philly punk show adventures “_”

by will brennan on June 16, 2013

Posted in: Uncategorized

Last week I talked about Philly’s Roots Picnic Music Festival, where thousands gather to see some big, and rising, artists in the music scene. This week, I’ve decided to go off the beaten track to tell you guys about Philly’s punk scene.

You might think that Philly’s punk scene is strictly local, but it attracts a diverse crowd of people from all over the city. The house show my brother Finn and I went to was located in West Philly- an area of the city whose character has developed a lot over the past few years as a neighborhood with a whole mix of people. Finn’s friend Leor told him about it, and they* suggested we come to the show to see a part of Philly that no daytime music festival could capture. The venue had some pretty awesome punk bands, many of which included transgender members. The two bands we saw were the Fuck Dicks and the Dike Bitches, and they knew how to put on a good show. There was some enthusiasm throughout the crowd before the show started, but after the first song the band took control over the basement and turned into one big sweaty mosh pit. In participating in this mosh pit we met some pretty groovy people like T and Patrice. These two fine ladies were once a couple but had decided to maintain their relationship as best friends. While we were out walking around the neighborhood, they revealed to us the wonders of hole-in-the-wall Chinese takeouts in Philly. These places of business not only offer Chinese food, but also miscellaneous products that their customers enjoy, such as condoms, loosies, blunts, and more! This was a fascinating tidbit to learn about the city, and showed just how laid back and straight up the people of Philly really are.

After chilling with T and Patrice, Finn and I decided to take off to a warehouse show with a girl named Courtney Knight. We talked about her roots in Arkansas and she told us about how she left home since her family thought she was going to hell for getting some tattoos, and how she wound up in Philly because of the inexpensive cost of living. She then told us about her cyber activities under the alias Judy Future (you can check out her Unicorn tears and cat parties here). By the time our conversation ended we arrived at the warehouse, but the dance party was over. We had just missed the last train , so we cabbed it back to the apartment at which we were staying in South Philly.

Overall, it was a good end to a full day. Shout out to all the people who made my night a great one.

*Leor’s PGP (preferred gender pronoun) is “they.”