Punk Rocks Last Gasp

Is there really any true sense of anti-establishment anymore, where hundreds of young kids pay 25 bucks to go watch a bunch of middle aged punks from yester year attempt to rekindle the flames of anarchy and defiance. In this overweight, overly indulgence, and boats filled with cheap consumer goods from China fest still contain meaning, validity, and identity, it feels like the people of today are rebelling against having too much, as opposed to at least in my opinion back in the early days revolting against not getting what people wanted. The problem turned out to be the masses were given the opportunity to consume, more than before, maybe some people, there are plenty of others out there sleeping with boxes on their heads in worn out threaded shorts with no shoes on and a small plastic piece of cardboard to use as a blanket. Not much of that tonight at this particular music venue just plenty of 30, 40, and 50 dollar bar bills being rang up at the cash register without much thought. The so called punk ethos did not exist tonight here at a corporate ran facility where the only other thing more noticable than the deseperate reach to channel some hostility out on the dancefloor was the throng of swapmeet like cubicles selling all sorts of band merchandise from bandanas to painters caps, where were the thong panties I thought, probably had to ask for them and in the immortal words of the opening bands lead singer who looked like she belonged on one of the many Disney Channel teen oriented television shows, had said before their last number in order to get the crowd into a mosh pit fevered frenzy, "Let's punk rock like it's 2002!" maybe 1982, even 92, being old, does not make me jaded, but merely gives me a large window to view the world from, I personally enjoy this perspective because it is really the only redeeming factor in life, whether others want to hear about it tends to fall into the negative catagory, due to a few reasons, the first being a so called era, genre, or calling is new to some people, music is always a battleground for this concept.

I have watched 40 plus year old grown men start fights with 18 year old kids over, being down, being real, having an understanding of wanting nothing, getting nothing, living with the lies of family, friends, and the larger world, being discounted at every turn, where music and art meet in the form of communication, not just a reunion tour to go see so you can tell your non cool friends you got to see Band X twenty five years after anyone stop giving a shit about them, which in a lot of ways is valid, cause for some reason, it means something to go watch a band crank up the hits one more time, damn, the Stones still do it and I count myself amongst the people who will find someway to get into that show, even the Roger Waters doing the The Wall in its entirety breeds more of the stairway to nostalgia, which only stagnets, music, art, and culture, being reflective is one thing, but breaking out the head of Walt Disney from the cryogenic chamber is another, yet this what our society has done on an epic scale. Homogenize everything single thing ever produced, digitized it, then reassembled the pieces to make the masses homesick for catered spoon fed emotion, it is so American and so dead, no one else outside of this country cares anymore, why can't the people of this nation get that in any capacity. The ship is sailing, reliving the good times will not make them anymore significant, just, or real; no matter how many drinks, pills, and drugs you take, it is nothing more than masterbation of the body, mind, and soul, a death sentence, no parole, possibly escape.

So as the crowd in the mosh pit, lightly push each other around, authority rules instilling paralysis in those people to not let out the anger, the fear, and disgust with our society, muted in potential consequence they become passive, subdued, and negated by a band call the Ministry of Love an appropriate titled band for the ocassion who in Orwell's sense did their job tonight very well.