Benefit show for Dr. Know in Tompkins Square Park w/ Breakdown, Token Entry, Cro-Mags, Antidote, Maximum Penalty.

 Tompkins Square Park and the area around it has a lot of history for NYC punk. It was my first experience and introduction to NYC (punk) in the early 90's. I remember it as a punk park, where a nearby beeper store sold weed. I was scared of that place at night.  There were riots, and for a period of time, it was fenced off. Breakdown, Reagan Youth, Missing Foundation, Leftover Crack and tons more, too many to list, played this park, all to rally and protest for squatters rights in the LES. Gentrifier Guilliani booted everyone eventually... Anyway, flash forward to now, everybody's old or dead, and the park reeks of it.

The benefit was to help Dr. Know, guitarist of the legendary American punk band the Bad Brains, pay for medical bills from a recent hospitalization. Bad Brains were one of the godfathers of the NYHC scene. Recently, Dr. Know suffered cardiac arrest, which led to organ failures, he survived, yet, he is faced a mountain of medical bills. Several old school NYHC bands got together for this benefit.
  I got there late, due to traffic on the damn Tappan Zee from a bad crane accident had cars bottlenecked, and fuckers rubberneckin the broken crane that fell, I snapped a shot, too what the hell, when in Rome traffic I guess...

  I missed the two openers,  I got there just as Cro-Mags hit the stage. 15 years ago, I saw Harley's War at CBGB with Daryl on bass, this Cro-Mags lineup is without Harley, in 2000, I also saw the Cro-Mags open for the Bad Brains when Harley and John were both in the reunited stage, and Bad Brains were called the Soul Brains, anyway, Here's some shots...

I finally got to one on my bucket list, seeing Token Entry live, and I was glad I did. The song Antidote is my radio show theme song since 96, due to it's Friday night reference, and overall badass jammin.

THE PIT! 

 MOSH! SLAM! CIRCLE PIT! WALL OF DEATH!

CHUNX

MORE CHUNX

BREAKDOWN ! 

They ended the night with clobbering breakdowns (of all things) and plenty o' sing alongs with lyrics like "all you are is a fucking dick" 

MOSH! NY SLAM!

Slam and jam in100 degrees to support a great cause, the foundation, NYHC and believe it, NYHC RULES.

And last but not least, I got to hang with Munsey of Skateboard Marketing, this guy has been supplying me with metal, punk, and hardcore music for 20 years at WSPN radio, and I am grateful to know such a great guy. He's an old school mf'er that used work at fukkin Combat Core, in like, '86 which fuckin rules. Cheers Munsey!