Do you know what I love most about good hardcore? it's that when they play, you can see they're passionate about what they say, and they mean what they write. That gets me so amped! Have Heart and Shipwreck AD managed to succeed in that last night...
The other thing about hardcore is that it brings out sides of people you never see. From the gentlest, most chilled person loosing their shit in the pit, to the savages of guys, just chilling and admiring what he sees.
At shows like this I usually find myself on my own mission, standing in the crowd looking to see how different people react and how all the drummers air drum and talk to each other about how solid the drummer is and how cool some of the fills are, and how all the guitarists fall to their knees when the band breaks in to a powerful riff. It's awesome!
It's stuff like this that makes me love the people I hang out with and the people that come to shows. We all have shit jobs, never see each other during the week, but when Thursday comes, everyone's happy. Everyone wants to party, everyone loves everyone and everyone is just generally happy that the weekend is here, and they drop all their worries and have savage good times.
Things like good friends in bands from Durban and Cape Town that come up to Joburg, and for that week or weekend, we're all like a little family from this happy village somewhere that no one knows of. It's fucken amazing!
Everyone shares, stories, lame jokes, drinks, food even recreational drugs in some cases. and there's this mentality that everything is everyone's.
And every so often some ignorant knob head comes from a club or a bar, smashed out his face, and thinks he fits right in. But he doesn't know, that years of care, music and friendship have built what we all have. And he comes in and moshes and just loses his shit while everyone stands back to just let him do his thing. Because they all know. He's just a knob head, trying to have fun in a new environment, and in a few minutes, he'll realise that the people aren't moshing idiots, they're just cool people and "heavy music" isn't actually that bad, and he'll calm down and the night will go on.
If my life didn't have all of this, I can honestly say I don't klnow where I'd be. I don;t need a fancy degree or a high aying job to be happy. Just give me my shows, the people involved in them, abd some random knob head that no one knows and I'll be the happiest dude ever.
Simple things.
(Photo: Facing the Gallows, Pestroy and 16Stitch, 2008. Wayne Nel)
