I know I complain a lot, but I ensure you that this will be the last of it when it comes to the local hardcore music scene.
I've never made a post that really just let it all out, and that's what this blog is for. Usually it is all about feeling sad, but this time it's about feeling mad. And once I'm done, I'm done.
The local music scene claims to be one big family. I just want to say that just because people like the same music as you does NOT mean you are automatically going to get along. The music scene is like school, work, and in general, life. There are going to be people who don't like you and there are going to be people you don't like. Just because you have one thing in common doesn't mean you're friends, let alone "family."
People who are comfortable and "cool" (not really cool, they're at a local show- they're actually losers like the rest of us- well said Wally of RO) and see them and the other "cool" kids as family get upset and uncomfortable when I say that this isn't a "family", which I understand. No one likes their comfort zone bashed on. But I don't see how they don't understand that it's not comfortable for all of us.
You may think that I have a problem with hardcore for laughing at some of these self proclaimed "hardcore kids" and that I "shouldn't be at a show" if I do. I don't have a problem with hardcore. I love certain hardcore bands, honestly. The thing I do have a problem with is people who come to these shows, act like they're so stoked, and sit with their backs on the wall banging their head and scrolling through instagram, stopping occasionally to post a picture of a band that's "killin it rn". I rarely have to deal with these people because I typically don't go to hardcore shows, but when it's a band I know and love I just tough it out and deal with it because it's worth it. I don't know man, I just have to say that when I am really into a bands set I'm not taking photos. I'm enjoying myself.
The thing is, the people who are on the wall on their phones during the bands that are "killing it" get mad when I point out that people come to these shows to be cool and get some sort of "internet cred". They know I'm right, is all. They have their Nikes, camo, hardcore merch, "on point" eyebrows, and beanies down to the middle of their foreheads. It's all trendy, and I'm not saying I hate ALL of these trends, no. I just acknowledge that these things are trends, not a "way of life" and people get real butt hurt about it real fast. I think these people pack all of these trends together at hardcore shows just to show everyone that they are "totz into hardcore" and "really up with the hxc times". Which does justice for them fitting into the "family" but makes the rest of us who are just here for a good time and who don't care about "scene cred" or the "family" mutter "what the actual fuck?" It looks silly, all of these people acting the same, talking the same, dressing the same. You can like certain music without having to act the same as everyone else who likes that music. I booty popped during one of my favorite hardcore bands. Just because I'm not moshing or instagramming doesn't mean I don't actually like the band. And I know what you're thinking "we actually like the band!". Well I bet you do, but you shouldn't have to conform to the expected "hardcore kid" just to enjoy yourself. I love makeup, fashion, and filthy rap music but I still like hardcore. I don't understand how people think it's necessary to fit in with this so called "family" just to enjoy a band! I'm looked down on for being myself, and I'm made fun of for being a "poser" when in reality I'm not the one with my back on the wall fiddling with my Expire beanie and checking my eyebrows in my front cam, I'm the one out their shaking my ass to a hardcore band because I want to shake my ass to a hardcore band even if the typical "hardcore" kids think that's stupid. You know what I think is stupid? Paying to get into a show to nod your head in the back and make fun of people who are here enjoy themselves rather than nod their head in the back.And hell, I'm not going to tell you that I've never scrolled through my phone during a set, because I have. Last night for example, the only band I cared about seeing was Rotting Out. I scrolled through my phone during every other band's set, but you best believe that when Rotting Out was up I left my phone in my bag in a booth, I went out and enjoyed myself without having to take some stupid fucking pictures acting like I'm having the "time of my life" when I'm really against a wall head banging. Nope, that's not how it worked with me. The way I see it, if you're really having the time of your life you wouldn't be sitting on your phone. You would be really taking in the memory and enjoying yourself. Right?
And now onto those trends, people get mad when I say they're trends. Like "FEMME VEGAN STRAIGHT EDGE IS FOREVER, SUPPORT CAMO AND NIKES AND STRAIGHT BANGS FOREVER!!!" But you can't tell me that these things are trendy, because they ARE! In a few years, you will look back and realize how dumb you look, just like how you look back to your scene phase now and shake your head in humiliation.
I'm not going to tell you I don't like camo or nikes. I do, but I'm not going to wear them to every show to "fit in with the crowd". What you wear doesn't define if you should or shouldn't be at a show. Complaining about trends in the scene doesn't define if you should or shouldn't be at a show. Do what you want, wear what you want. But I just want to inform you that you don't have to act like the other assholes to have a good time. You can tell me I don't belong at a show because I'm against what a lot of these people stand for, but who gives a shit? You're admitting right now that you think certain people who don't meet an "expected" standard aren't supposed to be there, because how on earth could someone like a hardcore band without looking, acting, and talking EXACTLY like the rest of the people there? But hey, you know what does give you the right to go to a hardcore show? You wanting to see the band.
People continually call me a poser in this scene, which I don't really get. I openly don't like a lot of bands that are really hyped right now, I openly prefer Fall Out Boy to any of this "local" stuff. I just don't see the logic behind calling me out for being at a show I actually want to be at. I just can't see the logic of people, making fun of me if I'm trying to be like everyone else and turning around and making fun of me when I'm trying to be myself. So yeah, you can call me out and say I don't belong at a show because I'm not instagramming the band and actually am enjoying myself the entire set. That's the thing, I think that some people just can tell when someone is here because they actually enjoy something and don't give a shit about what other people think of them and their opinions. They don't like that. They want people who brag about what they like all the time, and they want people who think they're the hottest shit ever just for being a part of a scene with "real music- not that radio shit". Uh, hello? All music is real music, and no band is going to make one song and go big. Everyone's a local at some point, playing empty shows trying to get somewhere, and I'm convinced that if the hardcore bands these kids know and love went big they would probably just call them sellouts and stop listening, and go find another "underground to the real world" band to listen to. So anyways, be your fucking self at a show and don't bother trying to impress everyone. I'm not saying throw out all your trendy clothes and your phone, no. I'm just saying that you DO have the option to stop giving a shit about fitting in with people you barely even know at shows. And don't tell me you wear those Army pants because you love them.
Nobody loves Army pants that much.
Nobody.
No comments:
Post a Comment