Monday, March 9, 2009

Warzone/Right Direction - Live In Europe 1995 split 7"

Warzone... I don't think there's a whole lot I can say about this band that hasn't been said a million times before. If you don't know them, be really ashamed, and then go and educate yourself. A truly classic NYHC band, based around their singer, Ray 'Raybeez' Barbieri (RIP), the band started in 1982 and ended in September 1997, when Raybeez died of pneumonia.

Right Direction started in '89 and had just released their second album, All Of A Sudden, when they did this tour with Warzone. At that point in time they were one of the biggest bands of the so-called Eurocore style, together with bands like Ryker's and Brightside. Raybeez became good friends with the Right Direction people and the scene in RD's hometown, Maastricht, the Netherlands, a.k.a. the M-Town Rebels. After the tour Raybeez and Vinnie Value (No Redeeming Social Value, Grey Area, Kill Your Idols), who played for Warzone at the time, stayed in Maastricht for some time, hanging out with the locals, and even getting an M-town Rebels tattoo at some point. Their next European tour they did together with another M-town band called Backfire, who are still going strong. And after Raybeez's death, a huge memorial fest was held in Maastricht with 25+ bands paying tribute to Raybeez.

I was lucky enough to have seen Warzone on both of these tours, Raybeez was a very charismatic frontman on stage. This 7" was recorded during the abovementioned European tour Warzone did with Right Direction, at shows in Berlin, Germany (Right Direction) and Maastricht (Warzone). It was released on M-town label Your! Records and was limited to 500 copies. As far as I am aware of, the label didn't release anything else, and I have never seen a re-release of these live-recordings, so good luck finding a copy!

Here is a pretty cool article with people sharing memories of Raybeez, including Vinnie Value and Dave from Right Direction. It also includes an interview with Raybeez.

Warzone / Right Direction - Live in Europe 1995 split 7"
Warzone myspace
Right Direction myspace

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

fuckin awesome man, didnt even know this existed. do you have any other stuff by right direction?

XhcnoirX said...

I have their 'All Of A Sudden' CD from 1995 as well but that's it. Always preferred 'em live over recorded.