Remebering days gone by.

There is a problem in my life that has always plagued me; Being over sentimental about the past. I waste so much time thinking about my own past and over analyzing it. I guess that's why I am drawn to anthropology, archeology and history. I love to study the past. Over the last two years I have been working on a paper/book about the emergence of the Salt Lake punk underground that started in the late 70s and has continued on to present day. I became involved in that scene back in 1985 when my older brother informed me that I was no longer allowed to listen to "Hair Metal" and that we would be listening to New Wave and Punk. We shared the same room and he is five years my elder. In the beginning I found the punk repulsive but I eventually became endeared to it. 1990 was my first and last venture to the legendary Speedway Cafe to see the LA punk veterans the Circle Jerks and the Weirdos;Victims Willing (Local Band) opened that show. My experience was quite surreal. I had never seen such energy and force from music. I had already seen a few larger concerts like R.E.M., Oingo Boingo, New Order, P.I.L., Sugarcubes, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Although they were great shows, nothing compared to that first underground gig. I was sad because I knew that the Speedway would be closing. Missing so many gigs there was difficult for me. My parents wouldn't allow it until I was 15. Thankfully, another all ages club opened up called the Pompadour. It too was located on Salt Lakes west side. My parents weren't thrilled about me hanging out there but they didn't prevent me from going. I saw some amazing bands play there; NoMeansNo, SNFU, Treepeople, Positive Greed, Iceburn, Ratchet, Reality, Citizen Fish, Power Slave, House of Cards, The Stench, Bad Yodelers, Into Another, Shudder To Think, Jawbox, Head First, Victims Family and many, many others.


One of the shows that continues to stick out was Into Another. Into Another was from New York City and they played a great hybrid of Hard-Core/Space Metal. Richie was the singer and had been in the New York Hard-Core band Underdog. Drew, the drummer, was in the New York SXE band Bold. I saw Into Another play many times but the first show was amazing. The Pompadour met the same fate that the Speedway, Alice's, and the days of having punk shows at the Indian Walk-In center. Shows did not cease from happening though, soon places like Club Starzz(Same location as the Pompadour), Playskool, Club DV8, and many others keep the underground scene going. Even though my participation is not as frequent as when I was younger, I'm still amazed at the amount of talent that still exists here in Salt Lake's independent music scene. I hope to see many band contiue to come out of my town. Long live SLXHC.

Coming Soon!!!

I will start this blog soon.