NYHC: New York Hardcore 1980–1990 by Tony Rettman

Author:Tony Rettman [Rettman, Tony]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Bazillion Points
Published: 2014-12-17T16:00:00+00:00

26. CBGB MATINEE

ERNIE PARADA:CBGB wasn’t doing hardcore in the beginning. They had an audition night on Mondays, and if they liked you and you drew a crowd, then you would get a gig. It wasn’t until around late 1982 that they started with the matinees.

DON FURY: I had played in bands at CBGB for a few years and Carol Costa, my ex, was helping book the band. About 1979, she started work at CB’s, helping Hilly Kristal manage the club and, later on, book the acts. By the early ’80s, lots of hardcore punk was coming out. The bands needed a regular venue to support them. I knew CB’s would be a good spot. I asked Carol to put the idea to Hilly. First he said no, but after a few tries he said okay—and the CBGB hardcore matinee was born.

VINNIE STIGMA:What do I remember about the CBGB matinees? First of all, I’m Italian, so I eat dinner at three o’clock on Sundays. I’m Nablidon, so we eat at three. If I was Sicilian, I’d eat at two o’clock. I used to go to CBGB with a full belly, and my grandmother gave me a glass of wine, so I was ready!

STEVE WISHNIA: CBGB were not really comfortable with punk as it started becoming hardcore. They thought it was too violent, and most of the crowd didn’t drink as much.

KEVIN CROWLEY: The first time we played CBGB we ended up owing Hilly money because stuff got damaged. We passed a hat around, and everyone gave what they could. The hardcore stuff was on probation with Hilly at that point, but ultimately we ended up doing a bunch of the matinees.

MIKE JUDGE: We would get the Village Voice and to see who was playing. We saw there was a matinee going on during a Saturday afternoon at CBGB. The first time I went to a CB’s matinee, I saw Agnostic Front, back when John Watson was the singer. After I saw that show, every Saturday, I was there. I had to be a part of that scene.

VINNIE STIGMA:On Sunday matinee shows, what I used to do with Agnostic Front is go do the sound check and then go home at eat. Hilly would be there. He was a man of few words. This is how it would go. This happened every time I ever played there:

Me: Hey Hilly, how are ya?

Hilly: Hey Vinnie, how ya doin’?

Me: All right. We’re going to load in.

Hilly: All right.

Me: Coffee?

Hilly: Yeah, okay.

I used to bring back the pignoli cookies. Man, he loved them Italian cookies! I left the cookies there, did my sound check, and then he would disappear.

DREW STONE: This shit got too big for A7, and that’s when it percolated over into Saturday and Sunday afternoons at CBGB. No one was fucking there then anyway, so Hilly scored.

RALPHIE G: Hardcore with the right bands could fill a club. The drinking part was another story. That’s how the idea for the matinees came about.

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