Concert Review: Downtown Boys Are The Schoolhouse Punk In BK
At Brooklyn Steel, Downtown Boys (DB) felt like Schoolhouse Punk-Rock; combining a feeling a feeling of education and rebellion. I always talk about the inherent rebelliousness of Punk- Rock, and how it is a genre that is based on the abused saying, “NO MAS!” Yet, I never realized how spiritual this genre/ that message is until seeing DB perform live. I felt schooled by them on the spirituality of punk.
There is something incredibly beautiful, empowering, and even life-changing in witnessing someone, whom has been put down, rise up. Suddenly, you see a twinkle return to their dimmed eyes, and the earth could quake as they regain their voice to declare that he/she is finally defending himself/herself. Thus, lead singer Victoria Ruiz feels like the Priestess of Punk; elevating its natural “venting” capacities and turning then into healing ones. She brings such a level positivism to punk that you feel stunned “moshers” such as, “I’m Enough (I Want More),” “A Wall,” and “Somos Chulas (No Somos Pendejas),” made you want to push and shove in a pit as much as hug your friend.
As the band dispersed across the stage, dancing as if cast under a dreamy, raucous spell, you saw the brilliance of Downtwon Boys in standing out for both creative quality and eccentricity amongst a scene that tussles in having both. They are different in every way by further fusing Latin Culture into the punk scene with a Selena finesse, and elaborating that rage is not enough to stand up against “parasites.” Anger needs to lead to action, but, perhaps, the reason most wallow in disappointment with systems is because they are not proud of/ valuing themselves enough. “Brave” was a word Ruiz annunciated like a Schoolhouse Rock episode. She is so firm in presence, verse, and speech that she feels like an entire Women’s March embodied into one human being, and her lesson is clear; you never bad enough to deserver others’s worse.
For Downtown Boys, Punk-Rock is not about the chaos, loudness, or wrath that others see as much as the strength people want to build. No one is perfect, but, with that in mind, you should seek others that are good to you as you try to be better. This dynamic mantra leaped from their set, which was sonically exceptional. I never even THOUGHT of putting a SAXOPHONE in a punk track. Yet, when that instrument came out, mood and moment combined to make Downtown Boys memorable. For More Information On Downtown Boys Click Here.
