Taking it back to the 90's with this complete soundboard recording of the SLIGHT SLAPPERS set in 1997 at Fiesta Grande #5 at 924 Gilman Street. Growing up on the east coast, I never got to see any of the Fiesta Grande shows, so it's a real treat to get to listen to these recordings in full, as I was a big fan of the Fiesta Comes Alive compilation. I did get to see Slight Slappers a couple times when they came out here last, what a fun live band. I don't know if the tape conveys it accurately but I have a joint burning and it is sitting just fine with me. What a great band. Hopefully you dig 'em too, crank this one! - DH
SLIGHT SLAPPERS - January 10th, 1997 @ 924 Gilman St, Berkeley, CA
LARM! Here's a rippin' soundboard recording of the band playing in Venlo, in 1985. No idea who else was on the show, or even what venue it was. Regardless, it's badass. Gonna keep this post short because I have no idea what to write about it. I imagine ya'll already know who LARM is, and if for some reason you don't, google that shit mfr! - DH
SS DECONTROL! or SSD! I'm not exactly certain if this is the right date or venue, I think the J card had the next day written on it. But there's no known show the next day, so odds are this is the one. I thought maybe it was the March 27th show at The Channel, but it's clearly not as they have to stop and restart their cover of Walking In The Sand at this show, and also they promote the 27th show at the very end of this one. If anyone knows for certain, I'll edit in the info, or maybe just make a whole new post. It does kinda bug me that Springa talks about being back in Boston, and I can't imagine someone from the area calling it that. It would be like me being onstage at a show in Oakland and referring to it as Berkeley or San Jose. No. Nononono. Lol, so maybe this is all wrong and I'll have to do a big edit. Until then, just enjoy the SSD! - DH
SS DECONTROL - March 4th, 1983 @ VFW Hall, Boston, MA
Kicking this month off with a rare soundboard recording of classic VERBAL ABUSE, live in New York City in December of 1984. The tape just said The Ritz 12/84, so I am guessing it was the New York City venue, as they were having bigger punk shows at the time, and VA was out there on tour in December of 1984. Not all the dates are known, there's big gaps with nothing over on the VA page on Metallipromo.com, but they totally did a few shows in NYC, that much can be seen. Wouldn't be un reasonable to assume they also got on a bigger show happening around then. If anyone knows for sure, comment below! Or I'll edit in any info if someone fells me in elsewhere.
So yeah, classic Verbal Abuse with Nicki on vocals. I haven't encountered any early VA yet, so it's a treat. Hopefully ya dig it. - DH
VERBAL ABUSE - December 1984 @ The Ritz, New York City, NY
CAVITY is a Florida sludge band that I imagine anyone my age would remember, they were super prolific with releasing albums and 7"s. It has been a great long while since I've listened to anything by them, so I really looked forward to re-acquainting myself with their songs. Burned a joint, got my coffee, and got comfortable. And it did not disappoint. I never did get to see them live however, sure wish I grew up where I live now, as I would have been at this show for sure. Thankfully Chris Dodge had it recorded through the soundboard and it actually sounds pretty damn sick. So perhaps you should also be firing up that coffee or weed or both and cranking this one up. - DH
CAVITY - January 10th, 1997 @ 924 Gilman St, Berkeley, CA
Here's some Japanese punk for ya via OUTO. I'm not super familiar with them, beyond that "I Like Cola" song, though I did download their discography years ago and would throw it on every once in a while. I liked what I heard but it didn't ever grab me like some other bands from Japan did. But hey, music is like that. It can be fun to hear but not everything can be your favorite and occupy space in your head . I still appreciate a chance to hear them live through this tape, hopefully you do as well! - DH
