a shit fit about him being in the band. The Out Group was forced to
practice without Syd as appearances became sketchy. We used this time
to stretch out and exercise some creativity, penning tunes like “Keep
Your Hands Off” and “5441”. We also set out to learn our instruments.
I bought my first electric guitar as I had been borrowing Mike Woods’
(Syd’s brother) Hondo and Gibson Falcon amp up to that point. Even
my MXR distortion plus pedal was on loan. Sean carried his first bass
around in a trash bag, and practice frequently began with a cursing
session and a soldering iron. When we came back to play CBGB on June
6th, Syd’s dad wouldn’t let him out for the night. Dave somehow
managed to sing all of the songs while drumming at 175 mph and the
group persevered, getting a warm reception from the New York crowd.
our first showcase at CBGB on a Sunday in January of 1982 — one week
before my 13th birthday. We played fast and hard with no bullshitting
between songs. That was pretty much the strategy then — to play about
10–15 songs, fast as hell for about 30 minutes and quit. We got asked
to come back for a real gig on a Thursday hardcore night on April
15th. The battery in Dave’s car was ripped off as we played and we
purchased an identical model at a nearby gas station in the Lower
East side for about $20 (probably the same fuckin’ battery). I remember getting home at 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. and getting up for school the next day for 7th grade home room thinking, “No one in here can relate to what I did last night”. It was surreal.