Episode 017: Promoting Shows w/ Melissa Kundrath

The Bergenfield girls were show promoters in the northern part of jersey who were made up of Melissa, Erin, and Kathy. They were just 3 awesome chicks who had a passion for punk rock and decided to start putting on shows. Back in the day, my old band Lanemeyer loved getting asked to play on the shows they put on. The majority of them were at the Teaneck American Legion which became a staple for watching great bands even though it was such a tiny space. This interview is pretty awesome because A. Melissa is the shit. And B, if gives you an inside look on what went into actually putting on a show between paying for the hall, getting bands to show up and play on time, dealing with potential brawls in the parking lot, and more.

I asked Melissa to be on the podcast, she said hell yes and this is what we talk about:

• My Bronx Tale story
• Bands that we consider ours
• The Aquabats
• Paramus park mall
• Heckle
• How they booked bands by cold calling them
• How they found Teaneck’s American legion hall
• Were shows stressful to put on?
• How they had to keep the peace at some shows
• How local shows were very similar around the country
• Were any bands a pain in the ass
• The Westwood garage
• How did it come to an end
• How the Lanemeyer/Humble reunion show the July came about
• And a ton more

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