Oh, So Punk Rock
Jun. 28th, 2008 06:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
howeverbriefI'm tabling some of my previously discussed issues because I haven't found a suitable way to express them. I figure the best way to go about fixing the problem is to see what happens and reassess the situation later. Hopefully this way, I won't feel so frantic/confused/whatever about it and be more clear about what I want to happen as well as be able to listen.
So anyway...
Last night Austin, two of his friends (Julie and Cougan), and I went to a show at Club Underground. We saw Intro5pect, Citizen Fish, and Leftover Crack. I hadn't been out to a show in a while, so it was fun to get out and mingle.
I forgot how fun it is to people-watch at punk rock shows. Punk rock is its own little slice of subculture with kids just discovering punk, ska kids, old-but-I'm-still-cool punks, t-shirt and jeans folks, shirtless guys looking for a fight, mohawks in all colors, facial piercings and more. It's interesting to see what kind of people are drawn to these shows for their own reasons.
I am, of course, not a punk. I don't think I can ascribe to any one group simply because I don't want to try hard enough/don't have the discipline to fit into one. I think some of the music is really cool, but as I was standing in this crowded room getting elbowed in the chest and listening to the band prattle on about how punk rock is about really changing the system and not just bashing someone's head in at a show or looking different from everyone else, I realized I don't really subscribe to that kind of ethos anymore. I mean, sure. I still want to change things and affect the world in any way I can, but I'm not sure it can be done through punk rock alone. Punk rock is, like all subcultures, inherently hypocritical. It breaks off from the main culture only to model itself after it, with its own unwritten rules of belonging and membership and viewpoint on how to make the world better, even if it doesn't really work. Much of the time, it's all a lot of talk dressed up in studs and safety pins.
Don't think I'm panning the whole thing, though. I think the notion is a little silly, but it is idealism in it's purest form. We need that to get things started, but what happens to keep things moving? Where's the momentum? Hell, I've been babbling about what's wrong with things for years here, and I know it doesn't do much. Simply talking about things gets people thinking, but it doesn't mean they are really going to do anything to make the world better or change what they think is wrong. Ultimately, people have to do that for themselves.
None of us have it right yet. I think trying and being aware that there's a bigger world outside your own helps, though.
After the show, we came out to find a boot on Austin's car. He had parked next to his friend Cougan's house in a lot with one car, a couch without cushions, a camper shell, and trash bags. Cougan also said he had never seen someone booted there before. It was slightly ridiculous, but we all chipped in (I had all of $7 in my wallet to contribute) to pay the fine and finally got back home around 1:00 in the morning.
All in all, an interesting night bookended by a slight annoyance.
Now I'm mostly thirsty, so I'm going to go take care of that. Before I go, I'll give you a list of happenings:
-Austin's dad is doing OK. We saw him yesterday before the show at the rehab center, and he is looking a lot better.
-My parents are coming up for dinner tomorrow because:
-Siobhan's leaving for Chile for another month and a half before school starts
-Might be stopping by a few lawyers offices on Monday
-My finger is shredded because I've been practicing bass
-I've started knitting a hat, which looks way too small but I've never done one before
-One of the cats threw up this morning and it had weird fibers in it that I can't figure out?
And done.
So anyway...
Last night Austin, two of his friends (Julie and Cougan), and I went to a show at Club Underground. We saw Intro5pect, Citizen Fish, and Leftover Crack. I hadn't been out to a show in a while, so it was fun to get out and mingle.
I forgot how fun it is to people-watch at punk rock shows. Punk rock is its own little slice of subculture with kids just discovering punk, ska kids, old-but-I'm-still-cool punks, t-shirt and jeans folks, shirtless guys looking for a fight, mohawks in all colors, facial piercings and more. It's interesting to see what kind of people are drawn to these shows for their own reasons.
I am, of course, not a punk. I don't think I can ascribe to any one group simply because I don't want to try hard enough/don't have the discipline to fit into one. I think some of the music is really cool, but as I was standing in this crowded room getting elbowed in the chest and listening to the band prattle on about how punk rock is about really changing the system and not just bashing someone's head in at a show or looking different from everyone else, I realized I don't really subscribe to that kind of ethos anymore. I mean, sure. I still want to change things and affect the world in any way I can, but I'm not sure it can be done through punk rock alone. Punk rock is, like all subcultures, inherently hypocritical. It breaks off from the main culture only to model itself after it, with its own unwritten rules of belonging and membership and viewpoint on how to make the world better, even if it doesn't really work. Much of the time, it's all a lot of talk dressed up in studs and safety pins.
Don't think I'm panning the whole thing, though. I think the notion is a little silly, but it is idealism in it's purest form. We need that to get things started, but what happens to keep things moving? Where's the momentum? Hell, I've been babbling about what's wrong with things for years here, and I know it doesn't do much. Simply talking about things gets people thinking, but it doesn't mean they are really going to do anything to make the world better or change what they think is wrong. Ultimately, people have to do that for themselves.
None of us have it right yet. I think trying and being aware that there's a bigger world outside your own helps, though.
After the show, we came out to find a boot on Austin's car. He had parked next to his friend Cougan's house in a lot with one car, a couch without cushions, a camper shell, and trash bags. Cougan also said he had never seen someone booted there before. It was slightly ridiculous, but we all chipped in (I had all of $7 in my wallet to contribute) to pay the fine and finally got back home around 1:00 in the morning.
All in all, an interesting night bookended by a slight annoyance.
Now I'm mostly thirsty, so I'm going to go take care of that. Before I go, I'll give you a list of happenings:
-Austin's dad is doing OK. We saw him yesterday before the show at the rehab center, and he is looking a lot better.
-My parents are coming up for dinner tomorrow because:
-Siobhan's leaving for Chile for another month and a half before school starts
-Might be stopping by a few lawyers offices on Monday
-My finger is shredded because I've been practicing bass
-I've started knitting a hat, which looks way too small but I've never done one before
-One of the cats threw up this morning and it had weird fibers in it that I can't figure out?
And done.
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no subject
Date: 2008-06-29 06:02 am (UTC)HOW WERE THEY???
also lame@boot. I initially thought you meant somebody drunk and v. punk left their shoe on the hood of your car. I'm very cultured.
Also my ex boyfriend was Very Punk, Like, All The Way
with the mohawk and the studs and the leather jacket and the patches and the liquor and etc
and it's funny! it's funny because I did precious little of any of that and yet I could still enjoy the music. weird.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-29 06:35 am (UTC)Oh, yeah! I forgot your boyfriend was a punk. You find all sorts at these shows, but it's really funny to see kids trying really hard to be punx. They and people looking for a fight are fun as long as you don't make eye contact.
See, that boot would have at least been punk rock. I like the way you think. ;)