Subhumans and Cootie Shot
Sep. 4th, 2007 06:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gordonzola"Our time has passed. We have to accept that and take what we can get."
Amusingly enough this was my punk friend's way* of saying how much he wished he could attend the Subhumans show I went to last Saturday at Slim's. I must sheepishly admit that he's kind of right. And that the show was awesome.
This was the Subhumans UK,** an anarcho-peace punk band originally from the '80s. I counted the median age at around 35-40. It was nice. No one had anything to prove, everyone was political or at least not being stupid. Sure, there was a black and shiny dress code for the most part, but there wasn't a lot of attitude. It was full of the punks of my generation.
I immediately ran into ex-Epicenter people, which I expected, and a NoBAWC staff person which I should have but didn't. Anarchist punk shows are different than other punk shows because mutual aid is expected of the participants, at least in some basic ways: the pit is mix-gendered, everyone is expected to stop and help up people who fall, assholes (guys feeling up women in the pit, people there to fight etc.) will be dealt with by everyone close enough to witness bad behavior. Generally, people are supposed to look out for each other.
An example? At the 1989 anarchist gathering I was at some warehouse show and I realized that I lost my studded wristband in the pit. As soon as the song was over, the singer of the band yelled out, "Hey someone just brought up a wristband, did anyone lose one?" Sure enough, it was mine, no one else claimed it, and I got it back. Try that at Good Charlotte.
I've never written this before, but I have a favorite place to stand at punk shows (feel free to share yours in the comment section). I like being right behind the pit. You can see the band and the people about to run into you. You feel all the action without getting all winded from thrashing. Also, it satisfies my need be helpful because its'; the perfect position to pick people up off the ground, help people who need a break get out of the pit, and keep an eye on potential assholes. I worked my way up there on Saturday after a couple of soongs, and right after I did, I saw some 25-ish year old woman next to me looking like she was going to pass out.
"Are you ok?' I said.
"Yeah, just menstrual cramps." She answered. She caught her breath for the rest of the song and then jumped back in the pit.
A couple of songs late I saw her again. She was looking for a friend, any firend, and saw me. She worked her way over, holding her chest and asked me someone no stranger at a punk show had ever asked me. "Can you do me a favor?"
"Maybe". It was loud, like punk shows tend to be. I've been pretending to ignore it, but my hearing isn't what it used to be either. I had to lean in to hear.
"Can you hook up my bra?"
She lifted up the back of her shirt and untangled it. I clasped it. She said thanks and jumped back in the pit. Now that's mutual aid.
The Subhumans sounded great in the whiny style of the Crass-influenced punks. There were fast, angry songs, rants about '80s riots and the war in Iraq, beer, and people getting along.**** Everything I like about punk.***** For good or ill, I was with my people. Thanks![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
claudimp for convincing me to go!
It was quite a contrast to the Cootie Shot show I went to in Montrose PA, where, except for parents, everyone in attendance was between the ages of 13-20. If I had somehow been plopped down in Montrose, saw there was a punk show, and decided to go I might have been beaten up. Not by the kiddie punx, but by the parents thinking I was some kind of child molesting, creepy, old punk dude. As it was I saw some parents eyeing me hard until it was clear that I knew the promoters and parents of Cootie Shot. I'm just here for the music, man!
I just realized that I never really wrote about the Cootie Shot show. It was awesome in completely different ways, at least to me. I couldn't stay for the whole thing, I had to drive back to Burlington, VT for my flight the next day, but the three Montrose bands I saw were all musically much tighter than most of the teen bands I remember from my day. Cootie Shot was my favorite, of course. Ramonesy riot grrrl punk? Yeah, that sounds about right. More '77 NYC-influenced than Rough Trade, that's for sure. If they tour California all of you have to come. I assume there will be a more comfortable age-range.
