Saturday, January 31, 2009

Chokehold @ New Bedford

Posting live sets from punk and hardcore bands is a bit problematic. After all, the combination of shitty venues, bad equipment, and general stage mayhem isn't really conducive to creating an enjoyable audio listening experience. It's all about the participation and visual experience. That's why the scenesters post up around the stage with their videocameras.

Chokehold is interesting to think about, for while they were my favorite band of the mid 90s sXe era (or was it Unbroken?), I'm not sure their sound has survived the test of time. Ugh. The guitar sound. What were they thinking? Go ahead. Break open those boxes of 7"s from your '92-'96 collection. Take a good listen. What were we all thinking?


Nonetheless, I'm posting Chokehold's final show. March of 1996 from the New Bedford Hardcore Fest (for the geographically impaired, that's in Massachusetts). The sound of this is actually really good. Dare I say better than most of their studio stuff? It's not a stretch. They were always plagued with poor sounding recordings. If you don't know anything about the band, go here. And know this, "Burning Bridges" is what inspired me to become a teacher. And my last stage dive was at a Chokehold show in Albany, NY- just a couple of months before this closing chapter of hardcore lore.

Click here!

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