Several Months ago, it came to my attention that punx in NYC and Philly had been organizing benefit shows to help pay for my friend, Nick Poot's treatment of Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I received word today that Nick passed away on November 24th. Not having realized how critical his situation was, I now regret not having taken a sooner opportunity to be in touch with him.
I met Nick in 1997, hanging out in my buddy Mike's backyard in Manchester, NH. I recall him hardly saying a word, happy to spend the moment on my skateboard, ollieing in his boots. Though not close pals, Nick went to school at Central with a few guys whom I was tight with and we all frequented shows at the old Cafe Savoie. At some point, I'd heard he'd fallen in (and perhaps out) with local skinheads. A few years later, I would ponder the spectacle of spiky punk kids with Blood for Blood patches when we more randomly crossed paths at a Harum-Scarum show in Portland, Maine.
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| NH PUNX in Boston, June 1997 l-r: Mikus Filitis, Nick Poot Mardanes, Boob Polkavich, Tim Emerson & Baron Svengali |
I feel like I went to a hundred shows at Disgraceland while living in South Philly, but am sure that something like the truth could easily knock away one of those zeroes. Anyway, I arrived there after work one night to catch Forca Macabra on their 2008 US tour. During the first band, this super tall, punk-as-fuck-looking dude walks up and asks if I'm me. I assure him that I am. "Nick Mardanes?" Sure enough, though he now goes by "Poot." We spent the short while before the next band catching-up and trading stories. It felt a bit like I was witness to a confessional, as he touched upon regretful things from his past. Nick told me of his time before leaving NH, being attacked by skinheads who beat him severely and tore the mohawk out of his head, and of a dismal spell in St Louis. Things were much better for him these days, playing music and living in Brooklyn. Right then, Nick had to gear up to play the next set.
I'm certain that some of my appreciation for Absurd System came enhanced by a nostalgic projection or what they appeared not to be: contrived, nor terribly sophisticated, and therefore lovely as an exemption from chic qualities of this modern age. Menacing in the juvenile, chain-whipping antics of their singer, Nick's band may have sounded somewhat dated, yes, but with an energy that is timeless and fierce with certain honesty in their straightforward deployment of loud hardcore punk. Every lash of the chain against the wall ushered a heightened pulse of youth within me.
After the show, we packed up and discussed the possibility of artwork being done for an Absurd System EP which never came to be. Nick and I crossed paths a few more times in the next year. After barely missing them at the Amebix show in NY, I caught his other band, Attake when they played a killer set, opening for Midnight at Kung-Fu Necktie, which quaintly capped-off my first round of Philly life.
That was the last time I saw him. We wished each other well and parted trails with air thick in crushing melody. Goodbye, my friend. Metal Punx Onward & Immortal!
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| May Day, 2009- Attake in Philadelphia |
when all is said and all is done
will you meet me on the other side
seven million miles beyond the sun
