BAD BRAINS
THE FILLMORE
IRVING PLAZA, NYC
November 5, 2008
review by Morgan Y. Evans/photos by Megan Thomas

LINKS:

badbrains.com

As the stomping groove of Bad Brains anthem “Reignition” filled a crowded and exuberant Irving Plaza, it was impossible not to feel swept up in history. Sure, the event was billed as an Obama victory party, but remember, this was also the Bad Brains. Four D.C. military kids who invented hardcore in the late ‘70s and happen to be black, eventually becoming Rastas and influencing thousands along the way. It also bears mentioning that their first, legendary ROIR cassette featured a bolt of lightning hitting the roof of the White House, of course!

 
The vibe at Irving Plaza’s Fillmore and in NY in general, the night after Obama’s triumph (and a huge celebration in nearby Union Square), was less one of lightning obliterating corruption (though Bush being replaced certainly fits that bill!), than one of energized positivity and world empathy. It felt like a re-ignition of the spirit we’re supposed to embody in this land. Lou Koller from hardcore vets (and Bad Brains pals) Sick Of It All recently sang on their Death To Tyrants record from 2006 that “This is not a land of revolution anymore”, a statement born of frustration at apathy in the general, uninformed public during the last eight years of Bush/Cheney manipulation. Seeing the change in the voting map and the reaction of people throughout the world to Obama’s ascent, pinching ourselves that what seemed impossible really had happened, it was nice to feel a sense of worldwide awareness that America’s symbolic role as a land of opportunity and diversity was being re-asserted. It was also nice that in the election itself it was less about race than who was the better candidate.

 

 
Let’s face it though, not only was Obama clearly the better candidate, but the relief worldwide that America, a land where only forty years ago blacks could be hypocritically fire hosed by people representing the so-called “Land of The Free” in the country that produced the Declaration of Independence, was more than palpable on this past November 4th. You can practically see the relief when you see the Stars and Stripes flying ever since. It wasn’t just about skin color but it also matters so much as a cultural shift. I think we were all in shock together throughout the world. It hit upside the head as strong as…well, as strong as a Bad Brains riff! Let’s hope that someday it will seem so antiquated and weird, as it should, that 60 year-old white men should be our only leaders for generations, disbarring the qualifications of others. Rage Against the Machine wrote about Eurocentric textbooks and there is no way this is not going to have to force that to change as well, somewhat, with Obama’s Kenyan heritage.

While people in the Fillmore audience did shout “Black President” to Cheshire grinning vocalist HR, it was pretty cool that the Brains actually didn't say anything about it from the stage. They just did their righteous thing up there, Dr Know displaying his nonchalant cool onstage as the band exuded confidence, as if to say, “This is how it should’ve been all along, America.”

Then again, there’s also the of-questionable-taste (yet still pretty amusing) joke I’ve heard a lot recently that George W. Bush fucked the world up so much during his two terms that the next president is gonna be black and Guns’N’Roses are finally releasing Chinese Democracy.

 

 

  

 

 

Anyhow, the Brains are the rare band, like Jane’s Addiction in their heyday, who posess street smarts and gritty punk realism alongside a sense of mysticism, and a shocking and potent stage presence that is spiritual and sadly missing in most bands today. It’s almost to the point that it makes many of them barely count in my hyper-critical book as anything but rote and redundant once you’ve seen something like the Bad Brains at their best, though TV On The Radio come to mind as a band who have that certain special quality, though in a less hard rock context. Natural mystics, I might even say, all of them. Shit, Jane’s Addiction even managed to outdo the Rolling Stones on their cover of “Sympathy For The Devil”, a fucked up thing to say ‘cuz I love the Stones, but something that I’ve always secretly felt.

Show openers No Redeeming Social Value were all bald heads, sharp suits and goonish antics, capering about like a rowdy gang onstage and singing about beer and Guidos. Of course. Queens, New York scene vets Killing Time (once known as Raw Deal) kicked major ass, looking like extras on the Sapranos and very much like an old school, no frills NYHC band delivering the goods. It’s ‘cuz they are one. Shouter/frontman Anthony Comunale dominated the front of the stage with his imposing frame and got the faithful in the crowd riled up and piling up. He also told a very cool story about seeing the Brains in ’81 (I think) and being blown away that they were black. Killing Time were really raucous and fun, a basic, no bullshit band doing what they love. They also were really psyched because it was their first time in all their years as a band playing with Bad Brains. Comunale also said the Brains are the greatest hardcore band of all time, which most people accept as true. I certainly agree.

