How is your scene doing? Mine's deader than shit. (NJ)

[DEADCOP_ONaROPE]

I was just wondering if there is still a punk scene anywhere. I live in central New Jersey, been playing some shows lately with the other couple of bands around here and man, nobody comes. We always just end up playing for the other bands and whoever we bring ourselves it's pretty fucking discouraging. I kind of want to move some place where people still appreciate punk if such a place exists.

It didn't used to be like this, when I was 15 like ten years ago there used to be shows all the time with at least 100 people at each one. Now you're lucky if you get enough people to count on two hands. All anyone wants to do is hear a DJ play lil Wayne or listen to a shitty bar band play sublime covers. Does punk still thrive anywhere or am I just wasting my time?

[sludgefuck]

What part of jersey? I live in jersey city. What band are you in I might've gone to see you if you've played shows. If you know anything about JC there's obviously no scene there except for Guilt Trip and a Lethal Strike(thrash), but New Brunswick has a pretty decent house show scene.

[punkmar77]

Punk is thriving here in San Diego and In Tijuana, Mexico....as a matter of fact the whole south of the border is pretty great. Just had one of the best house shows I've ever been to in my life a couple weeks ago with over 350 kids trying to pack themselves into a small living room...sorry to hear about Jersey sucking but don't get discouraged scenes tend to ebb and flow.

[ChrisRAAN]

Punk is thriving here in San Diego and In Tijuana, Mexico....as a matter of fact the whole south of the border is pretty great. Just had one of the best house shows I've ever been to in my life a couple weeks ago with over 350 kids trying to pack themselves into a small living room...sorry to hear about Jersey sucking but don't get discouraged scenes tend to ebb and flow.

I visited San Diego when I was 15 or 16, nicest kids at the show, and cool bands, it was one of my favorite experiences from childhood, and one of the main reasons I got into anarcho-punk.

I live in a town, however, which does not and has not ever had a punk scene at all. In high school there were like 5 of us who were punks, now there are none.

[A Better World]

im a jersey boy too, Jerseys dead except for the occasional meatlocker show but NYC crust is going strong theres a couple small venues in bklyn 5$ shows bands like M.A.D, nerve gas attak, (A) Truth, Iconicide, etc. check out nyc punk and scenic nyc on facebook. Im in north jersey though so i got it pretty good as far as getting to nyc

[persona-non-grata]

there's a couple of punks i go to the bar with every friday (rathryn, milan and anom being some of them) but there's allso a scene in a nearby town and those guys are the like way to proud assholes went to a show last friday and the roumor flew around that I was sick of their scene (witch was not even the case then YET) then when I got in the pit they surrounded me with five guys and started hitting me on purpose got two hits on the eyes and one on the throat (still having trouble breathing) milan and rathryn saw it happen and if I did not get out myself they would have gotten me out and then it would have been a fight and you do not want to sight these guys they have all kinds of shit on them (socks with queballs and that kinda crap) and they will use that
so yeah I wasn't sick of them YET but now I am
if this is what punk is about these days I'm ashamed to call myself one

[gobbledigooks]

Sorry to hear that, hope you get yourself a cool pack for the bruises, helps keeping the swelling down...
I thought I didn't see right: They use billiard balls in socks? Fucking assholes!
But I'm sure Punk isn't about crap like this, some time ago the small local scene had to get rid of some assholes too, pretending to keep "outsiders" away - but the people didn't go for it, and kicked them out instead.
So I'm quite proud of being a punk because I rarely hear that kind of story from other scenes.

[KAAOS-82]

Australia is having the biggest Punk revival since the 80's. lots of all age as well as over age shows and new bands that are raw as fuck

[gobbledigooks]

Ours in southern germuny is really small, the last place to go for a friday eve closed down last year, leaving lots of youngsters and a handful of die-hard veterans on the street. Nearly everyone plays in some band - but mostly the audience is missing. The northern country and berlin are still better off, lots of releases but nothing spectacular in the moment. But it has been worse in the past - so it's barely alive, but still kicking.

[louislingg]

Well, I come from Paris, France. We have quite a few great punk bands left. A pretty good scene. But it's getting smaller and smaller. ANY music that's more than 106db in france is illegal. So ALL punk is illegal! Luckily, most people don't even know or care about the law here in france.
All the music bars are being progressively closed down by the cops. The squat scene is being slowly destroyed as one squat after another is expelled and demolished. Undercover cops harrass punks outside squats etc. etc.
We had 200+ people at an awesome squat gig the other day in central paris so there's life in us still. But the scene is dying.

An anecdote from Nice, South of France: Real live fascists (yep, we got 'em here in france by the ton) frequently turn up with baseball bats to try to close the last punk venue in the city. Dramatic stuff. The cops never come when you call them either.... Big suprise.

[JackNegativity]

When I lived in central Jersey (up until about 12 years ago) there was a ton of punk/hardcore bands. There was always shows in New Brunswick. The only thing that sucked was that you had to be 21 to get in the Court Tavern. I guess I've always just assumed the local bands I loved would be around forever. Sad.

[JackNegativity]

And fuck Sublime.

