Punk and Metal for Life

Thursday July 28 2022: New Moon

I went to a punk show last night at an open square in downtown Victoria* after getting up at 5:30 to do a hot yoga class and then moving all day. I had been on my feet for 3 days prior working service jobs and I’m still healing my body from being on crutches last year. Is wasn't a huge move though, and in some act of greater divinity, as I approached the building I’m moving into, a guy I knew from Food Not Bombs happened to walk by just as I started loading my stuff in and helped out.

The show was packed full of people and as I made my way over the stage I ran into another guy from FnB and we were both like holy shit this is awesome and I followed him as he wormed his way through the crowd. He threw himself into the pit and I stayed on the fringes thinking that there was no way I was going to risk another injury after last summer. I banged my head and soaked in the seething grindcore of Body Rot who I’d seen recently at the Phoenix Bar.

There’s no other music in the world that does for me what live punk and metal does. I sometimes wonder if I’m too old for this shit, but the forces of nature always end up drawing me back in. A few weeks ago it was having a crust punk band from Vancouver showing up at my work and letting me know that they were playing a show. Tonight it was the inspiration of the acquaintance I ran in to from FnB who, interestingly, went to the same tiny remote high school as me 11 years before I did. He threw himself into the pit without hesitation. And after a half an hour I strapped my back pack on tight and did the same.

Nothing burns away the rage of a broken heart or the sorrow of lost loved ones like a sweaty circle pit that ironically feels far more loving and sincere than any ashram I’ve ever visited.

After I was finished thrashing out and destroying my body some more, some guy wearing dirty white socks presented me with a ragged crow feather. Then I checked out some of the vinyl vendors that were there and picked up a Fugazi album.

It’s been really fun being in a new town and going to live shows where I don’t really know anybody and don’t have to run into x-boyfriends or frenemies from times past. It’s also nice to see how blended everything is these days: you can listen to Psych Rock, Norwegian Black Metal, Goth Rock and Crust Punk without getting made fun of or having to commit fully to any one fashion style.

My first experience seeing the Baptists was at Anti-social in Vancouver back in 2014. I had recently come back from travelling overseas and one of my friends called me up and was like get down here now, you have to see this band. It was a cramped little space and felt like the perfect venue for the chaos of this surreally intense band. I saw them a couple of more times in Vancouver over the years and their shows are always so great.

It was really exciting to see them in Vic as the sky purpled and went dark, and as the show progressed a proper circle pit formed and people were throwing themselves into the crowd. Amazingly, the show was over just after 10pm, which was perfect for myself as I’ve gotten used to going to bed with the birds.

I always wake up from shows like these feeling soothed and docile. And like the metal heads of Germany I met in my youth who take their subcultures very very seriously, I can see myself going to shows for the rest of my life.


* or better known as: Lekwungen