A couple weeks back, Lockwood had an interesting post on the Dirt Rag website. In case you missed it, the subject of the article was the Unisound, a long shuttered punk rock venue in Reading, PA. When the Unisound was running at full tilt, I was living in Philadelphia and had little need to travel to the hinterlands of Pennsylvania for punk rock shows. But the place was a wildly popular spot for punk rock kids in central and northeastern Pennsylvania, and Lockwood, Samantha and Huber all have plenty of stories from the Unisound's halcyon days.
Lockwood's article brought back memories of going to punk rock shows in the early to mid 80's. Back then, DIY shows ruled the punk rock landscape. Many shows were held at all-ages venues like Wally's in Bethlehem. Others were held in unique spaces, like the Blue Horizon, the venerable boxing venue in North Philadelphia. But after corporate America co-opted punk rock for profits sometime in the early 90's, the scene changed a bit. Underground acts suddenly became wildly popular. Bands that cut their teeth at places like the Unisound started playing larger clubs, and in some cases, hockey areas. In Philadelphia, promoters like R5 Productions have kept the DIY spirit alive, but there's no denying the punk rock scene has changed considerably over the past twenty years.
Thinking back to the punk rock shows of my teens and early twenties, I was particularly struck by this quote from Lockwood's article:
"It's odd how a simple photo of some event or scene one day, can be looked back upon as an amazing documentation of some kind of movement. Or a small window into your past that can make the dreams and memories come rushing back. Something you can share with someone and use it to explain the days..."
That being said, I'm looking forward to seeing American Hardcore, a documentary chronicling American punk rock scene in the early 1980's. An "amazing documentation of some kind of movement"? Hell yeah. The trailer alone gave me goosebumps.
American Hardcore opens in Philadelphia on Friday, November 3rd. Coincidentally, November 3rd is my fortieth birthday. Since many of the values I hold today have roots in the punk rock movement, it will be a fitting way to celebrate a major milestone in my life.