Rolling Stone Magazine really dropped the ball in their 50 Greatest Guitarists and 50 Greatest Guitar Songs Of All Time lists. Dr Know should’ve been somewhere on both. Fucking Sublime was on the latter! Not bagging on them too hard, but they ain’t got shit on Bad Brains. Doc is humble but knows his role as an artist. Again, his band invented a genre with their first single “Pay To Cum” and have influenced everyone from No Doubt to Slayer to Clutch to Glassjaw to Henry Rollins and Moby to Cave In and Leeway to The Smashing Pumpkins and The Deftones (who did some of their first tours with the Brains). The list goes on and on. Alternative music is impossible without these guys and certainly not some of the brighter current underground bands like Alexisonfire, Hella or Polar Bear Club. While the Sex Pistols, Ramones, X-Ray Specs and the New York Dolls all carved the punk path, the Brains (formerly known as a fusion act called Mind Power) hyper sped it all up in a blender of cultural channeling. They represented the bridging of divides more than most of the early punk bands. Brains took up the mantle sparked by Chuck Berry and launched it into space. It is sad a lot of young people today don’t celebrate the black roots of rock’n’roll as much sometimes.

Finally it was time. HR gave his usual, “Hello Boys and Girls!” greeting to a swell of cheers from front to back. The Bad Brains tore into “Attitude”, the opener of their hour and a half set of classics, resonating with a near “Yes, we can” insistence. “Don’t care what you may say, we got that attitude” is just as uncompromising a mantra for staying motivated when you know your cause is just (although it can also be a rallying cry for punk rock wild antics, depending on the context we’re singing about here). “Banned In D.C” was also truly uplifting. They’d just played D.C. for the first time in years on election night, one night previous, a show that I really wish I’d somehow attended. I’m sure it was awesome. The bridge of “Banned…”, one of the best breakdowns ever, took off like a rocket and was really inspiring, HR’s line “You can’t afford to close your doors so soon, no more” really hitting home in the context of black identity or, to me, as a send off to the Republitards who tried to hijack the nation. I know we’re all supposed to be unified and stuff, but let’s not forget how corrupt things were, Bush’s exploitation of 9/11 and also McCain’s sleaziest campaign in history.

 

 

“At The Movies” was blazing--one of my favorites--and of course “Right Brigade” also kicked ass. It is such a brilliant and energetic tune. HR famously split with the band several times at (unfortunately) key junctures because, allegedly, he wanted to pursue more reggae and less rock, thinking it was the true path for the Rasta (or so I have heard). Sometimes during the last few years he hasn’t sung all his parts in the heavier songs live, but tonight he was on it and sang almost everything except for when grinning and letting the audience take over. We were shouting our brains out. Bassist and mad scientist Daryl Jenifer has the best bass tone in music, still. He also showed off his beyond impressive finger work and range on numbers like the reggae jam “Jah Love” and the muscular “The Regulator”, which got the devoted surging like a motherfucker.

 

 

 
In the tune “Expand Your Soul” from their recent Megaforce Records album Build A Nation, where Doc and Daryl play a unison riff so ballsy it is way into the red. Drummer Earl Hudson blew the roof off on his lumberjack snare hits during the booming and unstoppable “Give Thanks and Praises” from that last record, also. What a kick ass later career number! It is a song that seems like it was always part of their catalog, so well does it gel with and yet round out their career. Most people like I Against I the best for Brains records. I am a Rock For Light guy. Some think Rick Ocasek’s production was too thin, but it is a great example of a hardcore record with more melodic distinction and presence. Build A Nation fuses all their styles from over the years and yet emphasized the earliest punk spirit full force as well.

The Bad Brains took the punk aesthetic of “anyone” can play how they want, but were more studious musicians, influencing growth and pride as a performer AND growth spiritually. It is fascinating to watch the bands that took this to heart, for example Ian Mackaye’s journey from Teen Idles to Minor Threat to Embrace (D.C.) to Fugazi (one of the most intriguing trips in rock). It is also why more progressive and multi-faceted bands of today’s underground are fascinated with or friendly with the Brains and is what made Dr Know’s collaboration with the (fresh-from-being-Shabutie) SECOND STAGE TURBINE BLADE-era Coheed and Cambria’s collaboration with Dr Know on their song “Time Consumer” one of the most intriguing and resonant moments in indie-rock of the last decade.

One of the most inventive singers in rock history, HR came off onstage at the Fillmore as a kind of shepherd/teacher and even showed some impressive falsetto singing. During the standout song of the night, in my book, “I And I Survive”, HR conducted the crowd in a back and forth, rousing sing-along, with Doc just soaring on the solos and everyone chilling to Earl’s subtle beats. Daryl stared into the crowd and got everyone into the zone with his iconic bass line. It felt like history in the making.

There’s no reason these guys shouldn’t be as big as, say, David Bowie. Why not? I mean, they have done so much for music. They did have a lot of struggles and heartbreak over the years, but they laid the groundwork for so much. HR was eccentric at times but he lived his shit. Maybe they aren’t bigger because they are just too fucking rock’n’roll. Certainly they are legends but they deserve much more props.

“Soulcraft” from The Quickness album was so ahead of the learning curve when it came out, a stomping mix up of too many styles to count. They launched into it and set the room ablaze on November 5th, the crowd vibing so hard off the relentless bassline and screeching dive bomber guitar solo.

