Legendary Port Chester: Bad Religion; Sept. 14, 1996

In 1996, when hip hop was surpassing rock as the dominant music of youth culture, purists on both sides viewed musical fandom in purely binary terms.

Half a decade before bands like Limp Bizkit would assault listeners with suspect fusions of both genres, it was either rock or hip hop – you couldn't like both.

That's why the night of Sept. 14, 1996 is tasteless, but not surprising, in retrospect. A day after hip hop icon Tupac Shakur died of multiple gunshot wounds, an L.A. punk rock band took the stage at Port Chester's Capitol Theatre and celebrated the rapper's death.

"Before we continue," Goldfinger singer John Feldman told the audience at the Capitol, "a moment of silence for Tupac!"

And the band's drummer broke out into the noisiest, most dissonant drum solo he could manage.

Enjoying mainstream success during ska's brief third wave revival, the California band was getting airplay on local rock stations for its reggae-infused punk rock, and came to Port Chester supporting headliners and punk rock mainstays Bad Religion.

And while Biggie was feuding with Tupac, and Goldfinger was feuding with Tupac, Bad Religion was feuding with its former lead guitarist.

Guitarist Brett Gurewitz had recently departed when Bad Religion arrived in Port Chester, and fans who were at the Capitol that night may have heard vocalist Greg Graffin spewing alternate lyrics to the 1994 album's title track, "Stranger Than Fiction" with lines such as, "I want to know where Brett gets his crack" or "I want to know why Gurewitz cracked.”

Those wise cracks (literally!) referenced the founding member's known addiction to heroin and cocaine throughout the years.

But Graffin and his bandmates didn't have too much to be upset about: just a few months before that September show, their latest album, The Gray Race peaked at #56 on the United States Billboard Chart and strode all the way to #6 upon its release in Germany.

Check out a photo of one of the official ticket stubs handed out  at this show in our photo gallery.

Follow Port Chester Patch!

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PortChesterPatch

Twitter: http://twitter.com/PChesterPatch