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Ten Years of Rok Lok @ Knitting Factory, New York

13th August 2008 | by Aidan Williamson

On the Might of Princes were uttering the immortal phrase of "...just when we think we're out, they pull us back in" tonight as the much loved indie-hardcore band regrouped for one last send-off in honour of their previous record label.

Such was the respect and gratitude for the label and its founder Mike Andriani that many of the nights sets were provided by long defunct bands, eager to show their appreciation.

They sure do have strange ways of showing it though, since the afternoon and evening was occupied by demented front-men, shirtless performances, really awful jokes (Why don't seagulls fly over the bay? 'cause then they'd be bagels!) and enough passion to power the city for, well not very long, because the city requires electricity, and at the moment, there is no way to run a passion->electricity conversion process, but there was a lot of it.

The heaviest band of the night award went to Death Cycle, who looked like a mixture of System of a Down and Slayer and probably sounded pretty much along the same lines. The vocalist taking every opportunity to throw himself off the stage and bounce around the diametrically-expanding crowd below. No matter how far they backed away though, the microphone lead seemed to be longer.

Yes Sensei took up the phwoar factor early when guitarist Adam V. took himself down to his boxer shorts. This decision was quickly followed by various crowd shouts towards the other members of the band. "Play that song again, but shirtless." or "You'd sound better without the harsh interference of shirts you know." Come the last song, the band - including Rok Lok founder Mike Andriani himself - caved and showed up what Baywatch would be like if it had an exclusively male cast.

Almost every band took a brief time out to thank the man responsible for everything, some of their speeches were touchingly sweet, others laced with rudeness and yet others, just gratuitously offensive.

Headlining act On the Might of Princes mere presence today was thanks enough. Despite a handful of reunion shows last year, the band have been split for many years already. Front-man Jason Rosenthal seemed on the brink of tears during more than one occasion during the band's 45-minute set. With a setlist consisting mostly of fan favourites ("Water vs. the Anchor", “13 Cheers for Beer and Bullshit”, “You Whistle, I'll Shoot”, “Cloak and Dagger”, “Go Fuck Yrself”, “As Long as She Doesn't Smoke”, “If I Knew Numbers” and “For Meg”) the crowd was driven to fever pitch, singing every word and screaming every word. Never has there been a more touching scene than a room filled to the hilt with all chanting in unison "Well I'll scream it, 'til your ears bleed. You'll always have a friend in me."

In a place like this, every word rings true, especially the part about the bleeding ears.

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