Punk Rock and the Politics of Place by Jeffrey S. Debies-Carl

Author:Jeffrey S. Debies-Carl [Debies-Carl, Jeffrey S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Popular Culture, Music, Genres & Styles, Punk
ISBN: 9781135022266
Google: emAKBAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2014-07-17T02:43:41+00:00

Outcomes and Considerations in Using Mainstream Venues

Of the show-space options presented in Figure 5.1, one thing punks could choose is to simply try to cope with the difficulties discussed above and approach mainstream venues in the hopes of being accepted there. This option corresponds with cells 3 and 4. Of course, as this discussion has attempted to illustrate, even this may not be a simple matter. Many of the respondents made comments similar to Phil’s that “Locally the options are kind of limited. There’s only a couple of bars that regularly hold punk shows.”

The odds of a venue being willing to host punks shows in the first place may be increased if owners perceive that a sizeable portion of their potential patrons are interested in punk rock. Lofland (1973, cf. Cavan 1963) discusses how public spaces may be turned into quasi-private spaces when a specific group consistently uses them. For example, if a group of friends frequents a particular bar with enough regularity, they may eventually come to think of it as something akin to a personal space they can utilize in a familiar manner and, likewise, be recognized by owners or workers as deserving of certain liberties not extended to the casual patron. On occasion my participants would describe a similar process of colonization:

We had this crappy little, like out in the middle of BuFu, we had this little place called [venue name]. It was cool because nobody knew about it. It was only a punk club because so many punks hung out there, like it didn’t look like it at all, it pretty much just looked like a little, it was a redneck bar at one point. And we just kind of took it over and had shows there all the time. (Ray)

Here, a commercial orientation on the part of venues could work in the punks’ favor since they have made themselves into a recognizable group of customers. However, this merely provides a space for shows—not necessarily an ideal one as procuring a venue does not, in and of itself, solve any other problems regarding the dissimilarity of DIY punk and mainstream businesses.

However, not all mainstream venues are equal. Large amphitheaters and arenas that have had a long presence in a community (cell 3) are almost certainly out of reach for most DIY punk bands, even if they wanted to play them. These spaces were rarely mentioned as being used by DIY punk bands or fans and, when mentioned at all, seemed to most thoroughly exhibit the problematic characteristics surveyed above. Additionally, smaller and more flexible mainstream venues (cell 4) are more marginal than are large concert halls and may be more willing to accept punk bands in hopes of attaining any sort of clientele. For example:

We had a cool place here called the [venue name]. Like I said it was a Sushi place upstairs, but they would have five dollar punk rock shows downstairs. People could do whatever they wanted. (Barrett)

Such spaces willing to host punks may

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