By John Marshall Mantel
Special to DNAinfo
GOVERNORS ISLAND — Most self-respecting punks were still asleep when the Punk Island music festival kicked off on Father's Day morning.
Governors Island was supposed to have been pulsing with punk rock music starting at 10 a.m. Sunday, but the only sound emanating from this former military base was a recording of "Wrong 'Em Boyo" by The Clash, meant to attract the crowds who had yet to arrive.
Those who started rolling in off the ferryboat from lower Manhattan throughout the day found a mixed-up scene of bucolic grassy fields and pierced, leather-covered punk fans.
It also took a while for bands to find the stages where they were supposed to perform — since organizers dubbed the stages with cryptic names and numbers like "Rotten Apple Stage 1" and "Slackjaw Stage 17."
"It's supposed to start in five minutes and I don't hear any music yet, but, I guess that's punk," said Jonee Earthquake, frontman of the Jonee Earthquake punk band.
"I'm hoping the chaos will dissolve into excitement," he added.
Even the main stage seemed randomly located between a few tree stumps and a row of portable latrines.
There were plenty of impromptu band antics on display, as the group Morning Glory pinned their t-shirts to a tree for fans to purchase, and Blanks 77 converted the top of a wooden picnic table into their stage.
The makeshift table-stage gave the mosh pit slam dancers an extra couple of feet in their frantic effort to leap towards the band.
Manhattanite Dan Young said he wasn't prepared for a Governors Island overrun with refugees from Tompkins Square Park's so-called "Crusty Row" when his girlfriend suggested they seek some peace and quiet on this last day of Spring. But it could be worse, he said — he could be dressed like a punk in black leather in the 90-degree heat.
"On the boat over, it was a lot more piercings and tattoos than I expected," Young said, "We thought it would be quiet and pleasant, and it was the opposite, but it was still pleasant."
