No one knew what to expect about the Antisocial Campout. It was the first installment from the organizers of the annual Upstart Fest (http://upstartfest.com/). However, in the days that followed the weekend long punk festival in East Durham, NY at the Blackthorne Resort, the punks are still talking, and the talks are good. There was a major sense of unity all weekend long. Every band sounded great, and for once it seemed as if punk ruled the world again.
The Blackthorne Resort seemed as if it was something out of the 1950's. Peacocks and goats roaming the grounds, a kinda creepy children's playground, a giant robot upon the entrance, and it even had a haunted house! The weather couldn't have been more perfect, aside from a freak rain storm Sunday morning in the dawning hours. Those of us who stayed in tents woke up in puddles and pools. I'm willing to bet that 100% of the people there fell in love with the campground. Hell, one would've though it was some sort of hippy fest with the amount of comradery that was at the Backthorne all weekend.
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| seriously how creepy is that? |
Friday kicked off around 5 p.m. with Exit 17 ( www.exit17.bandcamp.com) and they set the pace for the weekend to come. Girth Control from Albany (www.facebook.com/girthcontrol) and one of the best bands of the weekend, OC45 from Boston, ( http://www.OC45Sucks.com) followed suit. One of the highlights of the night was pop punk legends, The Prozacs (www.theprozacs.bandcamp.com). They set the stage for punk rock icon Cheetah Chrome of the Dead Boys, who, let's face it if you need to read about punk rock you shouldn't start here, but maybe start with going to the record store and buying "Young, Loud, and Snotty." The evening continued outside with Big D and The Kids Table, and New Jersey rockers, Lost in Society (www.lostinsociety.bandpage.com). After Lost in Society, the night went indoors with the absolutely incredible New Red Scare (www.facebook.com/NewRedScare), who ripped through a rather tight set considering everyone was pretty well intoxicated. not just the band, but I mean everyone. New Red Scare singer, Bill Gwynn, had everyone on the edge of their seats (or toes rather, because we were all standing) gyrating around the floor like he was Stiv Bators, or better yet, Iggy Pop. They were easily one of the best bands all weekend long. Russian punks, The Svetlanas, were one of the most anticipated bands at the festival who did a surprise set around 1 a.m. Not a single person was disappointed. Actually, everyone was pretty much blown away by their intensity. Punkoleum Magazine called them, "The Most Dangerous Band In The World." That is quite an understatement. Rounding out the absolutely incredible day and night was New York City's own Enziguri ( www.facebook.com/enziguripunx) who carry the flame for one of the greatest punk cities in the world. They are fast, sweaty, kinda sound like H2O but better (ya I said that) and it was a perfect way to end the first night of the Antisocial Campout.
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| The Prozacs |
11 a.m. Saturday came around and a good bunch of campers went to the bar (I never got the name of that bar) for the "Punk Comedy Brunch" featuring JT Habersaat (www.http://jtcomedy.com/index/), who spent some time with Henry Rollins and who is actually heavily associated with Upstart Fest. He was hilarious-bouncing around topics that most people dance around like politics, race, religion, and well, punk rock.
At high noon Saturday the music started to take flight with many bands including the Catskills area's own Phantom Sleeze (www.facebook/FantomScuzzzz.com), Long Island's answer to Fugazi, In Circles (www.incirclesmusic.com), Stiletto Bomb (www.stilettobomb.bandcamp.com) which features members of western Massachusetts pop punks, The Prozacs, Connecticut all female trio Damn Broads (www.damnbroads.com), who were one of the highlights of the whole festival, their friends, two time award winning CT punks (2013 & 2014 CT Music Awards for "Best Punk"), The Lost Riots (www.thelostriots.bandcamp.com), Westchester County Trio The Jukebox Romantics (www.facebook.com/TheJukeboxRomantics), who had everyone dancing, jumping, smiling, and just about any emotion that can make one just absolutely love a band. The day went on and included a second stage of acoustic acts played inside. People split time between the two, maybe to catch a bit of the air conditioning that was being pumped into the bar, or maybe to take in everything the campout had to offer.
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| The Lost Riots |
The afternoon turned into evening and that made way for Two Fisted Law (www.twofistedlaw.com), who continue to raise the bar for everyone. Good thing they went on in the evening on Saturday, and not Friday, because they are one of the best bands in the northeast and those would've been big shoes to fill. Now the dark came and the punks were ready to dance as Mephiskapheles took the stage and made the whole place dance their asses off. Their horns echoed through the Blackthorne. I even think the goats were dancing. Before people had a chance to settle down, The Svletlanas were back for round two. The crowd drew close, but not that close, for fear that the front woman, Olga, would rip their American heads off. Once again they did not disappoint-a total destruction to all senses and the one band everyone was talking about. New York City Hardcore legends Sheer Terror ended the Antisocial Campout and gave a lesson on how to kick ass to all the youngins out there who were probably not even alive when the band started back in 1984.
Now days apart from that weekend I could go on record saying the Antisocial Campout was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had and I'm proud that I was a part of it. I only hope that it happens again for years to come. I'm looking forward to the Upstart Fest coming around in the next few weeks at various locations throughout the northeast. Here's to Travis, JT, Gina and everyone at Upstart and Altercation Records, props to the sound guys who did a phenomenal job, and to punks everywhere who cringe when we hear people say "punk is dead." Punk is alive and well and September 9th and 10th, 2016 was living proof. Cheers!
I do want to disclose that i am in fact the singer of The Lost Riots. however what a hell of a weekend it was.