Though my friends describe putting on shows there as being more Little League coach than being a punk, the kids seemed into it, 100 or so of 'em coming from Montrose and the neighboring towns. It was safer, more popular, and less political than back in my youth but there were also less Nazis, random violence, and ODing kids. Trade-offs…
CS asked me if I liked the Ramones and then dedicated "Beat on the Brat" to me. Haha. I was all, "Yeah, back in the day I lost part of a tooth when I saw em in Rochester. All these big jock bouncers…blah blah blah" no one could hear me. They also dedicated a song to "all the old punks in the audience". The song? Operation Ivy .("Knowledge" I think. I forgot to write it down.) I was all, "What? They're New School!" But I guess that line moves with time. Especially since they weren't even born when that song came out.
Here's my friend's 16 year old daughter rocking out:
And here's the whole band. Poor drummers. They always get blocked by the other band members.
I don't really know how, but somehow punk's still not dead.******
*He can out himself if he wants
**not to be confused with the Subhumans Canada one of whom helped blow up a nuclear missile parts plant which is pretty much the punkest thing ever.
***There was no flirting here, just intra-punk help. However, someone at the show fell in love/lust.
****The opening band, Witch Hunt, was awesome too.
*****Except for the Venue. A community space would have made it perfect. But I think that was the best show I ever saw at Slim's.
******But Reagan is.
(Thanks againjwz)
Amusingly enough this was my punk friend's way* of saying how much he wished he could attend the Subhumans show I went to last Saturday at Slim's. I must sheepishly admit that he's kind of right. And that the show was awesome.
This was the Subhumans UK,** an anarcho-peace punk band originally from the '80s. I counted the median age at around 35-40. It was nice. No one had anything to prove, everyone was political or at least not being stupid. Sure, there was a black and shiny dress code for the most part, but there wasn't a lot of attitude. It was full of the punks of my generation.
I immediately ran into ex-Epicenter people, which I expected, and a NoBAWC staff person which I should have but didn't. Anarchist punk shows are different than other punk shows because mutual aid is expected of the participants, at least in some basic ways: the pit is mix-gendered, everyone is expected to stop and help up people who fall, assholes (guys feeling up women in the pit, people there to fight etc.) will be dealt with by everyone close enough to witness bad behavior. Generally, people are supposed to look out for each other.
An example? At the 1989 anarchist gathering I was at some warehouse show and I realized that I lost my studded wristband in the pit. As soon as the song was over, the singer of the band yelled out, "Hey someone just brought up a wristband, did anyone lose one?" Sure enough, it was mine, no one else claimed it, and I got it back. Try that at Good Charlotte.
I've never written this before, but I have a favorite place to stand at punk shows (feel free to share yours in the comment section). I like being right behind the pit. You can see the band and the people about to run into you. You feel all the action without getting all winded from thrashing. Also, it satisfies my need be helpful because its'; the perfect position to pick people up off the ground, help people who need a break get out of the pit, and keep an eye on potential assholes. I worked my way up there on Saturday after a couple of soongs, and right after I did, I saw some 25-ish year old woman next to me looking like she was going to pass out.
"Are you ok?' I said.
"Yeah, just menstrual cramps." She answered. She caught her breath for the rest of the song and then jumped back in the pit.
A couple of songs late I saw her again. She was looking for a friend, any firend, and saw me. She worked her way over, holding her chest and asked me someone no stranger at a punk show had ever asked me. "Can you do me a favor?"
"Maybe". It was loud, like punk shows tend to be. I've been pretending to ignore it, but my hearing isn't what it used to be either. I had to lean in to hear.
"Can you hook up my bra?"
She lifted up the back of her shirt and untangled it. I clasped it. She said thanks and jumped back in the pit. Now that's mutual aid.
The Subhumans sounded great in the whiny style of the Crass-influenced punks. There were fast, angry songs, rants about '80s riots and the war in Iraq, beer, and people getting along.**** Everything I like about punk.***** For good or ill, I was with my people. Thanks
claudimp for convincing me to go!It was quite a contrast to the Cootie Shot show I went to in Montrose PA, where, except for parents, everyone in attendance was between the ages of 13-20. If I had somehow been plopped down in Montrose, saw there was a punk show, and decided to go I might have been beaten up. Not by the kiddie punx, but by the parents thinking I was some kind of child molesting, creepy, old punk dude. As it was I saw some parents eyeing me hard until it was clear that I knew the promoters and parents of Cootie Shot. I'm just here for the music, man!
