Controversal Show Canceled

We don’t know if there will be a change of venue, but the controversy got too much for the original one.

One People’s Project

BROOKLYN, NY – Citing rising concerns, the manager of the club Coco 66 told One People’s Project that the Aug. 31 show featuring bands with some neo-Nazi associations has been canceled.

Joe Haines, the club manager said that the show which was supposed to be the reunion of the band Tears of Frustration, whose lead singer Joe Falzone was a onetime member of the white supremacist National Alliance, was canceled after concerns about the show started to hurt the reputation of the club, which hosts bands from many types of music genres. “It’s New York City in 2014,” he said. “Of course we’re not going to put on anything like that.”

Haines said he feels the club was being unfairly targeted for hosting the show, particularly because he was seen as the booking agent, which he says is untrue. “We (Coco66) don’t do our own booking,” he said. “We outsorce our booking to other bookers who book their own and have shows. The guy who booked the show was recommended through another promoter who books hardcore shows.”

Knuckleheadz Productions was the promoter of this and at least two other shows at Coco66, all featuring bands that have been associated with the white supremacist Rock Against Communism (RAC) campaign started by the band Skrewdriver in the 1970s. Despite this and the fact that RAC has also morphed into Rock Against Islam, many Blacks and Hispanics attended and performed at the shows.

According to some reports, Joe Falzone has left the National Alliance ten years ago, but this has not been confirmed.

Sadly, the controversy surrounding this show may mean that there will no longer be punk, hardcore or metal shows at the venue anymore. Haines says Coco66 has decided that in the future, they will only have EDM, folk and alternative bands. “We can’t take any chances from now on,” he said.