Unfortunately, the Welfare Mothers didn’t show up…so Down To Kill played instead. In between very intense songs, they ranted--with charming cynicism--about everything from polluting snow-mobilers to political corruption. Though the intensity of the band made it difficult to understand their lyrics, those lyrics are not any less powerful; that same charm and raw energy shines through in all of them. For example “This Town Still Sux,” a fierce attack on the city of Portland, calls it a “fucking shithole,” and includes the passage: “so why is it that you cant see/ the rise in yuppies and shitty companies/ still nowhere to go for the children to find peace/ stuck with no one to turn to or put them at ease/ in this town its hard to be under the age of/ 21, 22, or 23/ and once they reach that age they’re all drunk, jaded, and angry.”
I had a chance to ask them a few questions after their set. In particular, I asked them how they felt about the current state of the Maine punk scene. Jeremy, the drummer, replied:
“i think that lately its going a lot better, we just got our own space on 302 [in Portland]…there was a good turnout, especially for a first show that wasn’t flyer-ed for. seems like kids are into it for the right reasons and are getting into it younger and younger… for what i think is the right reasons.”
K-Lub, the lead singer, seemed less optimistic:
“[it’s] very divided...its not what i would call a scene. Its a lot of people interested in something outside of the mainstream…but they have such different influences and they’re all from so far away that there’s not much communication, except through [computers], but a lot of that kind of brings it down.”
I also asked them what they thought of the Bush administration. Jeremy said:
“ wow. bad? ….[but] i feel the same way about the Clinton administration or pretty much any administration that is imaginable in our current system of government. basically if Al Gore had been elected, a lot of the same things would still be happening, [only] slower and smoother. it goes without saying that bush is a piece of shit… but i think that that’s the position of power that pieces of shit in general end up in. I think that bush is a more transparent piece of shit then all the other politicians. but where to start? there’s a million [things to say]. i don’t know about Maine specifically… since Maine is part of the united states and part of the economy in general…[but] i think that I see Maine becoming a plantation state where everyone is just kinda busting ass to please tourists. I cant go into the mathematics of it right now…but we’ve got a really service-based economy…bushes tax cuts and [trade policies] aren’t going to make it any better. “
K-Lub didn’t have quite as much to say, but his view of the Bush administration wasn’t any less critical.
“hard working people who pay a lot of taxes and work the most hours and get the most taken out of their checks aren’t going to benefit from it at all; people who can write everything off are going to get more money back…so i think it’s f*cked up…”
Lately there has been a lot of fighting in the scene over how punks should respond to pseudo-rebellious pop-stars, such as Avril Lavigne, Good Charlotte, and Pink. Many punks feel insulted by these celebrities; many are insulted by the association that is implied when such groups call themselves “punk.” But others, such as Jeremy, feel that the importance of the issue is being exaggerated, and that such pop-stars should be ignored altogether.
“i don’t waste too much time saying that they’re posers or that this person is punk or that person’s punk. its just the mainstream media cashing in on what they think will make a profit, and next week it’ll be something different.”
THERE’S ROOM FOR LONG-HAIRED PIRATES
Jonee, of Jonee Earthquake band, was dressed as a pirate. For some reason I was surprised, since it was the first punk show I had ever been to before; I had never seen punks dressed as pirates. Jonee breaks out of boundaries that I never even realized were there. These things fascinated me, so I asked him: “do you feel that society imposes boundaries on Punk?” He said:
“i like to break [boundaries] because punk originally didn’t have a strict uniform or a strict sound…and it was anything goes. i like to keep that going as much as possible. there’s room for everything; there’s room for shaved heads…and room for spiked hair… there’s room for long haired pirates. its all punk as long as its against the establishment.”
Jonee Earthquake Band is from New Hampshire. At the time, I didn’t realize this, so I asked Jonee what he thought of the “current state of the Maine punk scene.”
“this is the first time we’ve had a chance to come up here. We played in Portland before… there’s not many shows… but whenever there is one, it’s exciting…so there needs to be more.”
To many people, Jonee’s appearance as a pirate implied something mythical. I found myself jumping to the conclusion that he was going to sing us songs about burying treasure and sailing the sea. I was wrong, but was not disappointed. My personal favorite was “Get Me Outta This High School Hell,” an anthem which he dedicated, predictably, “to all those kids who are still [stuck] in high school.” It seemed like kids moshed to that songer harder then they did to all the rest.
as Jonee’s political views shined through, it became clear that while the imagery of pirates did dominate his appearance, it did not in any way dominate his lyrics or message.
“I’m not that up on Maine politics but i know that [Bush has] pretty much f*cked up the whole nation, so I’m sure that Maine is f*cked up as a result of his administration as well. [...] wed like to reverse that.”
BIG MEAT HAMMER
They had a more old-school sound than most of the bands there and a fierce intensity which was very impressive. Predictably, I asked them how they felt about the Maine punk scene (By now, dear reader, you have probably figured out that I basically asked all these bands the same questions). Scummy Man, a charming person with a fatherly voice, dressed in ripped jeans and a flannel shirt, had just one comment:
“currently my feeling rests on the idea that the Maine punk scene reigns.”
