hero. This song is called “Break Free Of All Chains”.” Chaz was backed by drummer Warren Babin, statuesque bassist Don Watterworth and guitarist Chris Ciaffaglione, whose axe looked child sized against his frame.
“Cool, we’re really excited to be part of this show. This next one is called “Never Stop”.” Hendrick again at the break: “So man, really excited to be here. Wanna thank Opus, you fucking rule, thanks Space Ballroom. Just trying to kill a few moments.” The angst-laced harmonies continued with “Make Them Suffer” and I dug the thrash influenced intro.
I also appreciated the spoken word opening of the anthemic “I Am On Fire”, as did the mohawked punk rocker that jumped on stage and instigated a circle pit. “If you know me at all, I’ve sworn in every song I’ve ever sang”, the singer confessed. “This song’s called “Fuck You All”. Enjoy yourself. Thank you very much for having us.” Need a dose of thrash influenced punk? Local Hero is in your backyard. Give em a listen!
An old school punk band from the South Shore was our appetizer (flavorful starter, prepares your palate).
“What’s up everyone? We’re Worm from Boston Massachusetts” frontman Mikke Worm announced as the
group punched out “Tonight (The Night For Anarchy)” (American Catastrophe) followed by their latest single and video “Life Is Short” (Slave Driver).
Singer and guitarist Mikke Worm was backed by bassist Vin Cash, drummer Josh Crimespree and ambitious lead guitarist Ryan Crane. “Take it to the edge Ryan! All you skate boys out there!” introduced “Skaters Edge” (This Is A Game).
Three more from Slave Driver followed, beginning with one that Worm wrote with Gang Green OG Chris Doherty, “Not Into Me”. The song eased in with a slow roll before it punched you in the face. “So this is called “In The Trenches”, it’s off our new record, Slave Driver. Recorded by the legendary Richard Marr at Galaxy Park Studios.”
When he wasn’t playing guitar, Mikke did laps around the stage with punk flavored swagger. “Misery” and “Age Of Medication” were up before unleashing “Eye In The Sky” with its classic punk lyrics “They want to think for me, they wanna drive your car, they wanna clean your house, they wanna fuck your mouth.”
Worm wrapped with “Well it’s good to see my good friend Chris (Doherty) finally back on stage again tonight. We’re gunna end it and send it off. It’s an old one by a band that influenced us from Southern California.” Ooof, this girl is not a fan of covers. Worm’s tribute track was Black Flag’s “Nervous Breakdown”. It didn’t outshine the original, but it succeeded in getting the fans hyped. “Thanks a lot, we’re Worm from Boston Mass”. The band has been slinging punk to the masses for over two decades. Check em out!
The “salad” course in our musical banquet (to balance heavy flavors, refresh your taste buds) was another
serving of hXc outta Boston. The band took a while to get rolling as frontman John Sox quipped, “Good
evening everybody, welcome to our sound check. We are The F.U.’s.”
Then they pummeled us with punk’d up high speed thrash, kicking it off with “Warlords” (Do We Really Want To Hurt You?), “What You Pay For” (My America) and “Preskool Dropouts” (Kill For Christ). “Thank you very much. Here’s a new one for ya, it’s called “What Have I Got To Prove”. The song intro had a definite Green Day vibe.
Next up was “Young, Fast, Iranians” followed by a new track. “This is a brand, brand new one, never tried before human beings. We’re professionals, don’t try this at home” was the lead in to “Company Of Shadows”. At that point ya girl jumped in with the punk walkers cuz it looked so fun!
Guitarist Steve Grimes confessed “That was the first time we played that live and we fucked it up. Come see us again and we will play it right.” Sox shot back “I thought it sounded better.” The sonic assault continued with title track “My America”, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Mutha” and “Killer”.
“Let’s go surfing!” cued “Surfing Sevastopol”. The set wrapped with “Outcast”, “F.U.” and “Green Beret” (This Is Boston, Not L.A.). The F.U.’s lineup featured singer John Sox, whose gruff vocals gave me kind of a Lemmy vibe, guitarists Ian King and Steve Grimes, bassist Slade Anderson and drummer Bob Furapples, whose manic energy behind the kit resembled a seizure. The F.U.’s deserve a spot on your thrashy punk playlist. And if they don’t, F.U.
