Jaunted

The place was packed when we arrived at 6:24 p.m., and we had to push our way inside and find some breathing room near the back. Seth was wearing a gray hoodie with sunglasses that made him look a little bit like the F.B.I. sketch of the Unabomber, and as he took the floor, a mosh pit quickly opened up in front of him. In an instant, it became a scene out of the early eighties punk explosion, a mass of spikey mohawks, flannel shirts, and chains smashing into each other to a blistering hardcore beat. Well past our mosh years, we gave the kids a wide berth, enjoying the performance from a safe, thirty-something distance.

The band went through a half-dozen or so songs, ending as abruptly as it began with a spirited rendition of their biggest hit, Everything's Gone Wrong. It was just as punk rock should be: loud, wild, intense, and brief. As Seth himself has told me, a half hour is as much hardcore as anybody wants to hear. But I suspect a few of those moshers could have tolerated a bit more. In any case, there were more bands on the bill to provide them with their noise fix.

As for us, we congratulated Seth on a fine performance and headed out into the cold with our ears still ringing. Passout Records has live shows all the time, and they're always free. Since it's not a bar, there's no hassle with tickets, velvet ropes, and expensive booze (though more than a few punks were brown-bagging it). Better still, all the shows end early, perfect for music fans like me who went home to watch the 1976 Mazursky film Next Stop - Greenwich Village on DVD. Not very hardcore, I know, but that's just how I roll.

[Photo: Victor Ozols]

Related Stories:
· Passout Record Shop [Official Site]
· Blackout Shoppers [Official Site]
· Live Music Coverage [Jaunted]