I went to my second live show since COVID - my first indoor one to see Gn’R at Moda Center in Portland. We originally were supposed to see them in Seattle last year but the show got canceled due to rescheduling conflicts, so Portland it was - it’s only a 3 hour drive.
Despite having a mask requirement in the venue there was essentially zero enforcement once getting inside despite threats of ejection for noncompliance. As for me I wore a KN95 mask through the entire thing and never took it off. As for the show itself, it was pretty good. They played for some 3 and a half hours - so you definitely got your money’s worth. It was great to see much of the original band together as well. I was wiped out by the end of it.
After getting back to the hotel as I was getting ready for bed I heard the telltale sound of burnouts and donuts coming from nearby. And it just wouldn’t stop. There turned out to be a fucking sideshow going on less than a block away from the hotel. I called the police to report it, and even alerted them to someone broadcasting the whole thing on YouTube Live. People were shooting off fireworks, too. I was expecting red and blues at any moment, but they never came, and it didn’t stop. At around 3 AM it was still going on but I was finally able to get some (terrible) sleep.
A few hours later when I woke up to get ready for the drive back to Seattle I looked this up and learned that since COVID lockdowns and the 2020 Summer protests and riots, street racing and sideshows have become huge as an entertainment outlet given the lack of options. Apparently last night there were events all across the city last night including one of the major bridges being completely shut down for hours by street racers. Police simply doesn’t give a shit and won’t respond so people involved can carry on with impunity.
I’m not really a fan of punk, but I do like Devo, Cardiacs, and Siouxsie and the Banshees. I’m not sure if the first two are punk at all, but I’m pretty sure that Siouxsix is.
I also really like some of Suburban Lawns, but I’m not sure where they fit in either. I guess there’s always lots of genre mixing.
I get a percentage of whatever is sold (which I can’t remember off the top of my head), but i get it from the first sale…
It just struck me that you can just get your local library to order a copy for the library, too. This would be especially good if you can’t afford a copy, as they’ll buy the more expensive hardback, you’ll get to read it, and others in your community will be able to do so too. Win-win!
And BTW, most academics don’t expect to make money off book sales. The only ones that really do are the super-stars and people who write textbooks! It’s great if I can make money off this, but it’s most certainly not my primary concern.
Devo certainly has crossover with punk…
I will say that punk was both a “genre” as the industry defines genre, but it also became a means of organizing democratic culture. Punks pioneered a means of producing music that people in other genres emulated, so there is influence there outside of the musical style.
Yep.
Thanks all. Just send me a PM if you want to discount code. And ask your library to order the book, too.
Hm. You might be onto something there. But also, I’d say that calling something a thing before it’s a thing is always pretty fraught. But I can certainly see some of the influence, though I don’t know how much of their Hamburg days were well-known about in the early 70s… I do think that lots of punks liked the Beatles and were influenced by them (especially their earlier stuff), but by no means all.
I saw them a handful of years back and “bonkers” doesn’t even cover it but they were an awesome gig to be at. Weird and wonderful and then some.
@mindysan33 if you have the details I will see if I can get your book ordered at my library here as I seem to be on a roll for getting them to order and hold things for me.
Also, I picked up a graphic novel about Roller Derby girls from them yesterday and the old Tank Girl book I also found wasn’t on their system so the librarian told me I could just have it and if the security gate pinged on my way out then she would happily ignore it
Wow! I’m envious. I’ve only known about them for a couple of years. My favorite of their songs is “Tarred and Feathered,” and the video is just unhinged:
The keyboardist, William D. Drake, is fabulous, and can be bonkers too (though more serious as well):
Tarred and Feathered is excellent.
They certainly give off a vibe that they are in another world, like if somebody said they’re from the next dimension over it’s kinda believable.
