June 7, 1982 - Black Flag
The following is an excerpt from the book “No Slam Dancing, No Stage Diving, No Spikes: An Oral History of the Legendary City Gardens” by Amy Yates Wuelfing and Steven DiLodovico
Henry Rollins (Black Flag/Rollins Band): June 7th, 1982 was the first time I set foot in City Gardens. In the book, Get in The Van, there is a photo of us playing there. I had been hospitalized the night before, after a show in Baltimore, because I’d cut my hand punching a mirrored wall out while onstage. Back then we had to crash on floors or sleep in the van. We were always, always, without exception, cool to anyone who let us stay at their place. We wouldn’t necessarily run out and buy a new bottle of shampoo, but we wouldn’t steal or trash anything. No one in Black Flag was ever like that. We were more like the earnest, starving musicians grateful for a shower and floor space. We did nothing but be helpful, and I was always the first to wash the dishes. We were all kinda like that. We would come back to some of these people’s house every year, sometimes two times in a year. If you notice, my mother is thanked on all the early SST records, because all those bands crashed at my mom’s… Saccharine Trust, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Black Flag. It wouldn’t even be a Black Flag tour, and the bands would come through and call Iris. My mom would go down, see the band play, and then lead them back to the condo, and they’d all sleep and do their laundry. They all thanked her and were cool to her. You found that a lot in those days. Any mom who ever met us liked us, because we were always really polite.