First off, a special YCT message to Birdsall. Hey Birdsall! Happy birthday!

John Piche is a prolific zinester originally from Cleveland, but now living in San Francisco. I spent most of my pre-teen years reading Graham Greene books and not listening to hardcore, so I've asked John to write about his recollections of the Cleveland hardcore scene. If this kind of thing is of interest to you, directly proceed to his internet webpages regarding the Cleveland hardcore scene. T-O-T-A-L-L-Y R-I-V-E-T-I-N-G. Take it, John:

Before Confront officially formed, the Kuebler Brothers were in a band called Youth Inc. with a guy named Jerry Beck. Jerry was the singer/guitarist and a really charismatic guy. He introduced Brian & Jay Kubler to Tom Brose and Steve Murad. Both Steve and Tom knew each other from Coventry and Cleveland Heights High. They were "jamming" with various people including Aaron Melnick and various South Euclid punks. Eventually Outface, False Hope, Die Hard, and Integrity all came together out of these after school basement jam sessions.

Jerry Beck was quite the artist, as well as being a social butterfly and mediocre second gutair in the newly formed Confront. Brian Bee Klean on guitar, Jay of Today on drums, Mean Steve Murad on vocals, Tom "Your Mom Is Calling" Brose on bass. Jerry was also the bridge that lead Dwid into the Coventry scene, but that is a longer story. Jerry now is a gigantic body builder who runs a workout t-shirt company named Iron Asylum. He drew the infamous Confront logo of the jumping figure.

First time I met Tom Brose of Confront, he was forming a band with Mean Steve and Chubby Fresh in his parents' basement. All the songs they wrote were about fast food. They were like the punk Fat Boys. Tom had gone to see Corrosion of Conformity on the 1987 Technocracy tour with Simon Bob singing in Kent, Ohio. He said it was good. Even through Aaron and I were both dubious. I have to admit that I was somewhat dismissive of Tom since he was like a pudgy Circle Jerks logo come to life. Ripped jeans, frizzy hair, a red bandana tied around his combat boot, and a flannel knotted around his waist. Now he owns a gym in D.C. and does crazy martial arts and kettle bell weight training. Last time I saw him, he felt like a refrigerator. Weird they are both huge rippling muscle guys, huh?

ANYWAY. Confront was a well-established hardcore band playing out a lot starting in 1987. Steve and Tom were quite the scenesters and were able to get their band booked on local matinees with False Hope, Chris "Warped Records" Andrew's Spudmonsters, out of towners Ugly Butt Proud, Domestic Crisis. Their set list included such speedy anthems like "Join the Circus," "Macho Man," and numerous covers (SSD and Negative Approach being the two big favorites). None of these songs survived since no practice cassettes are known to exist, and I have asked and looked. "Macho Man" made some late showings as an ironic sort of smirk at their own developing tough-guy image. They had a good solid 20-minute set, which I remember Brian telling me was the perfect set length for a local show.

Then on May 29th, 1988 everything changed in Cleveland Hardcore. An afternoon hardcore matinee was booked at the filthy pizza joint called Irv's on Coventry. Irv's had just reopened after being shuttered by the health department. Since half the restaurant was empty, they agreed to let Tom Brose and Tony Pines book a show, as long as it was over before dark.

Confront, Life's Blood, Beyond, Project X, Gorilla Biscuits, and Judge (who I think Tom actually set the show up with—John Procelly & Mike Judge) all played. I was there in a Septic Death t-shirt. I also missed Project X because I went to pee. By the time I got back they had completely ripped through their set. Here is a picture of Procell singing that day. You can see from scrawny kids left to right: Aaron Melnick in gray tank top, Jerry Beck in baseball hat, Dwid in NIKE gear, and Brian Kuebler in purple.

That is the show where the Cleveland kids all danced in a big Another State of Mind crop circle mosh pit. Word spread pretty quickly among the NYHC kids that Cleveland still circle pitted, which was quite the embarrassment. Word spread back then by telephone conversations mostly. I think it was Tom who first informed everyone that the circle pit was a point of mockery after being cracked on by Mike Judge, most likely.

It was shortly after that show that Confront held a band meeting. They decided to scrap all the old songs, added a second guitar player Kurt Vagil and wrote a whole bunch of new songs in a month's time. There were a lot more breakdowns and parts for the hard dancing to really explode. These are the songs that made it onto the Dark Empire Compilation called Dark Empire Strikes Back and eventually on the 7" that Dwid put out after they broke up.

Why did Confront break up? A girl. She had been dating Brian for years and then took up with Mean Steve. Lord knows why.

What is Confront's legacy? Starting the whole tough-guy, beat-you-up-mentality of Cleveland shows. It will always be the summer of 1988. Thanks to Confront, Youth of Today played Cleveland three or four times. It did not hurt that Cleveland girls were easy (Sammy lost his virginity in Mentor) either and that there was a Mentor McMansion that they crashed at when they came to visit. The fact that Youth of Today never did much to support or promote Confront was always something of a mystery to everyone. I think now it is obvious that they did not like the music, but loved the hospitality.

(Addendum: I just received an email from Bill Geiger regarding his photos from this era. Have a look at them here and here. Thanks a lot, Bill!)