Last weekend’s hardcore show at Tompkins Square Park in New York City, NY has had some lasting repercussions. Madball headlined that April 24th event, which featured opening sets by Bloodclot, Murphy’s Law, Wisdom In Chains and more.
The free concert would go on to draw upwards of 2,000 people—an attendance figure which violates current COVID-19 safety protocols and attendance limitations put in place by local officials. At present in NYC there is a limitation of 200 people attending an outdoor event and a maximum of 500 people if a negative COVID-19 diagnosis is provided first. Attendance issues aside, guidelines regarding masks and social distancing were also largely disregarded at the show.
Chris Flash, who was issued the permit for the show, told Ev Grieve, that they adhered to the stipulations on the show’s permit, offering:
“We were given a 3-page list of things the Parks Department wanted us to comply with — we complied with all of the stipulations. We were required to provide gloves, masks, sanitizer and a clipboard if someone wanted to voluntarily provide contact tracing. We provided two tables with all the necessary supplies. We cannot enforce rules, we can’t — we’re not the police. Even the police said they can’t enforce.”
Since word of the show broke, there has also been controversy surrounding how the permit was attained. Individuals involved with putting on the free concert have dismissed media reports that it was put on under the guide of a September 11th memorial show. John Joseph, who fronted Bloodclot at the show, would also later describe the event as “A pushback against government over stepping their reach“.
While Madball themselves haven’t been too vocal about the matter on social media, they did seemingly address the impending controversy while onstage. During a pause in their set, the band’s frontman Freddy Cricien stated, “Are you motherfuckers having a good time or what? It’s like you’ve been in Riker’s Island. Fuck Riker’s Island, we been in Riker’s Island, we out of that shit. Fuck the bullshit. Think for yourself.”
In the wake of the controversy and safety violations, the Parks Department have since revoked permits for several future planned hardcore shows at the park. Controversy aside, Feet First Productions were present stage right and filmed the entire sets of Madball, Bloodclot, Wisdom In Chains and The Captures during that afternoon. You can watch them below:
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