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Vintage Breakthrough "Demo" T-Shirt

Breakthrough was a straight edge hardcore band from North Carolina made up of members of the First Step and their crew(cial John). Despite having dedicated his entire life to straight edge hc, John Scharbach had never sang in a band before. They recorded their demo in 2003 with a guy named Nate who had a demo studio in his basement. The entirety of the music was recorded on the first day and John took a pass at the first song or two. Nate, who later acted in a Black Sabbath music video, bounced down the songs for the band to listen to and John was "devastated." John laid there and thought "All I wanted to do in my life was sing in a straight edge hardcore band and my vocals sucked so what was I gonna do now?" Despite this frustration, John finished the vocals to the demo the next day and the four songs that made up their tape were done. John's fear about the songs proved to be wrong, they had written and released a demo that was steeped in tradition but focused on the present. Oh, and the vocals were good. The four-song demo was released and then the band started playing shows shortly after. And by playing shows that just meant they would hop on The First Step sets randomly and unannounced. Bassist Chris Casali showed up to the first show with these navy blue shirts as a surprise for the band. They made 13 of them and played two songs. Breakthrough would play a total of 11 shows, including one at CBGBs and a short European tour, all of which were unannounced except for their final gig, the final The First Step show in 2008. This shirt, in great condition,  is one from that very first show, when the dream of playing in a straight edge band with a good haircut and a cool looking t-shirt was finally realized for Crucial John. Now that dream can be yours. 

Dimensions: 20" Wide by 26" Long 

Tag Size: M

Country of Origin: Made in El Salvador

Brand: Fruit Of The Loom

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