Even More Music

Following more music on Saturday was even more music on Sunday!

Sunday's event was sponsored by The Shadow. This time, instead of building the stage at the time the show was supposed to begin, they started earlier!

I'm not sure how much earlier — the show was supposed to start at 1:00pm, and this is as far as they were at 12:41pm:

12:41pm.

I walked around the East Village a bit, and got back to the park an hour later, in time to see the first act (I'm not joking).

Introducing: Rebel:

Rebel.

Following Rebel were musicians and singers, collectively known as The Carvels:

The Carvels.

Check that out: twin Telecasters! and…

Check that out: matching shirt and guitar!

The next band was called DIYing Breed, who were immediately besieged by a group of aging paparazzi!

Aging paparazzi.

This show was unique in its complete absence of crusties! Instead, their place was occupied by this gang of bicyclists:

Gang of bicyclists.

Before they left, they all got together for a group picture:

Group picture.

No one danced at this show:

There's gonna be, no dancing.

All in all, it was very unusual!

#eastvillage #bicyclists #diyingbreed #musicians #paparazzi #punkrockshow #rebel #thecarvels #theshadow #tompkinssquarepark

Lost Shadow

Speaking of The Shadow, I was walking across St. Mark's Place yesterday afternoon, when I saw what I thought was a copy of "New York's only underground newspaper" lying on the sidewalk.

"Woo hoo!" I thought, "a free The Shadow!"

It turned out to be only the cover though. I picked it up off the sidewalk and put it beside these recycling cans:

Recycled news.

Some anarchist was surely disappointed when he got back to his squat, to find he was missing four pages of his underground newspaper. He probably had to go back out and steal another copy!

#eastvillage #theshadow #stmarksplace #recycling

News Boxes

East Villagers are accustomed to the free-newspaper boxes that line the avenues — it's where most get their news!

You don't have to look inside for news, though. Sometimes, the news is on the box itself, such as this one, on Second Avenue:

News box.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

It sounds like something you'd see in The Shadow!

#eastvillage #newspaperboxes #theshadow #secondavenue 

Dump

If you've lived in the East Village for any length of time, you will surely know that The Shadow is "New York's ONLY underground newspaper"!

They don't have a regular publishing schedule, but you always know when a new edition is available because you'll see one of their stickers on a scaffolding pole or something, like these that I saw recently, outside the beloved Alphabet City Deli & Grill on Avenue C:

The Shadow stickers.

Those two were pretty unscathed, which is not the case of this one, a few short steps away:

Scathed.

Since The Shadow is underground, it's not easy to find a copy. Fortunately, I know a guy, who knows a guy… so I can get one without much difficulty.

Would you expect anything less?!

#eastvillage #avenuec #stickers #theshadow #alphabetcitydeligrill #scaffolding

A Blog Worth Imitating

Nothing makes me happier than to see the positive affect this blog has on people in the East Village! Whether it's painting something, or fixing up a building, or this, that I saw yesterday on Avenue A and East 6th Street:

'Free Punk Soirée' sign.

For so many years, these punk rock show signs have mimic'd the DIY look of the pre-computer age, but no more.

They're even exploring new ways of promoting the shows: It's not a "Punk Rock Show" but a "Punk Rock Soirée! And instead of skeleton heads or 1970s sociopathic movie characters, it's pictures of people having fun!

Another poster shows they've even developed a sense of humor:

Poster with sense of humor.

East Village Today salutes The Shadow!

Unfortunately, some people are still locked into the past, and cannot accept that others have moved on:

Vandalized sign.

The sad, unspoken truth is: there are still haters in the East Village.

Fortunately, it's not too many, and their days are numbered!

#eastvillage #6thstreet #avenuea #haters #signs #theshadow

Another Memorial Day, Another Punk Rock Show

I was walking through Tompkins Square Park Saturday afternoon, when I saw what could only described as some kind of Memorial Day punk rock show or another.

These shows are how East Village punks honor the soldiers who died to keep these shows free!

As usual, I saw no signs announcing this show, and the crowd was pretty small:

Small crowd.

I think these guys are called The Omega Men — correct me if I'm wrong!

The Omega Men (maybe).

The guy on the left looks like a basketball player!

These guys are definitely called Sewage, I'm pretty sure of that.

Most likely Sewage.

The chances that these guys are Coach And Commando are pretty high:

p < .05 Coach and Commando.

Do you know what was really strange about this year's punk rock show? There were no uniformed police officers present — they've always been there in the past to join in the festivities!

This year, they were replaced by undercover cops, taking pictures no less!

Undercover.

These guys are either undercover cops or Australian tourists!

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

Hey look, it's beret guy!

East Village celebrity and concert organizer Chris Flash was at The Shadow's swag table with his girlfriend (they're inseparable!):

The Shadow swag table.

Here is a close-up of Shadow swag. Tips please!

Close-up.

The Undead's swag table, with John-Boy Walton photo-bombing:

Undead swag.

I left the park at Avenue A and St. Mark's Place, where almost immediately, I saw this sign, announcing the show:

Sign announcing show.

This is where I got the names of the bands — you didn't think I knew these things?!

Finally, no story about a punk rock show in the East Village would be complete without a video of dancing crusties:


#eastvillage #beretguy #chrisflash #coachandcommando #crusties #memorialdayweekend #photographers #punkrockshow #sewage #omegamen #photobomb #theshadow #tompkinssquarepark #undercovercops