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Ruth Polsky at Danceteria When the members of New Order arrived in New York for their first North American gigs in 1980, they were greeted by a booking agent, a drug supplier, a tour guide and their own personal chef � all of whom were the same woman. The Brits were just one of dozens of new wave and post-punk acts imported across the Atlantic by New Yorker Ruth Polsky. During her tenure as a talent booker at seminal Manhattan nightclubs Hurrah on West 62nd Street (1979 to 1982) and Danceteria on West 21st Street (1982 to 1986), she was the first to take chances on then-unknown bands such as Simple Minds , Echo and the Bunnymen, the Smiths, the Psychedelic Furs and many more. With disco and rock still dominant in the charts, Polsky had a rare ear for fresh sounds, and took chances in bringing them to the United States before most other club bookers would dare.  She also became den mother for the acts, especially in their greener days. �When we first came, we were ...

One look at Antiseen leader Jeff Clayton, with his chest-length graying beard and a forehead bearing the signs of one too many broken beer bottles, and it�s a safe guess that the band�s music is not used to soundtrack ballet recitals. While there is no mistaking the punk rock group�s musical chops are as sharp as ever, it�s also easy to see by their tour schedule that the days of being the young upstarts booking hundreds of shows a year are well behind them. When they roll into a city these days, as they will Sunday night at The Pour House Music Hall in downtown Raleigh, they know that the area holds a fan base ready to receive them with open arms and banging heads. �We try not to go do a bunch of �testing the waters� when it comes to touring,� Clayton admits over the phone. �We kind of go where it�s kind of a sure thing.� Nearly 35 years into a career that has taken Antiseen around the world and back multiple times, this is one of the only instances where the band has b...