“I command you to destroy Cha Cha's!” - Franz
Drove some weird girls to this show. There was some kind of day pass sort of deal that would give you tickets or whatever to access some rides, so we spent the day seeing what Coney Island was all about. The Wonder Wheel, the Cyclone (which was exactly what you'd expect for an old wooden coaster, painful and crazy), a freakshow, and so on. There were giant waffles in the ceiling, and people crowd surfed on them. The giant inflatable beers and other decorations were also good crowd surfing materials, but pulling down the lights wasn't such a bright idea, maybe do less of that next time. The owner demanded I format my camera, and because I'm not clever enough to get out of that kind of thing, I complied (though in the end that didn't matter; don't tell him that quick format doesn't actually remove anything though, shh). Now it would appear that I am marrying one of those girls, so thanks inferno and your Coney Island day passes. - Doug K
Brought two of my non-punk friends to the show. Haven't spoken to them since. But, oh, that last waltz we had under the moonlight while the cops were too confused even to tell us to move along… -D¢
First time I went to Coney Island. Now I have it tattooed on my arm. Stacey, Spot, and I drank an entire bottle of wine on the Wonder Wheel and in the photo booth next to it. I got whiplash on the first drop of the Cyclone because Spot kept shaking us so we'd turn around. The shattered glass from the lights inside Cha Cha's looked more like confetti/glitter so I kept forgetting it really, really should not have been on my skin. -Danielle
After the lights came down and the band started out the door playing Heart Attack, I remember throwing my bag of confetti on the ground to add insult to injury. As we were walking out, I heard one of the owners talking to someone screaming, “They we animals!”. As the cops surrounded the noisy crowd on the boardwalk, everyone started singing Anarchists. Only downside was that I had heard some dude had to get a bunch of stitches in his forehead due to the falling lights. - Scott MS
I was right up in the front, and I remember the owner or someone approaching the band from the wings of the stage- he said something along the lines of “you gotta calm these kids down,” and was pretty much given the brush off. I think someone may have snickered “yeah, that's not gonna happen.” The lights/power kept turning on and off (apparently at Nathan's Hot Dogs next door as well), but when the plug was finally and deliberately pulled, Jack turned to the rest of the band and said “waltz me out” before slipping off stage. This was the first show where I really met anybody- Brett in his panda mask, Will McAndrew, Drew & MacKenzie… Also, I think this might have been when I first met Jack- I told him it was the best show of theirs I'd ever seen, and his response was “it was a bit short.” I'm pretty sure he introduced me to Brainy, too. - N.N. P.S. I just found out JT, the owner of Cha Cha's, passed away September 10, 2010.
Walked out of that show with an inflatable bottle of PBR, my ex took Jack's mic…. Loved Coney Island, been dying to go back since then. The boardwalk cops were hilarious; as if wiggling a flashlight at us was gonna make us disperse… one of them said to us, “Stop singing! Do you know what you're singing?” and someone shouted at him, “do YOU??” har-har COMEDY. — Margot
Michelle didn't have a ticket to this show, and it seemed pretty difficult to sneak into (although I think I remember someone coming in through a window at some point?) so we decided to make her a wrist band. Everyone snipped the ends off their wrist bands and we borrowed some scotch tape from the store next door to stich them together. Leandre masterfully copied the logo from the wrist band onto our bootleg one and it worked like a charm. Cassie got hit in the head by some track lights and I think she went to the hospital after our bus broke down on the way back to jersey. It's all a bit blurry now but still one of the most memorable shows I've ever been to. -Casey