All Ages Shows and Venues: The Way It Should Be Done

             All Ages shows carry a weird stigma to me, especially when it comes to the world of hardcore. Although I do believe that hardcore is such an important thing that has helped raised me, I am a little glad that I didn't start going to shows until I was 18. Over the short couple of years that I have been around, I've begun to see the importance of all ages shows, but also the importance of doing them right and being safe for younger crowd.

            

            The younger generations is a huge driving force into any subculture that you can think of. Naturally, they are filled with more energy and excitement for the movements than some of us that have been going to shows, supporting the bands or overall engaging with this community. I won't claim to be a veteran at all since I have only been going to shows since early 2022, but I have been listening to this style way prior to my first show. Regardless, I didn't really know how to act even at the age of 18, much less at shows. Quickly enough, I feel like I really got my footing in the scene about a year of going to shows consistently and even longer to get my footing with my own music. The unfortunate truth is this; we were all cringe at various points of our lives but especially more-so when we were younger, ignorant kids. I don't care how much of a cool guy or pretentious nerd you are; there's no way you've gone through life without having some embarrassing moments. However, this brings me back to my original point which is that the younger generation needs a place where they can let out their energy in a grand community, especially here in the United States. The United States has an issue of having a terribly low amount of third spaces with all of our childhood malls dying, parks limiting their workers and instilling curfews and even 'mom and pop' local bowling, arcades and other such activities struggling to keep the doors open especially after the pandemic accompanied by the rising costs of everything. Naturally with the death of these third places, the younger crowd will desperately find any sort of entertainment that they can grasp at and most likely, they'll find out about shows through friends or social media. This is where the All-Ages venues come into play and where keeping it safe (for both the minors and the venue) is absolutely crucial. 

            This is mostly an opinion based writeup and I am in no way, shape or form an expert on these topics but these are the things that I see and believe. I might be biased based upon my own personal life choices but absolutely NO selling of drugs or alcohol at an all-ages venue. I can already feel the groans from a couple readers, but a hardcore show is absolutely not the place where minors should be getting wasted at (if at all but let's be honest, most of us have done underaged drinking including myself). The fact that a minor has easy access to substances of all kind while being near the energy of a hardcore show is just a walking liability. Sure, the venue can try to mitigate that by making kids X up, refusing reentry, etc but there's still a very real probability that if they really wanted to, they could get access to it through friends or mischievous methods. I say the best option would be to make the said venue a sober space by either closing down the bar for the night or better yet, hosting the show at a location that doesn't even have the option of a bar but that is easier said than done. I don't believe that many venue owners are keen on the idea of shutting down their bars, especially if that's where they get a lot of their money from and a spot without a bar that is willing to host a hardcore show are very far and few between. On another note, all-ages shows aren't bad in nature but the shows that are booked must also be kept in check. This might be a hot take, but I'll be very honest; I do not think that kids should be at beatdown shows at all! It gets very difficult nowadays to determine whether a band is a beatdown band or not, but if you're booking a bill and you think it's going to be a scary turnout, make it 18+. That might not be as controversial as a take as it is in my head, but I still felt like putting it out there. It takes 2 minutes to search up beatdown live shows to understand why having a random 14-year-old who is new to scene is a BAD IDEA. I'm all for standard, run-of-the-mill hardcore being all ages because I feel like at least those bands bring a more respectful crowd because I'd feel more comfortable taking my kid to see Youth of Today versus Shattered Realm (I hope that many feel the same way too). That is just the unfortunate reality though, as I'd rather limit the amount of all ages shows than risk kids getting seriously fucked up which could lead to venues shutting down (AND it has!). Rest in peace to the Audobon church venue which, iirc, got shut down due to some angry parent threatening to sue! It's such things like these which is why all-ages shows are a very delicate craft that can easily lead to fucking over a LOT of people.

            

            As a community, we have to protect ourselves with the youth included. We need to take into account the number of substances that the children will be exposed to, the audience members and the overall abrasive energy that hardcore provides. This community is such a great gateway into a better lifestyle where you can meet a lot of people that can be very supportive of you till the very end. I have met some great people, and our friendships have stood the cruel test of time. However, there are those unfortunate predators that lurk around that'll take any opportunity to prey on people, including children. It is not just the responsibility of promoters and bands, but also of the people within the crowd to protect ourselves, now more than ever. Abusive and predatory behaviors must not only be called out but taken into account and be treated very seriously. There is an unfortunate tendency that some have where they'll protect their abusive friend just because they don't believe that they would be capable of heinous acts, even if presented with a large amount of evidence. There'll always be a gray area in terms of allegations and callouts but if a certain individual has multiple allegations against them, chances are they're an asshole. People lie all the time, but most victims have nothing to gain from calling out evil behaviors, especially if they can be easily disproven. In my several years of being a part of different communities, I have yet to see ONE local instance where the allegations were actually proven to be false! I wouldn't want to take my kid to a show if I knew that there were good chances that outted child predators would be in the audience, with most just turning a blind eye. Now obviously that is an overly dramatic hypothetical, but you understand my point, right?

An Introduction to Between Miles and Minutes!

