CBGB’s Anthology Series Coming from Boom! Studios

I've heard rumblings of this project for a few months now, but once I saw the announcement on the official CBGB's website, I nearly spit out my drink because:
1) I didn't think this would actually happen
2) I didn't know about all the talent associated with it.

Well sure enough, at SXSW the anthology mini series was announced to be coming out in July from Boom! Studios and takes the form of a 4 issue mini series featuring the talents of: Jamie Hernandez (Love & Rockets), Kieron Gillen (Phonogram) teaming up with the excellent Marc Ellerby, Chuck BB (Black Metal) and a bunch of other awesome comic creators.

Wow.

Now why does this matter to me?  Well, as many of you may know, I'm a big fan of music and in my teen years, I spent many hours at CBGB's.  While CBGB's is famous for the birth of NY Punk in the late 1970s by providing the venue for greats such as The Ramones, The Talking Heads, Television, Blondie and tons more which cemented it in the history books as one of the legendary venues of music history, CBGB's continued on past the 1970s, and in the late 1980's and 1990s and became the home for the underground punk/hardcore scene.  Hosting the now legendary Sunday matinees in the glory days of New York Hardcore to bands like Youth of Today, Gorilla Biscuits, Bold and more.  By the time I was old enough to attend CBGB's (when I was High School), those glory days had passed, but CBGB's was still one of the main venues for New York City.  I witnessed many of my friends from the Long Island hardcore scene play fantastic shows at CB's, like Mind Over Matter, Milhouse and Silent Majority.  In addition to local bands, I saw some great underground touring bands from around the country play there, like The Get Up Kids, The Promise Ring, Braid, Lifetime and many others.

As I write this and I think back to those Sunday afternoons in the Bowery, back when it was not a nice place to be (unlike today after it's been prettified), I can't help but think about about I never had a bad time at CBGB's.  It was one of the most pure music experience one could have.  Standing by the stage, covered in stickers, the venue was pitch black (often I was there in the middle of the afternoon when the sun was shining outside, but inside, it was always dark) and the energy created by the music was infectious.  Going to the bathroom was an experience, as you had to walk past the stage, and down the stairs to even more darkness and pray that the toilet wasn't overflowing.

But now CBGB's is gone.  It's legendary awning and pieces of the venue are in exhibit at the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame Annex in SOHO in New York City (including, humorously the urinals that were in that dark bathroom, that are now protected behind glass, which is kind of an odd thing to see – a urinal that I used numerous times, now in a museum -weird) and CBGB's only lives on in our memories.

That said, I'm ecstatic at the prospect of this idea.  It has the potential to be fantastic, and it seems as if they've gone to the right creators so I have faith that it will indeed be great. Everyone who experienced going to CBGB's has a strong personal connection and feeling about the venue.  I can only hope that within those 4 issues, at least one creative team doesn't get distracted by the glory of the Ramones or Blondie and attempt to tell a tale of New York Hardcore and have my experience at CBGB's be represented.

I can't wait.

Comments

  1. This is so very awesome. I can’t wait to pick it up. Like you Ron I have some very fond memories of CBGBs

  2. WE CALLED IT THE WOLFPACK 

    WE CALLED IT UNITED BLOOD

    WORE CHAINS AROUND OUR WAISTS AND CONSTRUCTION GLOVES 

  3. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    Stellar idea. Definitely gonna check this out. 

  4. Ron, you and me have very similar music taste. In fact, 95% of the bands you just listed I love(Gorilla Biscuits reunion show in Jersey a few years back was so awesome and I flew out to Chicago for The Promise Ring reunion).

     

    Anyway, I am stoked for this, and I hope CBGB’s very awkward bathroom is mentioned.

  5. Wow! This is a mind blower. I used to be a regular at CBGBs from 1978 thru 1982. You see, I used to go to high school (La Salle Academy) right around the corner from the bar. There were many days me and my buds would skip school early and head over there for liquid lunch (Ah the glories of a mispent youth!). Back in those days you could routinely see people that are now considered Legends come in and have a drink… or score a bundle. Also the bartenders didnt give a shit if we were there because underage drinkers was probably the LAST thing they had to worry about the authorities finding out.

    My best memory there… being 17 years old and having drinks with Ron Wood. AWESOME! My scariest moment there…. watching Hells Angels (their HQ was right around the corner as well, and they basically owned the whole block) trying to, and mostly succeeding in stuffing some skell in to a mailbox.

    If ANY club deserves to be immortalized it’s this one.

  6. Avatar photo PymSlap (@alaska_nebraska) says:

    @Unoob . . . Wow, dude! Sounds like you should get to work on penning Vol. 2. 

  7. For some reason this morning I decided to wear my CBGB t shirt for the first time in over a year. Then I see this. Weird.

  8. Interesting. Love the talent involved so I’ll give it a shot.

  9. I bought a DVD of one of my favorite bands, Bad Brains, playing at CBGB’s in 1983, at it convinced me that I was born in the wrong decade. At this show, there was a chaos and anarchy in the audience that I can only dream to be a part of nowadays. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been to some fun hardcore shows, but NOTHING like CBGB’s in the 70’s and 80’s. What is even more tragic is that not only is CBGB’s gone, but so is Bottom Line, L’amour and Knitting Factory (well, Knitting Factory just moved to Brooklyn, but it’s a pale comparison).

    If this book can capture that energy of of the golden era of old school hardcore and punk, it just might be my favorite thing I’ll ever read.

  10. @comicBOOKchris

    OMG L’amours! It didn’t have the street cred that CBs had, but I saw some damn great bands there too(Plasmatics, Twisted Sister, Blue Oyster Cult, Cinderella). Loved the Ankh shaped bar. Another great club from that era was The Fields in Queens.

  11. Fun fact:

    Did you know that Peter Steele of Type O Negative lived on the same block as L’amours and always played there?

    My girlfriend, who also lived on the same block, went all the time to try and meet him, and was never successful. Her friend, however, who didn’t really care for Type O, went only once and ended up accidentally stepping on his foot. Life is unfair sometimes…

  12. I’ve always had mixed feelings about CBGB’s. When i was younger it seemed like mecca to me. but as i got older i started feeling that Hily Kristal let the soul of the club fade away. It just got waaaay to corporate. That being said this sounds very cool.   

  13. And by croporate i mean that it stated to feel like it was just their to sell t shirts to 12yr olds.

  14. I’m all over this!

  15. @WintheWonderboy why is it so wrong that the owner of the club wanted to make money? Isn’t that the entire purpose of opening a business? to make money? if there is a market for t-shirts and the like to be sold, more power to them. 

  16. I miss Braid/Hey Mercedes

  17. I’m on board with this. Coming from England CBGBs is a place of legend.

  18. My brother’s band (Planes Mistaken for Stars) played there!

    Will definitely be checking this out. I never had the opportunity to see a show there but it was one of the first places I wanted to see during my first visit to NYC in 2004, even if it was only during the day and from outside.

  19. @Paradiddle – Planes Mistaken For Stars? Sweeeet.