BROOKLYN, NY—Despite any natural disaster, there will always be things that cannot be destroyed. The things that I speak of are, of course, traditions. Every Halloween, The World/Inferno Friendship Society put on a very special party, which is known as Hallowmas. Although each and every Inferno show is both unique and incredible in its own right, the time to see them is Halloween. There was a lot of worry this year due to the fact that lower Manhattan got hit pretty hard by Hurricane Sandy. I noticed on Twitter two days prior to Halloween that despite the tragedies, World/Inferno decided to keep the show alive.
The venture into NYC was certainly one that I would never like to experience again. It’s not until you face a city like this with no electricity that you realize just how necessary those pesky red traffic lights are. I got to Greenpoint, where the show was being held, and got on line in my costume ready for a show that given the circumstances, I was expecting to be very special.
All of my expectations were met when the band came on stage and opened up with the slow and quiet “Friend To The Friendless.” This track was just as I imagined it and the following songs exploded as they usually do. The festivities were also reckless. A theme comes along with every Hallowmas, and this year’s was very fitting for the times Americans are currently facing. The theme was “The Great Pumpkin For President.” Needless to say, there were plenty of people around the venue holding up signs promoting World/Inferno’s specially chosen candidate. It was moving during one of singer Jack Terricloth’s rants on stage when he shouted out, “No hurricane is going to stop The World/Inferno Friendship Society! If the kids want to go to the show, they will go to the show!”
Halloween is a very special time for this band and it showed not only in how they presented themselves on stage, but in their performance as well. Everything sounded just as evil and punk rock as it did on the records they’ve previously produced. Around mid-set, they decided to showcase some new songs off a record they’re currently writing. Out of all the times I’ve heard a band play new songs live, these were some of my favorites. At the end of the show, the band walked off of stage and foolishly I thought it was over. All of a sudden, from the front door of the venue where nobody was looking, an all percussion line of 13 people marched their way through the crowd toward the stage. Seeing this taught me a valuable lesson: never turn your back on The Inferno. This group of punks opened up the scene before a roughly eight-foot-tall paper mache pumpkin came out jumping up and down. The energy in the crowd was nothing like I’ve ever seen before and proved to be the best band I could ever see on such a holiday. As the fully loaded stage rejoiced, Inferno played “Our Candidate” off one of their earlier albums, East Coast Super Sound Punk Of Today.
Although it was very troubling getting into the city, I knew there was a reason deep inside that pushed me to go. Seeing The World/Inferno Friendship Society play, despite the hellish circumstances, brought out such reasoning and made it feel like the right thing to do. I bid you adieu until next Halloween, World/Inferno!