Jordan had more to say, and also seemed fairly optimistic.
“we’re about the only band, the oldest band that have hung out in the older scene. there’s a few other people [who have been] involved [in it for a] long time, there’s a couple bands around Portland of older punks that are still doing things. the younger punks seem to be doing things too… keeping it alive. it seems like a healthy scene for a rural state. guys our age still hanging in there. i saw some band that looked like they were thirteen years old. [(laughs)]”
The bass player, Lenny, said (like most Maine punks do) that he would “like to see more happening” but optimistically said: “there’s some bands [that] i like a lot. id like to see...more garage rock. seems like there’s less of that now.”
Big Meat Hammer isn’t any less political than most punk bands; perhaps even more so. Their leftist, subversive lyrics fascinated me, so I asked them (like I asked all the other bands) what they thought about the policies of George Bush. Though Scummy Man said quite a bit, I lost most of his comments due to problems with my tape recorder. However, I do know for certain that he said:
“well apparently [his policy] affects [Maine] very badly. everyone’s eyeballing everyone over this one. […]”
Jordan, the lead-singer, commented that Bush “f*cked up the pollution control,” explaining that “a lot of the polluted gasses end up in our area because of the way that the air pressure is (the air current) and it kinda takes it from the Midwest and moves it up north our way. we get a lot of [shit] from that aspect right there. the economic thing...i don’t like his taxes thing. He favored richer people over poorer people, basically giving a bunch of people a break while he’s spending money like crazy. He put the country into debt over what he wanted it to be.”
I commented that Bush also took out the Child Credit Increase for minimum wage families, and Jordan agreed.
I asked them if they ever feel like society imposes boundaries on punk rock; Scummy Man (who “had the chance to fill in for both guitar players”) responded that “there [are] no boundaries. the only boundaries punk had was boundaries on the inside… the internal chains inside holding them back...the chains of [thinking that] they cant do the situation“... He then humorously commented that “a simple 40 ouncer on the curb would solve all these problems.” On Big Meat Hammers website, there is a similar comment in the section about Maine punks, which says, “You can find most of Portland's Punks hanging out Downtown drinkin 40 Ouncers an Raisin Hell.”
Jordan, however, was slightly more pessimistic:
“the answer to that in this point in time would be yes, because punk is not like [it] was when we first started it. people have become accustomed to punk rock. the punk rock fashion… the look created in [the] 70s has migrated to disco and techno…and you see actors and actresses, rich people with reddish hair or bluish hair or whatever. see… all that started with guys like us, and back then, it really was against society. now...maybe you might find peer pressure amongst youngsters in the music they’re playing…some people might want to play a certain kind of music out of peer pressure, maybe. as far as the second part, i don’t know. you just do whatever you want, I guess.”
PARTY CRASHING PIGS
I was the first one to notice the cops. There were two of them, moving like uniformed ghosts, not making a sound. “Are you a part of this?” they asked. “Yes, sir; I’m attending the show,” I said, amazed at how calmly I had responded. I was also amazed that I had called him “sir” out of fear, almost unconsciously. The tension was unreal. I felt as if I was staring into the face of a cruel mythical god, or into a black hole in space.
“who’s in charge here?”
“The Keith Anderson community house people,” I said, trying to disguise my ignorance of the technicalities. I stalled them as long as I could, but they basically implied that if I didn’t find out who was in charge, they would shut down the show. I found myself rushing from table to table, shouting--underneath the deafening hardcore noise of BMH--that the cops were outside and that someone needed to talk to them. Eventually I found a middle-aged woman who seemed old enough, but who soon told me that she wasn’t “in charge.” I began to get frustrated as I realized that, ironically, the person who was “in charge” wasn’t old enough.
The two officers gradually got closer to the stage, shining their flashlights first into the kitchen, and then all over some of the tables (looking for crack, I suppose). When they realized that they weren’t going to find anything, they settled for intimidation: for the next fifteen minutes they stood near the exit door, just staring at us.
We all thought they would shut us down, but ironically, they didn’t have to. As soon as people started to notice the officers, they got scared. Dozens of punks left out of fear, intimidated. But Big Meat Hammer, which was playing at the time, was one part of the show that didn’t back down. When I first told Jordan about what was going on, his response was “Cops, huh? I’ve got a song for that.” When the officers demanded that they “turn it down“, they just turned it up louder.
They tried to fight the fear with anti-police songs, but it was no use. By 11:00, when Kermits Finger started their set, there was hardly anyone left.
People fear what they don’t understand. The veteran punks understand police better than the younger punks do. Thus, they are less afraid. Big Meat Hammer is Maines oldest, and possibly most respected punk band; they have been in the scene for a long time. Jordan and Scummy are the oldest members of the band; so they probably know all of their rights by now. Hopefully, when I’m older and wiser, I will no longer fear the cops. I hope that in time…none of us will fear them.
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