A well-groomed man in a tailored black suit walked up to the ticket booth to confirm his dinner cruise reservation. A few feet away, his wife and children stood in dresses and slacks, huddling to stay warm, and staring at a peculiar site: hundreds of men and women with mohawks, studded belts, tattered leather jackets and tattoos, waiting to board a cruise of their own.
On Friday night, fans of punk rock label Fat Wreck Chords flocked to Manhattan’s Pier 81 to see Cobra Skulls, Teenage Bottle Rocket and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes perform live on the Temptress, a 500-person-capacity vessel that sails up and down the west side of Manhattan. The sold out concert was sponsored by Fat and New York City independent concert promoters Rocks Off.
Punk rock cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes were the headliners, and performed songs by artists ranging from Paul Simon and the Beach Boys to R. Kelly. Even opening act Cobra Skulls joined in the fun, performing a cover of Bad Religion’s “Give You Nothing.” But it was Laramie, Wyoming’s Teenage Bottlerocket that gave the crowd their biggest treat, performing their 2005 album “Total” from start to finish.
The ship boasted two levels, two decks, two bars and a hardwood dance floor where the show took place. Fans moshed, crowd-surfed and generally packed themselves in like sardines as the bands charged through about three hours worth of punk music.
At one point during the Gimme Gimmes set, the show was stopped as fans became too rowdy. Security escorted the offenders away from the front of the stage.
“Do you guys have a brig?” asked lead singer Spike Slawson. “That’s awesome!”
The CMJ stop is part of a larger east coast tour that began Thursday in Boston, and continues through the month with stops in Asbury Park, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington, Atlanta and Carrboro, North Carolina, before ending at the ninth annual Fest in Gainesville, Florida. But while it may be just one stop of many, Teenage Bottlerocket frontman Ray Carlisle thanked the crowd for making the show so memorable.
“This is going to go down in history as one of my favorite Teenage Bottlerocket shows,” he said, before launching into the band’s last song of the night.