We had dessert (balancing heavy flavors with sweetness) before the main course cuz there’s no conformity in punk. Tree is a fusion of doom metal with layers of psych and punk rock and their energy was apparent from the jump. Singer Dave “River” Tree, local loudmouth and humble servant of nature, announced “We’re here to celebrate forty years of Gang Green’s Wasted Nights” before they tore into “Question Abuse” (A Lot To Fear).
Half the set was pulled from Downsizing The American Dream, beginning with “Homefront” and “Truth”. They reached back to Radio Bootleg For The Restless Masses for “Evicted” and 7” Mans Ruin Vinyl for “Arm The Homeless”.
“Thank you, you guys are awesome. Luv ya Connecticut. Support each other, support good businesses like this club, and this band, and like we need you guys. Fans make the band. Without you everything sucks!” We responded enthusiastically. “Good. We got a new song “Thin Blue Line”. You know what
it’s about?” Only wrong answers came flying back. “It’s about the cops.”
The pit kept moving with a steady stream of moshers and bouncing bodies, as the band’s infectious energy made it nearly impossible to stand still. Title track “Bye Bye Boston Goodbye” gave way to new track “Long Live The Rat”, a hardcore punk love letter to Boston’s legendary live music venue, The Rathskeller. “I remember an old gig, Gang Green was playing downstairs and shit was flying everywhere! Can’t believe no one died that night.”
They closed with a fistful of tracks from Downsizing: “Elephant”, “This Land”, “Stands Alone”, “Paper” and “X-Communicated”, where the singer jumped into the crowd to join the fans’ revelry. Dave Tree was backed by guitarist Shaun “Viking Bear Stands Alone” Anzalone, bassist Chris “Mr. Grass” Prendergast, and drummer Brett “BPD” Payne Need a shot of screamo punk that’ll getcha movin? Tree has ya covered.
Our entree (central focus, heavy main dish) was Gang Green, godfathers of East Coast hardcore punk.
Inducted into the Boston Music Awards Hall Of Fame in 2006, the band has six studio albums. The tour was celebrating 40 Years Of Wasted Nights so half of the fifteen song setlist was pulled from Another Wasted Night.
Singer, frontman, and Gang Green OG Chris Doherty welcomed us. “Thank you all for coming out tonight. Some of you may know, I’m a stroke survivor, I had a stroke in 2018. When I was in the hospital for three months I dreamed about moments like this. When I tell people I had a stroke they always say sorry. I say don’t be sorry, cuz the comeback’s gunna be better than the setback.”
That inspirational speech was followed by a pulverizing dose of punk with title track “Another Wasted Night”, “Have Fun” and “Commie” (Preschool), before reaching into Another Case Of Brewtality for “Out On The Couch” and “Weekend Millionaire.” Doherty was backed by lead guitarist Chris Donnelly, bassist Mike Modeste, local percussion legend Christian “Opus” Lawrence and rhythm guitarist Patrick “Patty Fuck It I Don’t Care” Garcia.
When the band finally came up for air we heard from Opus, “I heard MySpace is makin a comeback, is that true? I wanna fuckin do it again, if you guys could all join me. Gang Green on MySpace. Let’s Go!” Doherty retorted in true punk style, “I hate that social media so fuck all that shit.”
The onslaught continued with “Haunted House” and thrash heavy “Just One Bullet” (Older…Budweiser) which triggered a back and forth “Hey! Hey!” chant between the vocalist and his loyals. “Sold Out” (Can’t LIVE Without It) came next.
Dave “River” Tree jumped on stage and hugged Doherty, who responded, “You smell like weed.” Tree accompanied on lead vocals, with Mikke Worm on back up, for “Terrorize” (Preschool). Tree jumped off stage mid-song to join in the punk style pit and upped the chaos.
After “19th Hole” and “Voices Scary”, Doherty paused to “thank my awesome band of brothers up here”. Rightfully so, he assembled a talented bunch of musicians for this four date run. Then Patty wrung out the bandana off his head and Niagara damn Falls came outta that sucker.
The frontman dedicated the next track “for all the skateboarders in the house. This one’s called “Skate To Hell”. The pit frenzy level upped a bit more and never let up as Gang Green closed with “Another Bomb”, “LDSB” and “Alcohol”.
The singer bid farewell “Thank you for coming out. It’s so nice to see so many familiar faces. In this economy, you you coulda done anything tonight but ya came here and that means the fuckin world to me, thank you!” One couple drove six hours, and another fan twenty-one, to catch this gig.
Gang Green headlined a sold out hometown show in Boston the following night. If you’re craving punk, don’t miss Gang Green, they helped formulate the original recipe.
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