Tribute
Late vocalist sang about inclusivity and fostering friendship in bleak times, spreading the hardcore reality around the world for decades
“We have our mics, but this is your mic.” When I saw Sick of It All play a gig in Denver in 2001, a couple of years before I moved to New York, it seemed like a revelation that a professional band would place a microphone on the Ogden Theatre’s stage for anyone to climb up and sing along with them before diving back into the pit. He also asked for everyone to look out for each other in the mosh pit. I was a metalhead, a few years into college, and still relatively fresh to New York hardcore. Metal bands didn’t do things like that. Little did I know that sense of community had been a staple of hardcore shows in New York for decades at that point.
One guy at that show kept requesting “Rat Pack,” a 47-second frenzy about sticking with your friends off the band’s classic debut, Blood, Sweat, and No Tears, and when frontman Lou Koller gave him the crowd’s mic, the guy completely forgot the lyrics. Koller laughed and said something like, “Eh, eh, not so fast. You have to know the lyrics if you’re going to do that.” Then he smiled that impish grin he made famous to show all was forgiven. Even if you publicly embarrassed yourself, he still wanted you here.
