Punk Rock Band from Guadalajara Invades Chapas Bar on 14th Street

by Diego Lee Rot

Punk rock is not Brownsville's favorite art form, but Friday's punk rock lineup at Chapas Bar proved that punk has a following in Brownsville.

Last February I went to see Leftover Crack at B.A.M., Brownsville Artists and Musicians, on Washington Street. 

While there was no disturbance of any kind, I knew the event was over when I saw Assistant Fire Marshal Raymond Harris running up the street toward the venue with the zeal of a revenuer about to smash some moonshine stills. 

The band, Leftover Crack, was driven from B.A.M. after "the shutdown" and finished their set at Chapas Bar on 14th Street.

This time, the punk rock event started at Chapas. I bought my cousin Ryan a ticket, since he benchpresses 500 lbs., and can be useful in two or three against one situations.

Acidez, a hardcore punk rock band from Guadalajara, Jalisco headlined.  They played songs from their new album, Welcome to the 3D Era. According to their website, the group has been performing since 2003. but they were not much better than more local groups, like Hasta de la Tierra from Corpus Christi, or the Poor Uglies. A Brownsville guy from the Poor Uglies was pretty cool and came down and talked with Ryan and I for a few minutes.  He had to leave before Acidez took the stage.

Acidez made it a point to remind us and re-remind us they were from Mexico.

"How many of you are from Mexico?" they asked.  3 or 4 of the crowd of about 50 raised their hands.  

"Can you believe our drummer is not even from Mexico?" the lead man asked.  "He's from 'El Valle!" he explained, as if it was a joke to be from here.  I quickly got a vision of Donald Trump in spiked hair.

At about 12:45 AM, as Acidez took the stage, my cousin Ryan shouted:  "Watch out!"  An obviously drunk man was coming at us like a bulldozer.  We sidestepped him like two bullfighters and he went down into the mosh pit, elbowing and throwing people around.  We watched as he crawled on his knees to the bathroom, escaping the pursuit of security.

From the editor:  Diego Lee Rot, the guest writer of this article, occasionally covers the local music scene for the Brownsville Observer.