A landmark gig in international hardcore will be heard by a whole new generation of fans thanks to a new reissue of a seminal live album.
On 4 December 1983 eleven of Italy's top hardcore bands - BRONTOSAURI, JUGGERNAUT (pictured), STATO DI POLIZIA, PUTRID FEVER, DEMENTS, USELESS BOYS, WARD DOGS, A'UFSCHLAG, CHEETAH CHROME MOTHERFUCKERS, I REFUSE IT! and TRAUMATIC - assembled at the deconsecrated church of San Zeno in Pisa, Tuscany for The Last White Christmas, organised by GDHC (Gran Ducato Hard Core), that has since gone down in the annals of HC history.
The gig was recorded via a cassette deck wired directly to the mixing desk by sound engineer Alessandro Sportelli, and issued the following year on two cassettes - one C90, one C60 - by San Diego label Bad Compilation Tapes. Copies of both tapes now change hands for absurd money.
The recordings, completely remastered by Sportelli, are now being made available once again as a brain-frying 71-track double CD Last White X-Mas through top Italian punk label Area Pirata.
"I've been goin' to gigs since 1970 and there is none other like this," says Bad Compilation Tapes founder Chris BCT. "IT WAS THE GREATEST RECORDED PUNK ROCK GIG OF ALL TIME! (Not that it's a contest). HC blew up from about 1980 thru about 1986. It's still around but the world blast happened then. These are some of the great Italian punk bands of the mid 80s. This gig is a historical document. It's high art for future generations. This gig has no bands that suck. And probably all making great music. Some of the best bands I've ever heard. To let this gig slip into forgottenness would be an artistic crime cuz there was never anything like it during the heyday of HC from around 1980 through 1986 that I know of. It's not a perfect recording. I think it's as close to our punk equivalent of Woodstock as I've ever run across…"
Released on 1 June, Last White X-Mas is available on CD from the Area Pirata website and digitally via Bandcamp.
