There’s a plethora of on demand video out there these days. So much so that sometimes it can be hard to wade through it all and find something worth watching. Watch This Now is your guide to instant video on Netflix, Hulu and elsewhere, highlighting the very best stuff that you can watch right now.
This is Music Week at Watch This Now. We’ll be bringing you the best musicals, music docs, performance films and music biopics available instantly online.
New York Hardcore. The most extreme music scene of them all?
This fantastic documentary was shot in 1995, just about the time when my young and ignorant ass was just getting into the metal/hardcore scene myself. I’ve got a real soft spot for this film as I’ve seen most of the bands included a hundred times, probably even kicked a few by accident in the pit. It’s a nice look back at some of the people who started the whole crazy thing.
Regardless of whether you enjoy the music or not (and really, most of you will hate it) it’s impossible not to be sucked into these guy’s lives. They’ve all had it pretty hard, and share their insane stories of violence, fears and thoughts on why they do what they do. Hardcore really is the ultimate working class music- raw and loud and full of hate- but it’s also all about bonding together, about unity and brotherhood. Is it all bullshit? Possibly. But NYHC differs from most scenes in that there was such a huge mix of races and ethnicities. As long as you weren’t a knucklehead you’d be accepted in the scene, and practically every crew I knew was mixed race. It’s a shame that so many assholes got into the scene and ruined it for everyone else… going there just to start fights. It’s the reason why I haven’t been to a show in years, myself.
There was some minor criticism over the bands selected for the doc because a lot of the bigger names aren’t included (Cro-Mags, Murphy’s Law, Sick of It All, etc.) but the ones included represent a nice mix of different styles from different boroughs. The film’s also a really interesting look at how things used to be in NYC in the 90s. Some of the bands shown still remain- Madball’s still going strong, and VOD keeps trying to win back its old fans. But all the venues have all long been closed down- Wetlands, Coney Island High… they’re all gone and it’s rare to find a place that will allow a hardcore show. Hell, things have changed a lot in the city- just take a walk down on St. Marks where Coney Island High used to be and you won’t recongize the place.
There really was no other scene like the NYHC scene.
Last year they just released a 2-disc dvd of N.Y.H.C. that you can pick up here– it’s got tons of new interviews with the guys (now a decade later!) and full-length performances from most of the bands.