Connecticut Hardcore: The Way We Were

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I was in a band called Chappaquiddick +5 (which has been mentioned here before). One of the few out-of-town places we played with some regularity was a cool club in Stamford CT called the Anthrax. A few months ago, while browsing the shelves at Mast Books, I discovered a new book on the club called Everybody's Scene: The Story of Connecticut's Anthrax Club. The club later relocated to Norwalk CT, and managed to become a serious hub of activity for bands wanting to play somewhere different along the Boston-New York axis. They managed to carve out a nice little niche for themselves, and it obviously came to mean quite a lot to many folks who grew up punk rock here in the northeast. I recall many trips to the club, both with Chappaquiddick, and with Borscht, and it was always a lot of fun. Thinking back, there was definitely an atmosphere of no rules, which everyone seemed to respect, and I can barely recall any real adult supervision. What more could a rebellious teenager into loud/fast music want?

As I await my copy via mail order, I wanted to share this little bit of info with you as I haven't seen the book available in many places (i.e. book stores). Visit the official book website and order the book here.



ADDENDUM: It's the same day I posted this. I just received my copy of this book & leafed through it. In the back they actually have a list of all of the gigs that took place at the Anthrax. Its an amazing thing they kept track of this because I sure as hell can't remember the dates. So, for my own amusement, here you go:

1983 -
Saturday, Nov 26: Chronic Disorder, Borscht, No Milk On Tuesday
Friday, Dec 23: Chappaquiddick +5, Frank's Crime, Young Republicans

1984 -
Friday, Jan 13: AOD, Even Worse, Chappaquiddick +5
Saturday, Jan 31: AWOL, Borscht, Aggravated Harassment
Saturday, Feb 25: 76% Uncertain, Seizure, Chappaquiddick +5, The Not
Friday, July 27: Psycho, Chappaquiddick +5, Peasants With Pitchforks (Must have been our last gig. I always remembered July 4, 1984, at CBGB as our last show for some reason.)