A Flashback From Barrington Hall

Wayback Weds post! Paul found this poster from Barrington Hall, 1982. This was our 3rd “club” gig and maybe our 5th live performance ever. Barrington was a student co-op with a long and wild history which included many insane punk rock shows. We were the only ska band on that scene at the time and we were quite a curiosity for Dave Dictor and the MDC guys! They shouted the words to “Nightclub” by The Specials from the side of the stage while we played. Thing is, we weren’t playing Nightclub but it didn’t matter cos the chords were the same! Deadly Rain was actually A Deadly Reign – mind you this was the Reagan era – and we became fast friends. They were awesome and so was Whipping Boy. MDC of course tore it up. Those bands played so FAST! We tried (probably in vain) to keep our ska tempos groovin in the midst of stage diving and other mayhem. All-ages shows then were often underground affairs, not sanctioned by the authorities or whatever, so each event had a sort of one-off feel and anything could happen. This was some years before Gilman opened and gave all-ages shows in Berkeley a more permanent home. I don’t think I even saw this poster back then! But, by the magic of the Interwebs, here it is 🙂