By Jeanine Budd, News staff

It’s a statement we should all agree on:’ ‘Boston Rules, OK?’ It’s also the name of an annual two-day, four-show festival that celebrates one of the nation’s finest punk scenes.
This year’s festival, with over 100 people in attendance on the first day, was held at Harpers Ferry. Punks from all over the city flocked to this small venue in Allston, creating a sea of scally caps and a few mohawks drunkenly dancing and skanking to this year’s jam-packed lineup.
The festival kicked off around noon Saturday, with The Revellers delivering the first half-hour set, followed by Razors in the Night and Chicago’s Flatfoot 56. Although the band isn’t geographically a piece of this city’s scene, they were ‘- and almost always are ‘- greeted by enthusiasm from the crowd.
After Flatfoot 56 pumped positive energy into the crowd, working-class punks Blood Stained Brindle revved up the circle pit, followed by 15-year scene veterans Pinkerton Thugs. Lastly, relative newcomers and local street-punk act Far From Finished took the stage, facilitating the finale-style celebration this festival deserved.
The show got off to a powerul start with ‘9 Lives,’ a track from 2005’s East Side of Nowhere.
What followed was a set mixing old and new, which for Far From Finished equates to a high-energy combination of songs off of East Side of Nowhere and 2007’s Living in the Fallout. Though the band itself has been together for eight years, these recently-released records define the group. It’s fortunate they don’t have to dig deep into the recesses of time to pull out old favorites, as their repertoire seems to easily please any avid fan.
Saturday’s set included two staple songs, and, incidentally, the only songs the band has made official music videos for:’ ‘Roses and Razorblades’ and ‘The Bastard’s Way.’ The first always gets the crowd moving at a more-than-comfortable pace, while the slower, yet equally exciting second uses the full capacity of its sing-along power.
On the band’s Myspace profile, guitarist Oscar Capps describes a Far From Finished show by writing, ‘[Lead singer] Steve [Neary] has one hand and he jumps in the crowd; I yell at everyone ’cause I’m crazy; Pesky [bassist] usually ends up saying something disgusting. We just hope that at some point a glimmer of musicianship can shine through the aesthetic of the sideshow.’
Dripping with sweat and energy, Far From Finished succeeded in not just showing off their musicianship, but their passion for the music they play. Any observer from outside this city’s walls could have reached out and grabbed a piece of what this punk scene is all about.’ With arms around one another, fists in the air, belting lyric after lyric, there were many times Neary had no need to sing the songs himself. The crowd could finish any line he began, and sing back-to-back any song with just as much enthusiasm as the one preceding it.
While it would have been preferable to see the stage rushed by overly excited fans during their encore ‘- which has happened many times in the past and just seems to be a staple for Boston punk shows ‘- the two-song requirement didn’t let down. Ending with a climactic cover of ‘Knowledge’ by Berkeley ska-punk legends Operation Ivy, the beginning show of Boston Rules, OK? ended on a perfect preparatory note.
Anyone who missed Saturday’s shows certainly missed a great piece of this city’s history. But there’s no need to worry. Most of the bands were local, and God forbid anything prevents these groups from tearing up another nearby venue.
Paul Russo, lead singer for the Pinkerton Thugs, said it best during their set last Saturday:’ ‘Boston is back!’