Premier Rock Forum

you forgot Action Junkies

I'm bumping this because I've been thinking about this movie all day. Not the scene it describes but the movie about it. I think (today, now) it was exceptional, and I'm curious what other people who saw it thought. People I haven't already spoken to.

Judging by what everyone has said so far, I will def. seek this movie out if it comes here.

I got into the NYC punk scene at the tail end of its relevance, so I can't compare, but it sounds like the Chicago punk scene was similar to what the early days of the no wave/"alternative"/experimental rock scene was here. A lot of disparate little pockets of people who came to shows to rock.

I liked seeing the footage and photos from La Mere. Today my wife and I were driving on Halsted and we stopped at the liquor store that occupies that space now and spied it from across the street for a few minutes in the car. We talked about how much the neighborhood had changed since then and how now it is surrounded by Aldo, Starbucks, etcl.

Also I was kind of blown away by the apparently open corruption concerning the harassment and the greasing of wheels, as well as the lack of enforcement of certain laws in regards to who went into bars and what went on in them.

I liked seeing the Bjorklund brothers refute others over the matter of their fighting each other on stage. It was great to see the different perspectives on that and other subjects.

Mike O'Connell was fucking hilarious. Telling that story about John Kezdy and career paths the way he did was incredible. As were his donut store stories. Incredible. Just awesome.

The shot of Negative Element's business card with "(hardcore)" under their band name is still making me laugh out loud a day later. "Anti PAC MAN"? Solid gold. They are my wife's new favorite band.

While I pretty much have always shared timidgett's take on hardcore, learning more about a couple of those bands was rewarding, especially End Result because they weren't really hardcore at all. I also had no idea Verbotten and ROTA were so young at that time.

High fives all around.

warmowski wrote:

tommydski wrote:Vic Bondi. It sounds like he still hasn't developed his faculties to include any degree of wit, diversity or subtlety of thought. It doesn't surprise me that he still lets nonsense from "back in the day" occupy his thoughts. Maybe that's why I've never heard of you and your shitty band, Mr. Bondi.

Enough, enough. The guy has appeared on a huge screen in a dark room and clarified for the ages that he is a douche. Run up the score if you must, but really, what are you proving?

The joy and power of aggressive music doesn't need defense. Aggressive music attracted and became dominated by artlessness, so what? What hasn't?

-r

I so wish I had seen this movie, and the show.

I certainly hung out with AoF back then, and one thing for sure: Vic could never figure out when to shut his fucking mouth.

I hated that whole AoF/Effigies rivalry back then. I was friends with both factions, and always felt it was totally unnecessary.

El Protoolio wrote:

tmidgett wrote:End Result. Totally odd. The little bits they showed were bewitching. I'd like very much to hear more of their music.

Me too. So this morning I bought this on ebay. They also have a myspace page with some songs posted on it.

I'm listening to the myspace songs now. I'm not sure how I can describe them without putting across the creepiness that I'm feeling; and I don't know how to put that across either. Really very good!

Also, I found this video of them from a quick google search and have a feeling that it has been posted here before. I gather from the comments posted that this was a different line-up.

I enjoyed the trailer for the film. Will eagerly check it out when available.

didn't get a chance to see the movie because I wanted to make it to the show before it was sold out.

MENTALLY ILL!!!!!!!!!!

steve wrote:I'm bumping this because I've been thinking about this movie all day. Not the scene it describes but the movie about it. I think (today, now) it was exceptional, and I'm curious what other people who saw it thought. People I haven't already spoken to.

Coming from someone who "wasn't there" but has spent a good deal of time documenting the early Chicago punk scene, I thought it was fantastic. They did an amazing job covering all the bands they did in the amount of time they had. The footage and photos were top notch, kudos to Joe and crew for putting it on.

The one criticism I have in terms of the band coverage was that there was no mention of the folks from the Bridgeport area in the late 70s and early 80s, namely The Cunts and the stable of folks in Disturbing Records. They had a venue (Spaceport Lounge) and put out some of the earliest records of the scene (Cunts, Meaty Buys), I hope their contribution to the early scene doesn't get lost in the shuffle.

I was also a bit surprised on the amount of coverage for Tutu and the Pirates. Most of the folks I've talked to haven't mentioned them all that much, but then again they predate the Oz/Obanions scene and the 1980 NR/SU/Effigies trifecta. Since they didn't really record, only the earliest of folks (the La Mere crowd) had a chance to experience them.

Being someone from the "current scene" or whatever you want to call it, I was a bit peeved by the way they pulled out the "back in the day" card at the end - but I think it's more a matter of ignorance. There is a thriving underground punk scene right now in Chicago, completely DIY and completely inclusive. It's not merely derivative of what came before and encompasses a wide variety of backgrounds, bands, genders, sexual orientations and ages. Just about every 80s punk who "was there" and comes into this scene embraces it. I won't harp on it anymore, but I have no doubt that most of the folks who said "do your own thing" or "where are todays pissed off punks" would have different opinions if they spent some time in that current scene...

Steve Bjorklund's Strike Under playing Elephant's Graveyard at last night's Beat Kitchen show...

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=cxODx0FY-tk

RMW wrote:Steve Bjorklund's Strike Under playing Elephant's Graveyard at last night's Beat Kitchen show...

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=cxODx0FY-tk

Wow, that's good.