Among all the incredible bands playing in 1989, Up Front were right up there. With new frontman Roger Lambert, former ENUF drummer, Ari Katz taking over the kit and of course mainstays Jon Field and Jeff Terranova, in my opinion this lineup was the best this band would come to have. Fortunately I caught Up Front twice with this lineup and I can assure you, live it was something special.
Up Front guitarist, Jon Field, supplies DCXX with this video and story from Up Front's set at the monumental final Youth Of Today show, August 4th 1989 at Fenders Ballroom in Long Beach, California. -Tim DCXX
In the Summer of 1989, Up Front were at the peak of a roller coaster year, having released our first LP in January, then immediately suffering the loss of our singer Steve, then our drummer Jim one month before tour. We were in the midst of a July/August tour that for short stretches had us paired with Unit Pride, GB, Insted & Release, but would lose our singer Roger and drummer Ari before the year was out. It was also the height of the Youth Crew/Revelation years, with amazing shows every weekend. Following that Summer many bands broke up and the scene started to fragment with more fights at shows.
I remember at various points on the tour hearing different lineups for the August 4th show at Fenders Ballroom we were set to play. It eventually settled on us, Youth Of Today, Gorilla Biscuits, Insted, Supertouch, Judge, Bold & Chain Of Strength. Needless to say we were really fuckin' excited about this show. We had heard many stories from our SoCal friends about Fenders over the years, from all the great bands that had played there, to the 2000+ crowds, to the legendary fights, stabbings and shootings form local gangs like the Lads, SBS, Suicidals, etc. We were told not to make eye contact with anyone and we should be OK. Scary stuff for a bunch of teenagers playing the West Coast for the first time, and I think it made us even more psyched to play.
The show was just fantastic all around, we were there with all our east coast friends, but playing on a bigger stage in front of 4 times as many people, and with all of our SoCal friends there too. The best part was the crowd. about 30 seconds into the first song it was like the scene in Another State of Mind with all the stagedives set to "Violence" from Youth Brigade. People were running behind me, falling on the floor like Angus Young and flailing around, it was fucking insanity. Roger took full advantage of the craziness, doing dozens of dives, even hanging from the ceiling at once point. To me this is what a hardcore show should be. I'd rather have kids running into me and knocking the cord out of my guitar than standing around with their arms folded nodding their heads. After our set we decided to have a litte fun and run backwards against any circle pits we saw, which did not go over well with the Cali kids.
I think Fenders' gang days were over by the Summer of '89, because I don't remember any violence at all that night. Oddly, the only thing resembling a conflict the whole night was with another band. Chain Of Strength borrowed our equipment, and during Never Understand Chris Bratton went crazy and knocked/kicked over Ari Katz's drums. Ari was pissed. You can see him in the video for a few songs after, standing right next to Chris looking like he wants to kill him. Then Ryan did sort of a knee slide up to the front of the stage, and I watched my new guitar head go sailing through the air as his short guitar cord yanked it off the cabinet.....it was like slow-fucking-motion, with me yelling "Noooooooooooooooo." Thankfully, the head survived without a scratch.
About 6 months after the tour, we got a video of this show. Jeff, Tim (our new drummer) and I gave names to some of the people that came on stage the most: Circle Jerks skanker, NYC skinhead dude, Infest stomp guy, etc. Even though the quality sucks it's still one of my favorite HC videos almost 19 years later.
The fact that this ended up being YOT's last show was just the icing on the cake. I could name a dozen or more other great shows I've played that stand out to me over the years, but this one always seems to come out on top.
And if anyone has a first generation copy of the video from the show, let me know!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Up Front at Fenders Ballroom, August 4th 1989
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8 comments:
Haha, you can see Mikey Garceau doing dives in that vid. Nice. That was a fun show.
Jon, that is a great video and story! UpFront has always been one of my faves from that era. 'Spirit' is still in regular rotation around here at Casa De Eric!
Jeff was and is one of the best bassists ever in the HC scene (or anywhere else)
That was one LOOOONG and amazing show. I was so tired by the time YOT came on, and when I saw Ray with the Krishna haircut, I just went and sat down.
I still have the flyer for that show, I think Up Front and Bold were add-ons and weren't even on the flyer. I'll have to dig it up.
wow, ari with bleached hair and roger with a long sleeve pressure release shirt. my how times have changed.
Fader..... Thats EXACTLY what I did. That show was great!!! Good vid.
I love watching Hartsfield and Mikey do dives in this video!
I have a couple of versions of the flyer from this show, here's one with us (and Bold):
http://www.up-front.org/images/flyer08.jpg
Jon my flyer is exactly like that, except Up Front isn't on it and Supertouch who played isn't on it either. Needless to say, both bands being added was a bonus.
That entire show was East Coast except Insted and Chain. Damn cool being 14 or whatever I was and getting to see that show. Shit I think I even took my brother who was 12 at the time.
As hard as it can be to accept criticism, it can also be a challenge to muster the courage to provide criticism, and this can cause some people to procrastinate in giving it.
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