I had to know. It was a good two years of waiting for this show since John Joseph’s reincarnation of the legendary New York hardcore punk band the Cro-Mags back in 2008. So on March 14, a small posse of blood brothers met me on the top of Potrero Hill where we descended into the awaiting mayhem at Thee Parkside in San Francisco.
Arriving moments before the big performance, a wall of stage guards stood as a warning of things to come. My friends dragged me to the back toward the bar saying, “You don’t want to be anywhere near the eye of this storm.” The lights dimmed, the Clockwork Orange intro commenced as punks, S.H.A.R.P.s and metal heads filled the tiny watering hole beyond maximum capacity. Wendy Carlos’s foreboding intro faded and the entire crowd exploded into fist pumps and quarrels with the anthem “We Gotta Know”. John Joseph dove straight into “Show You Know Mercy” as enthusiasts dove into the audience.
“Don’t Tread On Me” had the crowd surfers kicking the P.A. speakers, “Malfunction” brought the doom, “Street Justice” inspired more rioting, “Face The Facts” inflicted more blunt pain, “Seekers Of The Truth” chugged with Krishna wisdom, then an odd cover of the Who’s “Teenage Wasteland”, some life affirming empowerment on “Life Of My Own”, the testing of the tempest with “It's The Limit”, some righteous nods to Bad Brains with “Right Brigade and Attitude”, Joseph’s autobiographical “Survival Of The Streets”, the modern apocalyptic “Signs Of The Times” and then a brief moment to catch some air.
The grand encore continued the excessive display of straight edge-testosterone fueled slam dancing. Joseph returned with the no-future-call- and- response basher “World Peace” and concluded with “Hard Times” belting out:
Hard times are coming through
But if you’re hard they won't get to you
They're gonna try to drive you into the ground
But never surrender, never go down!”
The beaten up masses poured out as I thanked my lucky stars to be intact, un-bruised but still shaken up from the endurance match that just took place. Unbelievable. Here’s some classic MTV footage of a young John Joseph talking about stage diving and the importance of The
Bhagavad Gita’s scriptures:
I had to know. It was a good two years of waiting for this show since John Joseph’s reincarnation of the legendary New York hardcore punk band the Cro-Mags back in 2008. A small posse of blood brothers met me on the top of Potrero Hill where we descended into the awaiting mayhem at Thee Parkside in San Francisco.
Arriving moments before the big performance, a wall of stage guards stood as a warning of things to come. My friends dragged me to the back toward the bar saying, “You don’t want to be anywhere near the eye of this storm.” The lights dimmed, the Clockwork Orange intro commenced as punks, S.H.A.R.P.s and metal heads filled the tiny watering hole beyond maximum capacity. Wendy Carlos’s foreboding intro faded and the entire crowd exploded into fist pumps and quarrels with the anthem “We Gotta Know”. John Joseph dove straight into “Show You Know Mercy” as enthusiasts galore dove into the audience.
“Don’t Tread On Me” had the crowd surfers kicking the P.A. speakers, “Malfunction” brought the doom, “Street Justice” inspired more rioting, “Face The Facts” inflicted more blunt pain, “Seekers Of The Truth” chugged with Krishna wisdom, then an odd cover of the Who’s “Teenage Wasteland”, some life affirming empowerment on “Life Of My Own”, the testing of the tempest with “It's The Limit”, some righteous nods to Bad Brains with “Right Brigade and Attitude”, Joseph’s autobiographical “Survival Of The Streets”, the modern apocalyptic “Signs Of The Times” and then a brief moment to catch some air.
The grand encore continued the excessive display of straight edge-testosterone fueled slam dancing. Joseph returned with the no-future-call- and- response basher “World Peace” and concluded with “Hard Times” belting out:
Hard times are coming through
But if you’re hard they won't get to you
They're gonna try to drive you into the ground
But never surrender, never go down!”
The beaten up masses poured out as I thanked my lucky stars to be intact, un-bruised but still shaken up from the endurance match that just took place. Unbelievable. Here’s some classic MTV footage of a young John Joseph talking about stage diving and the importance of The
Bhagavad Gita’s scriptures: