PLANET CHOCKO – art/music/movies/beyond » Fucked Up played Bowery Ballroom

Fucked Up played Bowery Ballroom

June 8th, 2014 by chocko

Fucked Up at Bowery Ballroom (photos by chocko)

Big Ups at Bowery Ballroom

Fucked Up crushed and pulverized in NYC, playing a Sold Out Bowery Ballroom on Friday (6/6), with openers In School and Big Ups. I regret walking into the venue late and missing In School but I did hear that the all female NYC based, punk rockers played an awesome set of raging tunes. The all dude band Big Ups played pissed off post-hardcore songs which harkened back to the days of classic Minor Threat, Descendents and Black Flag. Lead vocalist, Joe Galarraga got some funky moves and definitely knows how to rock the microphone, going from anxious punk vocals to downshifting to spoken word vocals on songs such as “Wool.”

The Toronto hardcore punk band, Fucked Up blazed through a set which showcased their latest all killer/no filler album Glass Boys (out now on Matador Records). They started their set with the first song on their new album titled “Echo Boomer” which features some heavy pounding drumming. Lead vocalist, Damian Abraham started off the set fully dressed but in no time baseball cap and shirt were tossed aside to join the sweaty mess of a crowd. Just in case you don’t know-during a Fucked Up show, Damian spends just as much time off stage in the crowd as he does on stage with the rest of the band. Damian is always fun to watch and listen to…he quickly noted that it was the first time the band played in front of their own banner. It must be a milestone for the band in its thus far, 13 year career…check it out in the photo below. The crowd was insane and bodies were flying and piling up everywhere. The rest of the band were anchored on the stage and provided backup vocals…I love me some backup Fucked Up vocals, more Sandy please! Towards the end of the set, Damian teased at a possible all “Zodiac” encore which would be comprised of their songs inspired by the Chinese Zodiac. That didn’t happen but they did close their set with “Glass Boys” and “Police” followed by a quick encore of “The Other Shoe.” Check out more photos below and some videos from the Planet Chocko balcony cam.