As Helen Bach reported a couple of hours agp, there has been a stabbing at Webster Hall.
I have been to some hardcore shows, and this is true that things can turn a little rough, rowdy and even violent, but we are not talking about moshing and stage diving here. At Webster Hall, where a great hardcore lineup was part of the inaugural CBGB festival, things turned really badly. Harley Flannegan, Cro-Mags founding member, took hardcore to a new level, and stabbed two people!!! This is what a fan, who was attending the show, wrote:
‘We were watching the hardcore show at Webster Hall – featuring Sick of it All, Cro-Mags, and VOD – when all hell broke loose upstairs. Harley Flannegan, founding member of the Cro-Mags stumbled into the VIP lounge with a knife. Security mobilized in a hot minute and beat the shit out of him. It took no less than six beefy dudes to control the madness. Blood was everywhere, and bone protruded from his shin.
Cops quickly appeared and took him away in cuffs. Not before he had already stabbed some dude in the chest (said victim left the scene with a bandage over the wound). Because of the violence the rest of the show was canceled. The remaining bands promised to reschedule the show. To be fair, Webster Hall security contained the situation professionally. Lots of drunken, pissed off hardcore fans were on edge after the cops shut down the show, but the scene was cleared without further incident.’
The website GlueHC is also reporting that Flanagan was taken away by police in handcuffs, and that one of the two victims stabbed was Cro-Mags bassist Mike ‘The Gook’ Couls. A witness told Horns Up Rock: "Flanagan was acting weird right before the incident… 'I talked to him outside minutes before it happened and I knew something was going to go down. He was like a fucking lunatic outside… Next thing I know he's in the VIP area stabbing people!'"
This is absolutely crazy, I am not sure this will help revive the spirit of CBGB and it is definitely not a good way to start this 4-day festival.