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TRIANGLE'S AGGRESSIVE MUSIC GENRES A MIXED BAG OF VIOLENCE, RELEASE
BY BRYAN REED, STAFF WRITER
It looks like the definition of a
hole-in-the-wall bar.
There are stickers and graffiti on
every wall, punctuated occasionally
by a hole roughly the size of a list. The
floor is sticky with beer and sweat..
Basically it's the kind of place
parents warn their kids about.
But lor some, it is a home away
from home.. Ami they come in
droves to see their favorite bands..
The music is fast, loud and
intense. Singers are really more
like screamers who jump around
the stage like men possessed.
The fans seem equal!) crazed,
fueled by the energy of the music
■ and their adolescent rage.
I .hubs are flying.
Bodies are living.
The center of the room is filled
with thrashing fans swinging lists
and feet in chaotic but choreo
graphed dance moves.
It's a typical night at most.any
hardcore, punk or metal show.
And to an outside observer, it
might seem that a riot is about to
breakout . Because of its appearance
and reputation, aggressive music
namely pun k n >ck. heavy me ta I
and hardcore has carried the had
■ reputation of being violent music.
And there is fact to back it up. .
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' DIB/-PHOTOS BY LOGAN HRICfc
Aggressive hands such as Municipal Waste (above), which
performed in Raleigh on Sunday, rater‘to < athartn. sensibilities
Diversions
The three genres have their fair
share of violent incidents, which
sometimes become almost legend
ary within the scenes.
The music presents itself as anti
commercial. Bands adopt grue
some, sometimesoffensive, names
and Use morbid artwork for mer
chandise and album Covers.
The lyrics are often angry, bru
tally honest and cathartic some
times gory just for the campy hor
ror-movie fun of it.
‘Any band with a harder or dark
er edge to it is going to use mor
bid artwork it’s, just the style,"
says;'ion)’ Foresfa, frontman for
the Richmond, \a., thrash band
Municipal Waste, which performed
in Raleigh on Sunday.
The underground nature and
presentation style of the music also
contributes to its bad reputation.
"This is underground club music.”
says Travis Stimeling. a graduate
. assistant in the UNL’ Department of
Music. Aon have to go to the seedier
side of tow n to see this music.
A coast-to-coast reality
Violence is a real problem for
. these music scenes.
Manx shows have list fights. Some
even turn into full-fledged riots.
At British Invasion L’kh. an all
Whether it's punk, thrash or metal, aggressive shows such as Sunday's
often feature pits to let loose. Sometimes it's violent, but not always.
www.dailytarheel.com
day punk concert that took place in
California in March. lights broke out
that resulted in a stabbing. Fighting
eventually escalated into a full-scale
riot, with fires burning, ears over
turned and mass vandalism.
There were no fatalities, hut sev-:
era! people were injured.
In other parts of the country,
organized "crews" have taken over
the hardcore scene by intimidation.
A documentary titled "Boston
Beatdown" was produced in 20(),4 to;
chronicle the violence of the Boston
hardcore scene and the FSU crew.
FSU, which;stands for "Friends
Stand United." is sometimes called
"F- S--- Up" by its, detractors
because of its infamous presence
in the scene.
"What I’ve heard, the FSU guys
just go there to tight and they bring
hammers and bats." says Zachary
Tewcll, a University sophomore and
a fan of the music.
"It s just absurd."
Crews such as FSU do carry a
presence in the scene, but they are
not what most would consider an
organized gang.
Justin Brown, a University' fresh
man and vocalist for the hardcore
band AI lero A Fake, says there are
a lot of crews.
"Ifyou really do piss someone off.
DTH/PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BYAMBRETATE, PHOTOS BY LOGAN PRICE
you will get beat up,” says Brown,
who has performed in Charlotte and
the Triangle. "1 prefer to go with a
lot of friends because of that, but
(the crews) don’t go around heating
people up for no reason."
Hitting close to home
While it's easy to dismiss aggres
sive behavior at shows as a big-city
problem, there have been incidents
in the Triangle,
One of the bands featured in
"Boston Beatdown,” Death Before
Dishonor visited the Cat’s Cradle last
spring, opening for \s<)s New York
hardcore stalwarts Agnostic Front.
The show: which drew fans
from various scenes featured
blisteringly aggressive music and
almost as many fights as songs.
If ended early with band niem
hers ehast ising the audienee Tor
misbehaving. I wen so. the incident
display ed the potential for violence
some concerts hav e.
Another Cat's Cradle show head
lined in November by the hardcore
band Cos merge a Iso e rupted into
chaos when fans rushed the barri
cade and actually fought with security
guards.
"It was probably one of the strang-
SEE BLOOD, PAGE 6
0m i 7 "1
Crowd surfing, a longtime staple of rock'n'roll, is popular at maivy
aggressive shows. Most of the tinny, fans look out for those above.
(Eh? Sailg (Bar Hrri
THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2006
Glossary of Terms
Hardcore dancing
sometimes called "mosh
fu" or "ninja dancing"
because of its acrobatic
style and maneuvers.
Headbanging violent
nodding of head, usually
in time to music. Typical
of metal music.
Mosh pit release of
aggression in communal
environment that results
in people colliding.
Skanking - dance that
originated from ska music
that involves alternately
raising knees and elbows.
Straight edge - subset
of people who choose to
abstain from drugs,
drinking, smoking and
promiscuous sex.
Thrash - offshoot of
heavy metal that
combines the speed of
punk with the heaviness
of metal.
Circle pit - mosh pit that
rotates in a counter
clockwise fashion, usually
with people skanking.