Meet Matthew Cooke, a Stranger reader who has vowed to do everything The Stranger suggests for the entire month of February. Look for his reports daily on Slog and Line Out. —Eds.
(Note: It’s been so long since I’ve been to a punk show, I decided I needed to study it from an anthropological research perspective. Diary notes are below. Enjoy!)
9:59pm — Feared early arrival. Concern misplaced; first band (The Pranks) already done, club close to full.
10:02 — First loud profanity heard; investigation reveals source is tall, unruly male subject in back room area; will keep eye on
10:04 — Buy can of Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR), to better integrate with research subjects
10:05 — Coconut Coolouts start
10:07 — Male onstage dressed like banana(?); must research further
10:10 — Songs hard to tell apart; crowd seems unconcerned
10:16 — Initial scan of crowd reveals roughly 14 ironic baseball caps; 2 or 3 possibly sincere ones. Natural hair color observed on perhaps 40% of females. Tattoo dispersal rate difficult to ascertain due to bulky clothing on males; assumed high
10:18 — Band starts playing song titled “I Wanna Come Back from the World of LSD”
10:19 — First ritualistic “mosh pit” forms
10:26 — Theme emerging in song titles: “Party Jail” followed by “Party Weekend,” and then possibly “Party Tonight”