Who was the first person to actually refer to a band as "emo"? More importantly, who was that first band that was referred to as "emo"? Where did this all start? How did this all start?
When you think about it, it doesn't really seem to matter much. The fact is that "emo" is here and has been for a couple of years or so now. The real questions you should be asking are as to whether or not "emo" will be sticking around much longer.
Throughout this, as music is being referred to as "emo", this label also applies to the pop punk and indie rock bands who fit into the genre that is ever so popular right now. Even moreso, it applies to all of the bands who are labeled as "emo", but simply pass it off and say, "Oh, no, we're indie rock, not emo".
As with many genres that have come and gone in this "underground" music scene we are infested in, one can't help but notice that their downfall usually occurs when the style reaches new heights and becomes almost "mainstream". Take ska for instance. Some years ago, everyone was all about ska and it was the latest and greatest trend. Then the unthinkable happened. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones were on the radio. Then they were on Mtv. They helped make "ska" a household word. Suddenly, ska became "uncool". For those people who actually stuck by it and went to shows to see bands like Link 80 and Spring Heeled Jack, ska had become a thing of the past. The people who were so quick to embrace it and so quick to praise it were soon finding themselves denying they had ever even listened to it.
Right now, there are currently bands such as Blink 182 and MxPx invading the radio and Mtv. It's made it very hard for a straight out punk kind of band to succeed in this "underground", because they can now be so quickly passed off as a Blink 182 wanna-be. But this has been going on for years. The short, some what melodic punk of certain bands that don't exactly make you want to have a mohawk but you can mosh to still have been being compared and looked at as Green Day wanna-be's for years. So how long will it take before all these new "emo" bands will started being compared and looked at as only Saves the Day or Get Up Kids wanna-be's?
Everyone has been there, but it just seems like no one can quite break through. Bands like New Found Glory, Saves the Day and the Get Up Kids have all felt the effects of being on the radio and Mtv, but none can quite seem to stay there. Even bands like the Pinehurst Kids and Rival Schools have been gracing M2 and MtvX with their videos more often than, say, your typical new metal band. When will one of these bands come along and be able to actually hold their own in the "mainstream"? When will they have that lasting effect that bands like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones (temporarily) and Blink 182 (for now) have? When they do actually get to that level, it will be the downfall of "emo" as we know it. It will generate reprocussions involving many kids pulling pins off of their letter carrier bags and turning their backs on the bands they once did love.
When will this occur though? How much longer do we have to sit through this seemingly dying trend? I hope that 2002 will be the year the "emo" dies. Whether my theory proves true and a band actually makes it big or not, I hope that people just get as sick of it as I have been finding myself lately.
You used to be able to go see certain bands for $8 at a small club. Now they're playing clubs twice the size, and for twice the price. The shows sell out because of that one song on the radio, and even if you do get in, the show's just filled with 14 year old girls in tube tops. Is this really what you want?
On the other side of things, you have the bands playing that are relatively unknown (for not being on the radio or Mtv) and they play small shows in small clubs on Friday and Saturday nights in front of less than a hundred people.
There just doesn't seem to be a middle ground for "emo" any more. It doesn't seem as if there's a band that you can go see for a decent price and with a decent amount of kids showing up. It seems to be either one extreme or the other.
This is beginning of the process. This is the beginning of the end.
Don't get me wrong, I don't wish "emo" any particular harm, I just can't stand to see its life slowly slipping away from it. I definitely think that there will be bands that stick around and survive the "emo" curse. Bands like Campground Effect, Student Rick, System and Station, Penfold, the Commercials, the Canterbury Effect and a few others who have been catagorized into the "emo" genre will manage to out live it based on the people who know and respect their music for what it is and not because it's the latest fad.
Many labels will fall. Vagrant. Jade Tree. Deep Elm. All the others who are just like them. Many bands will fall.
Although there are some early signs of detection for this event to go down, I don't think it's ever something you can really predict. I think it's more of something that just suddenly happens. You just wake up one day and "emo" is no longer "cool". Only it's not just you who thinks that, everyone starts to think it. I think 2002 will be the year when this unpredictable but seemingly inevitable event will take place.
What will the new "underground" trend be? I have no idea. Will ska make a come back? Will people turn to hardcore or metalcore? Will punk prevail? I'm not sure. All I know is that I'm tired of being bored out of my mind at "emo" shows. I'm tired of people telling me "Oh this band is different, they do this... which isn't like any other band out there". Look. I don't care if your band sounds like Saves the Day only they have break downs or screaming or they trash their instruments on stage, the fact of the matter is that it's all been done. You can name me one band out there who is doing something that's supposed to be so different, but I can name you ten bands doing it better and a million who are exactly the same. Simply put- this "emo" thing is getting stale.
Hold onto your glasses, kids, 2002 looks to be a bumpy year for "emo".