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Rating: December 24, 1982, Christmas Eve.
In New York, they decided to organize a series of bone-crushing concerts at a little venue... yeah, right! None other than the CBGB, practically an institution.
As always, a more-than-brief introduction for those unfamiliar with this collective: the Bad Brains are four cheerful Rastafarians, considered among the key groups of the Hardcore Punk genre from the Washington D.C. scene, naturally the first wave. The basic recipe was to alternate purely Hardcore Punk tracks with Reggae; over the years, they also managed to experiment with Heavy Metal and Funk, among other things. Extraordinary, right?
In February 1982, their self-titled debut album was released, with which they managed to "break open the doors" of Punk, as already suggested earlier. A milestone.
This is to give an idea of where we are on the timeline, namely at the dawn but also at what can later be defined as the best years of the Bad Brains, without a doubt.
The concert was opened by Minor Threat (who certainly need no introduction) and The Young And The Useless (known to most for being the first group of a certain Ad-Rock from the Beastie Boys, who also had the opportunity to cut his teeth playing alongside other historic groups, such as Ramones, Hüsker Dü, and Dead Kennedys).
As you may perhaps guess, most of the tracklist is occupied by songs from the self-titled album, but there is also plenty of space for well-defined versions of gems that would be part of future albums and some pieces that remained unreleased until the release of this album (only in 2006).
Among the many to mention, there are obviously great classics like "Banned In D.C.", "Right Brigade", and "Supertouch/Shitfit" from the self-titled; "I And I Survive", "Rally 'Round Jah Throne", and "The Meek Shall Inherit The Earth" from the future "Rock For Light," one of the quartet's peaks of greatest splendor. Noteworthy is an excellent "All Rise To Meet Jah".
Listening to it alone, we notice that the quality somewhat lacks when they tackle the faster and more violent songs, culminating in total chaos of the instruments and the singer H.R.'s schizophrenic vocals when he approaches this type of compositions.
For this very reason, it would be ideal to accompany the listening with watching the video, something of almost vital importance when faced with performances of this caliber: it’s crucial to carefully observe the movements of the members, particularly H.R., who dances, jumps, spins, and occasionally throws in a somersault.
A beast that periodically transforms during the Reggae/Dub-flavored tracks, morphing into an angelic, sensual, and reflective creature.
An explosiveness and warmth that were able to captivate an audience composed of the most varied personalities present.
At first, it seemed like just another date, yet during those evenings (and particularly this one) lives were changed: we’ve all heard the (funny) story about how we were all conceived while the notes of Marvin Gaye and his "Let's Get It On" or "Sexual Healing" were playing in the background... well, a myriad of Hardcore Punk bands were born after witnessing the Bad Brains concert, some born from purely fortuitous encounters. But this is a fact.
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