[DEADCOP_ONaROPE]

im a jersey boy too, Jerseys dead except for the occasional meatlocker show but NYC crust is going strong theres a couple small venues in bklyn 5$ shows bands like M.A.D, nerve gas attak, (A) Truth, Iconicide, etc. check out nyc punk and scenic nyc on facebook. Im in north jersey though so i got it pretty good as far as getting to nyc

Yeah that's pretty much what it's coming down to. Even the scene in the city is pretty weak compared to how it used to be. No more Coney Island High, CB's, Wetlands...although we are playing @ ABC on Saturday Dec 4 so we'll see how that goes. Brooklyns' got some alright shit going on too we'll be at the Charleston Dec 19

[persona-non-grata]

Sorry to hear that, hope you get yourself a cool pack for the bruises, helps keeping the swelling down...
I thought I didn't see right: They use billiard balls in socks? Fucking assholes!
But I'm sure Punk isn't about crap like this, some time ago the small local scene had to get rid of some assholes too, pretending to keep "outsiders" away - but the people didn't go for it, and kicked them out instead.
So I'm quite proud of being a punk because I rarely hear that kind of story from other scenes.

thanks I really needed to hear something like that and yes they do use billiard balls in socks fortunately they didn't use em on me yet and I got out of the pit before the fucked me up real bad so the bruises aren't too bad either what bothers me the most I think is that they don't even have the balls for direct confrontation they're just bad ass enough for fucking one person up with five people in the middle of a pit where not a lot of people notice it

[ZAchAtTacK420]

The High Desert is deader than dead. Most of the punks that were around when I first got into it are still here in some capacity, but when I was getting into it, there was a sort of scene renaissance. Victorville was once packed with punks, but now it's just hold overs from the past and some new kids who'll be get bored with it in six months.

As for bands, we have/had Spitting On Cops, K.i.L., Dirtbag, Subvert, Belligerent Idiot, Anti/82, various hardcore bands of questionable quality, Antioxys, Just Buzzed and more, but the venues suck. The rampant gang problem in the area cost us a venue just this past week (Karma on Bear Valley). The Victor Valley Events Center is the new place in town, but what I've seen so far is that it's been slow (and that place is as big as the Glass House in Pomona). They hosted The UK Subs and some others a few weeks ago, but the fighting outside will probably get that one closed to. It's dead center in Victorville's main gang neighborhood (Old Town, off D Street and 7th Street). Fuck...That's all I even remember. The fighting was more memorable than the show. Fucking Riverside punks. The Trilogy/formerly Fly Theatre on 7th is long gone. That was the venue for shows. TSOL, LCB, Broken Bones, Career Soldiers, Adicts, Battalion Of Saints, Naked Aggression and a shit ton of "bigger" bands played there and it was almost every weekend. We had the Reflections, which always sucked, but did host some good bands. The Scene was a short lived one in Hesperia (I think it's closed. It was a Tattoo/Music Store before, then the owner moved the shop next door and opened the venue in the old spot). Hole is the wall for sure, but had a couple awesome gigs. It was too small for the bands it was hosting and it was right across the street from DJ's Sports Bar, so there was some late night clashes. Apple Valley has Angel's Roadhouse which does punk shows occasionally. The problem is it is both a biker and Skinhead (of the Nazi variety) hangout. It's a nice place. Good lighting, good sound, full stage, but the bullshit there is not worth it. The backyard shows here are awesome though. One notable one was Narcoleptic Youth playing a house in Hesperia.

If you want a place with a scene, then L.A. or San Diego. The High Desert is full of dicks. The Inland Empire is an asshole. Since the High Desert is part of the Inland Empire, all you have is shit covered dicks. Stay away. The scene is dying, dead and buried...Burned out and lame.

[JackNegativity]

If you want a place with a scene, then L.A. or San Diego. The High Desert is full of dicks. The Inland Empire is an asshole. Since the High Desert is part of the Inland Empire, all you have is shit covered dicks. Stay away. The scene is dying, dead and buried...Burned out and lame.

Shit, dude. In Lancaster/Palmdale it's always like the same 5 hardcore bands and the same little group of kids that actually hang out for all the bands to play. They share equipment but half the bands will take off after their set and later bands end up playing without their full lineup. Decent bands, nice kids but you'd think they'd support each other more.

[vAsSiLy77]

Ours in southern germuny is really small, the last place to go for a friday eve closed down last year, leaving lots of youngsters and a handful of die-hard veterans on the street. Nearly everyone plays in some band - but mostly the audience is missing. The northern country and berlin are still better off, lots of releases but nothing spectacular in the moment. But it has been worse in the past - so it's barely alive, but still kicking.

Nah, it isn't that bad, there are lots of people around no-one of us knows, especially in the suburbs - all we need really badly are places to go, kind of a new lipstick or normal (bars that went bankrott out of sheer humanism and mismanagement), where people can meet each other, communicate, plan and organize.
Berlin always had it's squats and club/bars - so the scene always had some areas to condensate and stir up shit and action, all we have are the occasional gigs at established multi-culture venues - Crass in munich: record breaking 150 people! Ah, I forgot, we boykotted Crass...

[Vegetarian Barbarian]

The "scene" here in Western New York is dead and sucks. Its mostly a huge hardcore scene, but most of those people are straight edge elitist assholes or just assholes. The scene here is very clique-ish, but thats probably everywhere. Anyways, we get some good shows from time to time, but its dead, the local music sucks too for bands in grind, pv, or even punk. I wish more bands would come through here though while im still here.

P.S., it sucks here, did i mention that?

[bennion]

it sucks ass here in utah casue its a sence of one. i am the only punk here

[Corporate Deathburger]

Portland has a pretty good scene, lot's of house shows. But our main venue just got shut down because they weren't making enough money... Which is a sign of a dying scene. It's mostly turning into a hipster/indie kind of scene. Lots of kids on bikes listening to Fugazi.

I dig it, but I want an Anarcho revival.