Lush Saturday afternoon on a tiny island between Manhattan, Queens and The Bronx called Randall’s Island. Local Punk, hardcore, ska bands rotate on 9 stages, the feeling is something between a toxic wasteland and a fresh meadow outside of NYC! This is Punk Island – the annual DIY punk festival which may or not be sponsored by the City (it will be actually super cool if my tax money go to fund this). It was my first on it, although I’ve heard about it through out the 8 years I’ve been living in NYC… I definitely don’t want to miss it again cause it was fucking awesome!
It’s an all free, all age event with a super cool vibe – there is always a cool band to see around the corner with a good crowd and possibly a mosh, without the festival being too crowded or stuffy. It definitely still has a very underground vibe and is not hipsterized lol which is great! Note – there is no alcohol being sold or generally smoking allowed on the event, although nobody is really policing you.
“This is the best smelling punk show” somebody said, and it’s fucking true – it smelled like summer and wet grass (real grass!) hahah!
There are also free workshops for self-defense etc if that’s your thing:
I want to highlight few bands that really grabbed my attention and you should check out.
SUPERDEAF
My favorite! Trash Punk trio killing it with powerful riffs, contrasting punky vocals and growls between Leo and Javier (Chango, Necrotic Society) and fast and technical drums by Cristo (who you may know from the “psychotropical punk rock” multi-kulti band Escarioka). Their set was very tight and quickly gathered a good crowd around despite the early time (1:30 PM). The band just toured Mexico and have more tours coming up.
There is a super sick 30 minutes documentary about the tour coming up, that looks super badass – trailer below!
FAT HEAVEN
On the lighter side of the punk spectrum, catchy and cute, but still badass – I really enjoyed FAT HEAVEN. Members Travis Yablon, Gayla Brooks and Jack Counce draw inspiration from 90s punk like Green Day or The Descendents.
FAT CHANCE
Another “fat” name lol – but these guys are coming from Vermont and play a melodic ska-core – perfect opening band for Choking Victim which were the headliners of the event. Really liked their set – a lot of fun
View this post on InstagramLove a good skacore show – #FatChance at @punkislandnyc #punkisland #punkisland2019 #punksnotdead #flowersinagun #musicfestival #randallsisland #indiebands #nycbands #musicblog #fatchance
LAKRAS
Immigrant hardcore punk from NYC and NJ. All songs are in Spanish, they made a solid mosh and under their influences they’ve listed
“-punk ochentero
-la vida
-el dolor ajeno
– simplemente estar vivos”
Nice and old school! ^^
View this post on Instagram@lakras_punk at @punkislandnyc #punkisland #punkisland2019 #punksnotdead #flowersinagun #musicfestival #randallsisland #indiebands #nycbands #musicblog #lakras
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Can’t wait until the next year! What a perfect start of summer!
