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Band Crush: The Murder Junkies, Ho99o9, Barbaric, Dutchguts @ Meatlocker (5/28)

Last week, I set off for a punk rock show at the Meatlocker in Montclair, NJ, along with fellow photographer Walter Wlodarcyzk, video guru Maks Suski, and Spewing Cum’s frontman, Skunk. There was much anticipation for the night’s show, due by and large to the Murder Junkies, the last backing band for GG Allin before his death. Not to mention the killer lineup of acts that were also profoundly influenced by GG Allin and the Murder Junkie’s bloody live antics, including Barbaric, Ho99o9, and Dutchguts.

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Maks and Walter

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Skunk finishin his beer

In contrast to the punk rock show, the city of Montclair has a suburban wonder-glow of ritzy restaurants and boutiques, making us feel pretty distant from the city grime we are used to. As soon as we entered the sweaty, graffiti-walled basement of the Meatlocker, early and fresh at 9pm, we felt a little bit more at home.

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First up was Barbaric. Warned that Barbaric performances are, well, barbaric, it came as no surprised that I found myself staring at their nearly naked singer through a surveillance TV set.

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During Barbaric’s set, he smash florescent light bulbs over his head, body slammed some kid, and vomited in the pit. But I actually hear he is a pretty nice guy. You can watch this crazy set, shot by Maks, below.

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Next up was Ho99o9 (“horror”), the NJ-born rap/punk duo made up of theOGM and Eaddy. They played their first show ever at the Meatlocker two years ago; I missed it, but definitely made up for my absence that night. I love these boys every time I see them perform, but something about being in their homestate turf of New Jersey set the night off right.

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In a slanted rock-opera fashion, Ho99o9 puts on a non-stop theatrical performance. The crowd was breathless with anticipation as theOGM crept on stage, mystifying the crowd into a dark, beautiful trance with nightmarish drones, which I imagined to be little ghost dolls and menacing growls by Eaddy. They brewed a storm of eerie discord, filled with dreamy beats, snarling cats, and cultish samples, creating a never-ending cyclone of screaming punk and hip-hop flowed.

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The crowd a squad of punks, skaters, goths, freaks, and Mad Maxes — reacted like a school of fish being chased by a shark. Toward the end, Eaddy stripped down naked, dumped a case of beer into the crowd, wore the case on his head, and blindly joined the madness, while theOGM ended their set with a Hendrix-style version of the “Star-Spangled Banner.”

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Although Ho99o9 and Barbaric threw quite the show, the Murder Junkies were the rock ‘n’ roll junkies that inspired it all. This world needs more music you can rage, fuck, freak, be free, run away, get naked, and find peace to. GG Allin once said, “Rock ‘n’ roll has to be destroyed and rebuilt in my name if it’s ever gonna accomplish anything.” Perhaps he was right.

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Unfortunately didn’t get to stay for Dutchguts, but definitely check them out here, and be on the lookout for more awesome shows at the Meatlocker here.

Review and photos by Cheryl Georgette Arent. Follow her on Twitter @bohemianforest.

All videos courtesy of Maks Suski

Cheryl Georgette Arent
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