A.M. Gittlitz
Freelance writer and bike messenger living in Brooklyn. His work focuses on counterculture and radical politics. More of his work at gittlitz.wordpress.com.
While medical professionals agree there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues, those seeking group therapy-like commiseration can check out the Nowhere to Run Festival this weekend at East Williamsburg venue The Paper Box.
Featuring two stages and about 20 bands and DJs from the plurality of the dark styles huddled under the post-punk umbrella, the festival is appropriately located at The Paper Box on Meadow Street in the East Williamsburg Industrial Park, an area that resembles the post-industrial, shuttered, and factory-lined streets of Thatcher-era Glasgow where the genre originated.
The festival was organized by Jose Luis De la Rosa of Dischaka, Jean Lorenzo of Silent EM, and DJ/Goth Scholar Andi Harriman. “Post-punk in general never left the scene,” De la Rosa says, but he has noticed a disconnect between new acts, older fans, and the club and party scene. “Sometimes people don’t know where to go to shows and see new bands, that’s why we’re doing this fest, to integrate and promote.”
The headliners of the fest are Belgrado, a punk band from Spain whose danceable avant-garde aesthetic is a pitch-perfect tribute to the genre’s founders and Crash Course in Science, considered one of Philadelphia first punk acts. The duo began in 1979, writing minimalist songs on home-mutilated toy instruments.
Other out-of-towners include Blood Bitch from Edmonton, Canada, and, gloomiest of all, Shadow Age from Richmond, Virginia. Also, don’t miss Dame from Boston, Haldol from Philadelphia, and hometown industrial act Statiqbloom. Choice DJ sets include Peter Schoolwerth and Frankie Teardrop from Wierd Records, whose weekly minimal synth nights at Home Sweet Home were a major boost to the revival.
Nowhere to Run Festival takes place August 20 from 2 p.m. until 4 a.m. at The Paper Box. Tickets are $20 before 9pm and $25 after. They can be purchased without fee in advance from Material World, Dripper World, or from Ticketfly.
Featured image courtesy of Belgrado.