Here's one for all the NYHC heads out there, AGNOSTIC FRONT live at CBGB's, on June 9th, 1985. This was with Absence Of Malice, Seizure, and Half Life. This was their first hometown show back after being on tour a month prior, so I imagine the band and audience are all stoked. Seems like it from the energy of the performance, it's a good one. Decent enough mix from the soundboard as well, so that's cool. If you dig AF, have at it! - DH
AGNOSTIC FRONT - June 9th, 1985 @ CBGB's, New York City, NY
If you know me, you know I love Noothgrush. Loooove 'em. Love their music, love them as people, they rule. So I'm quite stoked to be sharing this here, the soundboard recording of their set at the 5th Fiesta Grande, at 924 Gilman St in 1997. I think I did a little quick EQ'ing on this, and it helped boost the badass-ness of this recording. This is of course legally and morally required to be played at the highest possible volume, and listened to by the highest possible people. Get to it. - DH
NOOTHGRUSH - January 10th, 1997 @ 924 Gilman St, Berkeley, CA
Dang, NO FOR AN ANSWER is suuuuuuper straightedge. Or were. Maybe they still are. I dunno, but they really were going hard for it back in the 80's. I've never seen them live but I have a few live video and audio recordings and these guys were always sxe to the point of it being silly. I know they are striving to be really true and earnest and sincere and all that, and maybe I'm just a dumb pothead, but in every live clip I've seen they had the goofiest straight edge stage banter. This set has a couple great examples that just makes my skeleton want to jump out of my skin and run away. Their 'anti casual sex, anti abortion, etc" song, and their weird and fawning monologue before their Agnostic Front cover finale (spoiler alert). It's just too much. And yet I can't help but smoke weed and play this stuff loud. I'm a complicated person I suppose. If you are too, crank this, smoke up, and have a laugh along with me. - DH
NO FOR AN ANSWER - March 27th, 1988 @ 924 Gilman St, Berkeley, CA
When I first uploaded this tape earlier today from ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT, I credited the set as being from December 27th, 1986, which was the huge Day At The Farm III show. AA wasn't on the flyer so I was confused about whether or not they wound up playing that legendary show. A few hours later Eric from AA corrected me. They did NOT play the Day At The Farm show, and this set was mislabeled, the correct date being January 31st 1987. It's still a sick soundboard, and was the last show from the American Paranoia era of the band. Of course now that I know the correct date, I can see my buddy Shayne already uploaded this on his channel, 3 Cameras And A Microphone. His is probably an upgrade as well as being digitized on superior equipment. Fuck it though, I uploaded this already, and so up it shall stay. And I'll be checking out Shayne's upload as well since the odds are it's a better copy. Maybe you should look it up too. - DH
ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT - January 31st, 1987 @ The Farm, San Francisco, CA
From the Chris Dodge collection of tapes is this bad boy, HELLNATION live at the Fiesta Grande #5, at 924 Gilman St in Berkeley, CA. It's fast, it's noisy, the riffs are a blur, and it brings back a lot of 90's nostalgia hearing them again. So burn a joint and crank this one up - DH
HELLNATION - January 10th, 1997 @ 924 Gilman St, Berkeley, CA
Gonna keep this one short as I ain't got much time, but this recording speaks for itself anyway. CRICIFIX isn't a band that needs any introduction. So what we have here is a soundboard recording of them performing at the legendary CBGB's in early 1984. How kickass is that? Now, there are some technical difficulties in the early portion of the set, like the vocal mic seems to be cutting out during the first song, but it's punk so deal with it. Things get sorted and the set rages on. Play this one loud! And if anyone has a flyer, photos, or knows the setlist, chime in below! - DH
CRUCIFIX - January 7th, 1984 @ CBGB's, New York City, NY
SONS OF ISHMAEL hail from the mean streets of Toronto, Canada, and in 1987 came out to the equally mean streets of Berkeley, California and played a show at 924 Gilman St, opening for Youth Of Today. I'm not sure if they were on tour together, or if they just used the power of Canadian intimidation to bully their way onto the show.
