The show features a number of legendary-in-their-own-right New York hardcore bands that frequented the long-shuttered A7. Along with CBGB and ABC No Rio, the venue was a scene hub for New York hardcore. It was open for only three years, from 1981 to 1984, but hosted dozens of influential punk bands.
So how did a band from St. Louis get on the bill, alongside many of the bands who helped influence its music? We asked singer and songwriter Rob Ruzicka.
The other big names performing this weekend include some from the original A7 era, such as Antidote, Urban Waste, Reagan Youth, Mental Abuse and the Nihilistics. But the complete list of reformed bands playing would make jaws drop -- groups with their own hit or two, and influential enough to earn cover treatment from today's acts. And their records? It'd take a small fortune to buy the original versions on eBay.
Still, considering that many -- if not all -- of the reunited bands are comprised in part of non-original members (due to a variety of circumstances, in some cases death), some are skeptical about seeing these bands in the flesh.
"Everybody I've talked to is pretty down on it, like 'Whatever, reunions,'" Ruzicka says. "I mean come on, Jerry's Kids, maybe the Abused, but we all went and saw the Adolescents when they came [to St. Louis in 2006]."
At least two other more popular bands from the era -- the Bad Brains and Agnostic Front, who both played the original A7 -- were rumored to play, but are not on the bill.
Listen to Cardiac Arrest MP3's. Click the above flier for a high-resolution version.
- Nick Lucchesi
