MUSIC
LOCAL MUSIC
PUNK ROCK
and
the age of the performer and the age of the fan


it amuses me
washington dc was so advanced in its musical evolution
the dc hardcore thing was so ahead of its time
in my mind it aided in the legitimazation of the brain of punk rock
the music of the 8o's on into the 90's that was released by Discord and other 'indy' labels really moved me and entertained me
but there is something odd....
the bands and the fans were the same age
now I wonder...
many of these people are still in bands under different ages
20 years ago they were 17 year olds playing for 17 year olds
now...
are they trying to play to other 37 year olds or are they trying to play to the new breed of 17 year olds?
Ft. Reno is an interesting study
I went to Ft. Reno on Mondays and Thursdays in the summer for years
when I was young and the hometown house band The Slickee Boys played I kinda thought...WHO ARE THESE OLD FARTS!?!?! and WHO IS LISTENING?!??!??!
Is that what the kids say when FUGAZI takes the stage at Ft. Reno?

I do not know the original mission statement of the Ft. Reno summer concert series was, but I think it may have been created so that kids could have a place to perform since Clubs and Bars may prone to hosting acts that are of the legal drinking age.

Which leads me to my point.....

When these thirty something Peter Pan types with their multi colored cordaroy pants, their golf jackets, MSI t-shirts, and their wispy bangs get on stage and play at Ft. Reno are they missing the point? Should they step aside and let the kids have Ft. Reno? I know that it would have been a completely different vibe at Reno had The Slickey Boys had all of their other aging local "rock bands" playing at Ft. Reno. It would have attracted an older crowd and stolen the youthful atmosphere away from "the kids."

this post was inspired by something I stumbled upon at IWANTAMONKEY's Blog