from Jersey Counter-Info

In November 2023, Stomp Out NJ, a NJ hardcore show and event planning project run by Jay Baluski, announced it would be hosting a show on April 20, 2024 featuring nationalist punk band Condemned84.

A screenshot from Stomp Out NJ’s Instagram page, which depicts a number of different metal and punk shows, including the Condemned84 show (bottom left corner).

 

Jay Baluski’s advertising of the show on his personal Facebook page.

Condemned84 has decades long ties to Britain’s nationalist socialist and white power movements. Immediately upon the shows announcement there was understandable outcry from the local hardcore community over the organization of the show.

The event flier for the ill-fated Spring 2024 Condemned84 show. Note the coded swastika, depicted on the center of the flier by way of a nationalist punk and lightning.

Baluski/Stomp Out NJ played dumb and tried to shrug off people’s legitimate concerns like Condemned84’s nationalist and racist history, the date of the show overlapping with Hitler’s birthday (a well known and celebrated ‘holiday’ among national socialists), the event flier having a coded swastika on it, and the location of the show being a secret.

Baluski playing dumb on the Stomp Out NJ Instagram page.

While Baluski tried to play coy about the show and offered half-assed excuses to avoid any heat, the NJ hardcore scene and antifascists started to apply pressure to get the show cancelled. With consistent public pressure applied to Baluski/Stomp Out NJ, information about the scheduled April 20, 2024 show went dark for several months. In March 2024, Baluski made a public announcement on his social media that he had cancelled the Condemned84 show and was refunding ticket sales.

The official announcement from Baluski/Stomp Out NJ about the cancellation of the Condemned84 show.

 

Baluski/Stomp Out NJ posted further details about ticket sales being refunded.

The cancellation of the Condemned84 show can be attributed to the collective effort between the NJ hardcore scene and NJ antifascists, who created an inhospitable environment for racist nazi bullshit. Baluski/Stomp Out NJ do not currently have plans to reschedule the show or host future national socialist shows but both should be regarded with extreme caution. Nazi sympathizers and their ilk have no place in NJ.