Punk rock and hardcore never ceases to inspire and amaze me. The synchronicity is sometimes wonderful. A post that appeared on my social media timeline indicated that SPACED, a band from Buffalo, USA, was playing at Boom in Leeds, UK. I received an email from a friend a few moments later offering me tickets to the gig. Great! I am looking for something to do that night. I like hardcore punk music, I like the Buffalo Bills, both for 20+ years, sounds like a no brainier!
Boom, also known previously as the TEMPLE OF BOOM is a familiar haunt to me, but after arriving I soon realised that I haven’t been there since I left the UK four years ago. The interior felt all so familiar, but when I looked around I hardly recognised anyone. Back then I used to recognise everyone. Things have changed. I was happy to reconnect to the space in a physical capacity, and sit back and reminisce with a fresh pint of Brooklyn Defender.
There’s a new breed of hardcore punk people, a breed unashamed of who they are, a young breed, a feeling of no judgement or care about what you are, just as it should be. Hardcore has become a lot more accessible thanks to the pioneering work of THE FLEX putting UKHC on the map, and bands like SLAVES, IDLES, and TURNSTILE garnering mainstream attention. It was as if every teenage mosher I had grown up with had been respawned into this environment, and it felt like nothing matters… who you are, what bands you like, what you wear, everyone was here and united because we are alternative freaks!
I was excited about seeing a band playing from my American homeland BUFFALO, so I decided to wear my NFL Buffalo Bills hoodie and hat, and within minutes of arriving at the venue, some members of the band called me over to the merch booth for a photo. I talked about synchronicity earlier. This was the last night of their 3 week European tour, so it was an opportunity for them to reconnect to their homeland ahead of their departure back home, and an opportunity for me to wear my Buffalo colours and meet people from there. I told them the story about how I purchased my hoodie from a GOODWILL charity shop when I visited Buffalo back when I was a roadie on tour with HERO DISHONEST in 2004, when the guitarist would have only been 6 years old.
The first band, local act IMPALE put on a good show and there was plenty of mosh, friendly fire / bump n grind mosh. It was refreshing to see the singer shouting out the gay community and everyone embracing it in a genuine way. They were followed by GOING OFF from Manchester.
I ended up watching SPACED from near the front of the stage, and dancing along for all of their set. It wasn’t my intention, but the pit was accessible as it wasn’t violent. It was slam dancing, bump and grind, friendly fire mosh style - is that a vibe from Gen Z these days? If so, I fully embrace it. After a few songs the other guitarist dedicated a song to “The Bufflao Bills Mafia Guy” and said [Quarterback] “Josh Allen is the greatest of all time”. The set was capped off nicely with me joining them on stage for one verse to sing along to their cover of ‘Rockaway Beach’ by the RAMONES. Aside from the cover, they were super grateful and overwhelmed to get such a reaction as a headline band, and they played a nice blend of traditional hardcore, and hardcore punk.
On the way out of the venue, I heard their roadie shout “Hey Buffalo Bills guy, the band would like to give you a t-shirt”, to which I duly accepted and thanked them for coming from my adopted hometown to play in my birth town. It was a great end to an enjoyable show and experience, and hardcore is very much alive and well to take us into the next epoch of its existence. Boom is a welcome permanent part of the fittings here in Leeds, and I commend it for continuing to be a space for preserving the heritage of the scene, and giving us an alternative place to belong, and evolve.
GO BILLS! GO BOOM!
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