VENOM/BLACK FLAG/OVERKILL 4/2/86

In the past few months, I’ve been packing up and sending out many records from my collection in exchange for much needed money. Yesterday, it was the grey area, seven-inch EP released on Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace imprint consisting of the between-song banter from Venom’s notorious gig headlining over Black Flag at Trenton, New Jersey’s City Gardens on April 2nd, 1986.

As an actual witness to this show, I always kept it as a memento to the event despite being able to count on my hands how many times it was actually played. But now that it’s floating somewhere in the postal system en route to its new owner, I know it was just a badge of collector status – something to exchange quotes from with half-remembered acquaintances.

What that thin slice of vinyl didn’t contain was the memory of what a perfectly crisp, clear Spring day it was on that Wednesday and despite being a dopey 13 year old, the irony that I was going to see a band with a Satanic shtick on the week of Easter vacation from my catholic school wasn’t lost on me. Since my brother was the deejay for the evenings’ festivities, I had the advantage of showing up with him a few hours early to check out what happened before the doors opened. Right now, all my memory recalls is Rollins scribbling away in a corner using a guitar case for a desk while members of openers Overkill skateboarded around the dance floor. I also remember Black Flag brought their own P.A. but can’t confirm if they let Venom use it. No members of Venom could be seen milling around the other bands or club staff.