On March 11th 2014 Black N’ Blue Productions revealed the line-up for the 2014 Black N’ Blue Bowl, formally known as The Superbowl Of Hardcore, which will be held on May 17th & 18th at The Well in Brooklyn, NY. After returning to NYC from Brooklyn with the 2010 edition, to reconnect with Webster Hall, the old Ritz where it all began, the BnB Bowl has now outgrown this legendary New York venue and will make its return to Brooklyn at the brand new, 11,000 square foot, outdoor location, The Well. It was only a matter of time before the BnB Bowl needed to leave the beloved and legendary former Ritz to be able to fulfill the overwhelming ticket demand. Alongside some of the up and coming artists such as Friend Or Foe, Manipulate, Power Trip, Incendiary and Suburban Scum, Black N’ Blue Productions will also be welcoming staples such as All Out War, Ludichrist, Biohazard, Kraut and 7 Seconds, a collective of artists who will create yet another memorable edition. But Cuzn Joe, Freddy Cricien and the guys at BnB Productions didn’t stop there and also secured Hatebreed and Discharge, the two headliners of the 2014 Black N’ Blue Bowl, and NYHC legends Agnostic Front, the co-headliners on both May 17th and 18th.
Agnostic Front’s 1986 classic "Cause For Alarm" was just inducted into the "Decibel Magazine Hall Of Fame" and Roger Miret, founder and frontman of Agnostic Front, will be joined by Vinnie Stigma, Alex Kinon, Rob Kabula and Louis Beateaux, the original "Cause For Alarm" era lineup, for a once in a lifetime performance of this landmark album in its entirety.
On Saturday May 17th Hatebreed will take the honors of closing the first day of the 2014 edition by performing an exclusive set featuring only songs from their two classics “Satisfaction Is The Death Of Desire” and “Under The Knife”. During an interview on the Black N Blue Takeover radio show Jamey Jasta said: “None of you will be able to see Hatebreed perform this classic live set anywhere else. This is it. This is the day we give you our classic set!!!!"
Howie Abrams conducted a small interview with Jamey about their upcoming performance at the 2014 Black N Blue Bowl, NYHC and the exclusive classic setlist from “Satisfaction Is The Death Of Desire” and “Under The Knife”.
Hatebreed has been a part of some tremendous shows over the years. How does it feel to be headlining day 1 of your first Black N Blue Bowl?
Feels good! Gonna be a great show. There's a lot of kids that haven't ever seen us and a lot of people who are coming out of the woodwork to attend this show. It's been over 10 years since we've played an NYC area show with either AF or Biohazard so it's cool that we get another chance to rock out together. I always liked playing L'amours in Brooklyn. Brooklyn has such a cool history in heavy music. It was a goal of ours to sell that place out in the early days. When we finally did sell it out in 99 and again in 2000 it was a feeling of great accomplishment. A few years later we sold out Roseland w/ Biohazard supporting us and that was another career milestone so playing Brooklyn again is exciting and we haven't played a NYC area show in almost 2 years. I've never been to The Well but I've heard good things. We'll be ready to rock!
What's behind the decision to focus on classic material for the show? Did you know ahead of time that Agnostic Front was doing something similar?
Agnostic Front will be doing a special set and we just figured that with the 20th anniversary of Hatebreed coming up that this would be the right time to revisit some old material. We're currently out on on a world tour and have visited like 50+ countries since the release of our latest album "The Divinity Of Purpose" so we haven't had a chance to jam a lot of old songs live until recently at the United Blood fest in Richmond, VA. For the kids who are 16 or 17 just getting into hardcore all those old songs are new to them and for the 35-45 year old guys who have kids and real jobs and don't get out to shows much anymore this is the best time to catch a bunch of bands over 2 days and hear some songs we haven't played in a while.
Day 1 (of the BNB Bowl) is especially heavy on metal/hardcore crossover bands. How important has the merging of the 2 movements been to both metal AND hardcore?
For us it's been extremely important in the grand scheme of things because the merging of the two styles & genres really helped us and a lot of other bands and a lot of people go out and tour the world and have a career in music. We went from playing CB's to 100 kids to playing Roseland and Hammerstein to thousands and then all over the country/world playing for hundreds of thousands. When they say the more the merrier, I agree. I think heavy music should should be inclusive whether it's punk or hardcore or death metal or whatever. One of our first big shows we ever played was in 95 opening for Napalm Death, At The Gates, Sick Of It All & Subzero. There was metal guys, sxe guys, hardcore guys and skins all at one show going crazy. When the "Get Thrashed" documentary came out. Scott Ian talked about how Hatebreed was one of the modern bands that brought crossover back to the forefront and united the scenes again. We wouldn't have been able to do that without bands like Agnostic Front, Madball, Sheer Terror, Obituary, Napalm Death, Machinehead, Type O, LOA, Biohazard, Cro-mags & Sick Of It All laying the groundwork and influencing our vision and our sound.
When you think of NYHC, what comes to mind in terms of the scene, and some of its bands?
The first thing that comes to mind is the AF reunion show in 96 at Wetlands, that was a big break for us. Being from CT and getting good response at any show in NYC was a great feeling but that show was a dream come true for us. Whenever I hear anyone talk about NYHC I think of the AF, Madball, Murphys Law, Sick Of It All, Leeway and of course the classic Cro-mags "Age Of Quarrel" album which still holds up lyrically and musically to this day. I hear those songs and I get chills down my spine. Same goes for "Just Look Around" or "One Voice". and shows at CB's were always fun but definitely shows at Wetlands & Coney Island High were great too! The late 90's were fun cause we were able to play in Manhattan, Queens, Long Island, Brooklyn, The Bronx, Staten Island, Newark, Portchester, etc. there were so many venues and bands from all over the NYC & Jersey area, that was a fun time.
How important is it that the BNB Bowl was created by, and is maintained by people so heavily involved in the scene, as opposed to a random concert promoter?
I think it's important because it gives bands both old and new an opportunity to connect with people & play to a huge crowd of like minded fans in a setting/format that is a yearly destination for a lot of people. It's more about fun than business and people get to see and hear songs that bring back good memories. People travel from all over. People get a line up of bands that are unique to the show, setting & area. AF playing the whole Cause For Alarm is a completely one of a kind opportunity for instance. I can't remember them ever doing that and I don't think they are doing that on tour and we're currently on tour promoting our latest album so our set for the BNB bowl will be unique and a once in a long time time type of experience. It's gonna be a great time, see you in the pit!
The 2014 Black N’ Blue Bowl - May 17th and May 18th at The Well in Brooklyn, NY
The Well 272 Meserole St Brooklyn, NY
Doors at 1:00 pm - All Ages Hardcore - 21+ with ID to drink
Pre-Sale tickets available online at www.pitchforkny.com and www.ticketfly.com
and at
NYHC Tattoo, 127 Stanton, NYC Generation Records, 210 Thompson, NYC Lotus Tattoo, 291 W Main, Sayville, NY
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