Hardcore-show injury puts 222 Ormsby on pause
The Mt. Oliver venue is seeking legal help for incident in February
Hardcore injuries happen — it’s the nature of the beast — but the one at 222 Ormsby in February appears to have been more serious than the usual black eye or bloody nose, and now the DIY venue in Mt. Oliver is pausing future bookings while it deals with the fallout.
The Ormsby account posted Thursday night that a lawsuit has been filed stemming from an injury suffered by a patron at the venue.
Judging by the Instagram comments, much of the hardcore community is not pleased — with the plaintiff.
From schizodoestarot: “I ain’t proud about being at a punk show unless I become some form of injured.”
From kindajord: “a patron suing a small business is absolutely NOT punk, moral, or mildly okay or necessary. it is also misdirected anger. shame on them for hurting a small business that had no part in their injury. maybe be more careful 🙄”
We reached out to Ormsby management Friday but have yet to hear back, which isn’t surprising in light of a pending lawsuit.
The venue did comment in the thread, writing: “Definitely not someone affiliated with 222. It was another patron who bragged about it afterwards and has been banned from the venue.”
Ormsby hosted five shows in February, including two hardcore bills: Raskol/Switch Hitter/Clobberin’ Time on Feb. 26 and No Chance/Nailed to the Cross on Feb. 27.
Poster derekspelledtherightway had the most firsthand information on the event, writing: “I’II implore everyone blaming the plaintiff to familiarize themselves with what happened, and how serious it was. I don’t like it, I don’t like any of this, but the person many of you are lobbing insults at is a very real person who suffered a severe injury. “It’s hardcore, what do you expect” - if you’re not in the pit area, you should not be hospitalized. The people injuring others that night are the ones tearing down the scene.”
Ormsby also commented: “We will be looking for legal assistance if anyone can help.”
Ormsby began hosting shows in 2008 and operated through the mid-2010s before closing because of code violations. In August 2018, the property was purchased by Dave Issod, a graduate student who grew up in the New Jersey and Philadelphia punk scenes. Following renovations, Ormsby reopened in April 2019.
An earlier version of the story indicated that 222 Ormsby was pausing shows.
Plaintiff is claiming she was outside mosh pit and suffered fractured orbital bone from a person who had been in the mosh pit but decided to assault people outside the mosh pit.