I just realized that I never really wrote about the Cootie Shot show. It was awesome in completely different ways, at least to me. I couldn't stay for the whole thing, I had to drive back to Burlington, VT for my flight the next day, but the three Montrose bands I saw were all musically much tighter than most of the teen bands I remember from my day. Cootie Shot was my favorite, of course. Ramonesy riot grrrl punk? Yeah, that sounds about right. More '77 NYC-influenced than Rough Trade, that's for sure. If they tour California all of you have to come. I assume there will be a more comfortable age-range.
Though my friends describe putting on shows there as being more Little League coach than being a punk, the kids seemed into it, 100 or so of 'em coming from Montrose and the neighboring towns. It was safer, more popular, and less political than back in my youth but there were also less Nazis, random violence, and ODing kids. Trade-offs…
CS asked me if I liked the Ramones and then dedicated "Beat on the Brat" to me. Haha. I was all, "Yeah, back in the day I lost part of a tooth when I saw em in Rochester. All these big jock bouncers…blah blah blah" no one could hear me. They also dedicated a song to "all the old punks in the audience". The song? Operation Ivy .("Knowledge" I think. I forgot to write it down.) I was all, "What? They're New School!" But I guess that line moves with time. Especially since they weren't even born when that song came out.
Here's my friend's 16 year old daughter rocking out:
And here's the whole band. Poor drummers. They always get blocked by the other band members.
I don't really know how, but somehow punk's still not dead.******
*He can out himself if he wants
**not to be confused with the Subhumans Canada one of whom helped blow up a nuclear missile parts plant which is pretty much the punkest thing ever.
***There was no flirting here, just intra-punk help. However, someone at the show fell in love/lust.
****The opening band, Witch Hunt, was awesome too.
*****Except for the Venue. A community space would have made it perfect. But I think that was the best show I ever saw at Slim's.
******But Reagan is.
(Thanks again
jwz)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Re: *
Date: 2007-09-05 01:25 am (UTC)We need a name for our kind of punks. Helper punks? Social service punks? Judgement punks? 12 O'clock punks? something.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-05 01:21 am (UTC)That said, I hope my kids at 16 are rocking out like that! That's teh awesome!
no subject
Date: 2007-09-05 01:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-05 02:39 am (UTC)http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/261465/
Spread the word. I hope you can come, lemme know if you want a pick-up from BART.
Another teenage band you might like
Date: 2007-09-05 03:55 am (UTC)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmHqsSblXg0
no subject
Date: 2007-09-05 04:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-05 04:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-05 05:00 am (UTC)Montrose is the section of Houston that hosted all of the punks back in the day. Now it has gentrified, but Montrose,PA reminded me of it.
I also remember the political punks and ararchists. The pit wasn't really violent or dangerous. It was nice to go to the reunion in December because it was all those people. And I hate to sound like a "Yeah me too" guy but that's where I stood for that whole show. Right behind the pit. It's always the same too, because a lot of people don't know that they are going to get run into there, so they end up moving back. Broke up a couple of fights. Picked a couple of people up off the floor. Saved some glasses.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-05 05:40 am (UTC)I like to stand behind the pit, too. Doesn't everybody?
Where'd you take the "punk's not dead" photo?
no subject
Date: 2007-09-05 04:25 pm (UTC)Not seen them in ages. Though I think I accidentally agreed to see Flux of Pink Indians in November
no subject
Date: 2007-09-05 07:23 pm (UTC)Those kids today. :)
(my knees hurt just thinking about it)
no subject
Date: 2007-09-05 09:32 pm (UTC)but anyway. yeah, delightful post; I shared tidbits of it with my roomies, including the punks not dead but reagan is bit.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-05 10:37 pm (UTC)I always stood at the side toward the front--I'm too short to see reliably from the back. [Unless, of course, I felt I had something to prove, in which case you guys would be picking me up off the floor. :-)]
Thanks for the accounts!
no subject
Date: 2007-09-06 12:18 am (UTC)BTW - I've heard lots of people referring to Rancid as "old school punk."
no subject
Date: 2007-09-06 12:22 am (UTC)I loved this.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-06 01:36 am (UTC)