But…I’m a fan of warts and all sociology. It’s how I’d want people to treat me, albeit fairly, if I had more fans. A lot of people today treat bands with pure adulation, with little analysis (M.Shadows from Avenged Sevenfold for example got off with saying that George Bush was better to vote for than John Kerry ‘cuz Kerry seemed like a pussy for way too long).

 

 

  

 

 

That said, it bums me out to bring up the stain on the Brains career, that which maybe hurt them the most. There was a brief period when HR got into homophobia, which happens to a lot of Rastas. It’s really a shame as the Bad Brains have always motivated so many. I can remember being at an Afropunk sponsored Bad Brains tribute show at The Delancey and meeting Kimya Dawson of Juno/Moldy Peaches fame who had performed “The Regulator” acoustic and getting a record from her after the show, or seeing The Exit kick ass there. The message of the whole night was unity and education. In the song “Don’t Blow Bubbles” from The Quickness Bad Brains album HR railed against gays and seemed to blame them for AIDS. Listening to that song breaks my heart every time, and I’m straight.

I’m not an apologist, but I will say that you also have to look at the absolute truths. That also includes that the Bad Brains turned many, many skinheads away from the racist path in the New York hardcore scene and taught so many how to love musical freedom. In life, we all develop spiritually at our own paces and have our own obstacles and issues to grapple with.

I am bringing this up because The N.Y. Times reported on November 6th, 2008 that 70% of black voters who turned out for Obama voted against gay marriage in California’s Proposition 8. It is so sad that people would interfere in the lives of others like this when calling for their own freedom, recognition, and enriched standing for so long. I will never understand it when minorities have conservative streaks, as despite Lincoln being a Republican (and one of Obama’s heroes), it has long been the predominantly most racist party and the most exploitative of common labor for the sake of tax breaks for the wealthy. As Against Me! sang to Condoleeza Rice, “Oh,Condoleeza, do you get the fucking joke?”

Iain Banks in his great sci-fi novel The Player Of Games imagined a future where people would be able to change sexes and race at will, while not losing the importance of cultural identity. A mass embrace. If you think about it, transgender is pretty damn punk rock. You can’t be for body modification and all about piercings and tattoos and peoples right to be themselves and be against it or sexual orientation. Accept who you are, but accept others sexuality and rights. Sometimes we are compelled to change facets of ourselves and that is who we are. Pete Burns from Dead Or Alive is brave and awesome. Remember to learn from mistakes and that not everyone’s alike. It is especially sad since heterosexual marriage is a bad contest on TV shows sometimes nowadays like “Who Wants To Marry A Millionaire”, while some gay people who have been partners for thirty years are blocked from what they deserve in life.

It makes HR’s words in the newer song “Natty Dreadlocks ‘Pon The Mountaintop” come to mind. In it, he sings “Remember what the people say, you live and learn”. Since that unfortunate chapter they have aged and matured more and chilled in liberal wellsprings like Woodstock way more and I certainly never detected any prejudice of any kind towards anyone from the Bad Brains guys, save towards people who were just being whack in general. They have even inspired bands like the Cipher (one of the best hardcore bands in New York right now) to include anthems against all types of prejudice including homophobia on their recent, phenomenal album Children Of God’s Fire. Perhaps more than any band I have ever heard, Cipher embody the Bad Brains most positive and revolutionary potential passed on to a younger act.

A lot of people find spirituality and link it to the Bible. I think the Bible is piece-meal and can’t be read without objectivity, like any historical document. There are too many contradictions and chances for powers to manipulate the text to shape history through the ages. That is the biggest evil I can think of, to do that. As a result, I try and question authority and take the most uplifting messages of love and acceptance as Jesus Christ is meant to embody; principles founded in understanding, communication, healing and keeping a positive mental attitude towards others. I think God or the force inherent in life that made the first cell will understand that. It is also why the name of the Bad Brains song “Universal Peace” really resonates with me, in addition to the fact that it is one of the most frighteningly impressive pieces of musicianship I have ever heard.

Remember, we all have a part to play. Jah people make the world go Round. As Doc said to me many times: “Each one teach one.”

As Obama mentioned in his acceptance speech, the brilliance of America is that “Our union can be perfected.” We can build bridges between people and cultures and sexuality of all kinds and create education and health. What is science used to enrich life if not a gift from the Universe? Science is the Universe! (Though the Brains had a point when they mentioned cloning run amok, a popular hardcore theme, in their song “Gene Machine”). What is culture if not who we are? Obama created a feeling of world empathy, like we had after 9/11, like the Brains created small-scale in their career touching people’s lives with their music. Let’s keep an eye on Obama and hope he keeps his pledges like any politician, but for now, let’s be thankful for all that we have together and really keep moving towards unity as we truly Build A Nation.

When the Brains came back out to repeated shouts of “Bad Brains” for an encore on November 5th and left us all grinning with ears ringing after an explosive version of “I Against I”, it was impossible not to feel like anything was possible. As long as life exists, the glass can be half full and no barrier to harmony can’t be overcome, Jah (and humanity) willing.