So what we get here though is an uneven all over the place board mix that is typical for Gilman board recordings of the time. I tried to balance things out via Izotope, but while I can find a general level where most of the recording will sound ok-ish, I can't do anything about the mix not settling. So this may not be for everyone except those die hard SOI fans. There are times when it sounds ok though, so it's good enough for an upload. - DH
SONS OF ISHMAEL - August 7th, 1987 @ 924 Gilman St, Berkeley, CA
Dang! I uploaded this soundboard from SCREW 32 about two weeks ago, and then got busy and forgot to post the upload here! Well, kiddo-s back in school so now I can do more uploading and whatnot, for those paying attention. Here's one I got from my buddy Jake Kelly, a pretty decent soundboard from Screw 32, playing with Spitboy. I like this, though I'm still not overly familiar with Screw 32, I think I've only heard one album and I don't own any of their stuff. Had I grown up out here in the east bay, maybe I'd have been way more into them. If this is your cup of tea, I think you'll really like this! Enjoy! - DH
SCREW 32 - January 6th, 1995 @ 924 Gilman St, Berkeley, CA
Well, this soundboard from CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER is not good sounding. Everything sounds fucky, especially the bass guitar and snare drum. The source tape is a far lower gen than what is out there on Youtube currently at least. I also did some attempts to improve things via Izotope and some EQ'ing, and it helps, but this is still the end result. It's a shame because this is such an early show from the band, what a potentially great document of that period. Maybe some diehards will dig this, but yeesh, I wouldn't be surprised if they turned this off too. - DH
CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER - December 20th, 1985 @ Ruthie's Inn, Berkeley, CA
From Minneapolis, MN, and a time before metallic hardcore had become it's own huge scene, comes OVERSOUL. I had posted their demo previously, so follow the tags at the bottom of the post to find that if you dig this. It's 4 songs with killer production. If you liked that post, and wanted to hear more, then you are in luck, as all 4 songs and a few more are on this soundboard tape. There was no info on where the show was, just when, but I assume it's from their hometown. If anyone can confirm, then I'll edit it into the post. Being a soundboard means it's recording a mix that's intended for the room, not the tape, so there can be some funky issues such as overpowering vocals. Usually vocal s are way up, guitars are way too low. For this one I boosted the guitars a bit but they are fine enough in this mix, the vocals really had to come down a lot and they still are pretty high in the mix. It is a lot more balanced though now, so thanks Izotope rx8 and it's handy rebalance feature! Anyhoo, jam the tape. It's good. Jam that demo too, if you like 90's metallic hardcore then this will be right your alley. - DH
OVERSOUL - February 14th, 1993 - [no location info]
As I listen to this upload I wonder why, WHY did I upload this!?! The band in question, DIDDLY SQUAT is, or were, great. They were a tri-cities Washington band that would later on have members in other great WA bands like Christ On A Crutch, Aspirin Feast, and Brotherhood, and of course is a band with Nate Mandell on bass who would later be known for Sunny Day Real Estate and Foo Fighters, and then would later on become a total kook who was into some weird AIDs denialism stuff. What a goon. Anyhoo, the band was killer. This tape however, maybe not so much. Not for any fault of the band, but it's a Gilman soundboard from 1987, notorious for bad board recording mixes because they had a small board in the beginning and they were obviously more concerned with having a good mix in the room, not a tape recording. So yeah, 1987 Gilman board tapes are more often misses than hits. I did what I could to help it but there's not much that could be done when the mix fluctuates so wildly. So why did I upload this? Because have you ever seen another Diddly Squat live tape? No? That's right, this band was shortlived and so there's just no other stuff that I've come across yet. So this is it, and if you are curious, here ya go. If you've never heard the band, follow the tags below to hear their 1987 demo. - DH
DIDDLY SQUAT - August 8th, 1987 @ 924 Gilman St, Berkeley, CA
Here's a fun set from the mighty MDC, live at 924 Gilman St in July of 1987. For this show they ripped up the setlist and put the songs in something and had the audience draw them and they would play it. The mix on this is all over the place though, if you've checked out other Gilman soundboards on my site from 87 or 88 you should be familiar with this. It is what it is, nothing I could do to fix this fully. I did boost some things, but I cant do anything about the wildly fluctuating mix. Still, might be neat if you were there, or just want a random MDC show to listen to. - DH
MDC - July 25th, 1987 @ 924 Gilman St, Berkeley, CA
Did you grow up gong to punk shows at 924 Gilman St in the later half of the 90's? If so I suspect you may have seen this band at least a few times. Or perhaps you just dig that scene, this might be for you. It's a soundboard I got from my buddy Jake and if it's his then odds are it's something decent. Personally, I'm not familiar with them, but I certainly have seen their name on older flyers and such. Listening now, it's not bad at all, though it's a Gilman soundboard and that can be hit or miss. But the music is cool. I was onto heavier stuff by this point but I think that if I had come across this just a couple years prior I might have dug this. - DH
SUBINCISION - September 2nd, 1995 @ 924 Gilman St, Berkeley, CA