            Hello! This is xbrutalsupremacyx and this is my first blog ever. You may wonder why I decided to do a blog in the age of social media, shortened content, and video essays, to which I will answer that question soon, but first let me start by introducing myself. I'm a 21-year-old vegan straightedge college graduate that has a passion for music and politics. I first started getting into music back when my uncle Oscar showed me Iron Maiden back when I was 10 or so, which completely rewired what music was to me. Once I got back to my little shitty family desktop, I immediately started searching for more music, eventually going from the thrash classics to New York death metal onto a deathcore phase and now onto my current phase where I pretty much give anything a fair shot. As for politics, music had introduced me onto some ideas, but it wasn't until 2020 when everyone got locked up that I really started looking into it, given the fact that I had so much free time. What radicalized me was the handling of George Floyd and realizing just how fucked the American system truly is, which I'll most likely get into in other blogposts. I play in a couple of bands, but I'll keep those secret for now (side note: I feel like most people reading this introduction page will already know who this is but I don't really want to brag about being in a local band). I've been going to Orlando shows in my area for about 3 to 4 years with no intentions on stopping - even with the bullshit that's currently surrounding our scene.

            Now onto that question... why a blogspot? why use such an outdated format to express opinions? Well to be sarcastic, it's to be even more pretentious than I already am. In all seriousness though, I do think that writeups can be excellent ways of expressing ideas and causing folks to reflect not only on their communities, but also to reflect on their selves. On social media, a lot of online discourse can be very disconnected and a lot of it is thrown around in a very sarcastic or ironic fashion. Although using humor to argue your points isn't inherently wrong, I believe that the nature of social media encourages people to only use humiliation tactics. I'm not claiming to be a saint as I have also used these tactics exclusively in the past, however, I want to move towards also having more thought-out pieces about my views on current issues, music, politics, etc. I also don't want this blog to just be me and my friends circle jerking our beliefs, so this blog will also have more casual posts such as archives, music reviews, interviews with folks, etc. Whether you're helping write in this collective blog, supporting us, or just a random individual, I hope that this site will provide exactly what you're looking for.

            One Love <3

2025: The Screamo Phenomenon

The current landscape of screamo is something which has proven itself to be rather divisive. Bearing witness to a scene confined to Facebook groups, Instagram, etc. make its way into the public view has given way to many worlds colliding. Both 35 year olds and 18 year olds are playing the same stage both lying in the same niche but from completely different worlds. So this begs the question: how?

While this is rather vague it is a question which constantly pesters in my head. It makes me reevaluate the difference between things such as the hardcore scene and the screamo scene. What is the intention of these kinds of music and what audience do they attempt to attract? Well the true intentions of screamo make themselves ever so present when questioning things like this. The attraction is fragility.

When I was about 12 years old I was given an IPhone 5 to search the web without filter. This led to me talking to random people on the internet; some which stuck with me and some which found ways to take advantage of how naive young people are. During this period I had talked to a lot of people ranging from the ages of 16-25, a broad spectrum. We often created group chats or hopped in Skype calls to discuss music, film, etc. leading to a major shift in my life. I was first introduced to screamo by someone (from what I remember) named Reese from the Midwest. We would FaceTime and talk with him introducing me to bands like iwrotehaikusaboutcannabalisminyouryearbook and funeral diner. At the time this was mid 2015 so labels such as discos huelgas, have fun records, driftwood records, and Connie from flowers taped to pens label were all major players in the online DIY scene.

At this point I had pushed it all to the back of my head since I didn’t quite get it. I had met some other Internet friends such as Alex and Hunter who introduced me to hardcore and melodic hardcore. This began the comprehension of it all. Bands such as La Dispute, Touche Amore, and Pianos Become the Teeth all were in constant rotation. The fragility and anger mixed together within the music was new to me, I hadn’t been exposed to anything of the sorts. My family is not musical, my mother immigrated from Colombia and worked as a housekeeper in the first few years of my life. My father was a manager at Pier One Imports and owned a moving company. Things such as art did not play a role in their life, they weren’t here to indulge but work and care for me and my brother.

Upon discovering the natural progression of screamo I began to indulge in online communities more and more. This led to joining kik group chats for #screamo, #emo, and shamefully #neutralmilkhotel. I surprisingly began speaking to people online with similar interests through kik and Instagram. One of these people is my wonderful partner of 2 years and friend of 8 years, Iona. Not only at this point was screamo important to me musically but it was now turning my small life into something with community and value. I had begun to make friends online but even in real life through it. 

Now this leads me to the very subject of this write up, what has changed or what has screamo turned into? A previously niche community where we would trade blog spots and records has grown into selling out 500-1000 cap venues. Has this interrupted the circadian rhythm of what screamo was meant to be? Do we view these new fans as “new jacks” or kids “who don’t get it”. In my opinion, the answer to a pessimistic overarching view is an instant no.

While screamo has launched itself into a wider audience through social media and more accessible bands I feel as if it is important. Screamo as a young 12-18 year old felt like a safe haven for me, an online community which proved itself to care for me. In a small life of alienation in Christian school and bullying it meant more than I could’ve expected. I think in this current moment young people in screamo are experiencing those same feelings yet not recognizing it. Crate digging has been revitalized to a new extreme, bands are coming out weekly, shows happen in small towns which I haven’t ever seen even emo or hardcore bands go to. 

When we frown and look down upon younger people within communities it destroys them. People state “I don’t owe new kids anything” but that’s simply bullshit. As people in community we should owe newcomers our time, the sense of community which we were shown, the care which everyone should normally give. Music isn’t a cool guy competition, while I’ve had my fair share of not nice comments it’s never in an attempts to separate myself from others. This past weekend at ZBR fest in Chicago I witnessed a lack of etiquette which was appalling. During Vs Self I saw people sitting on stage, trying to fight for the microphone, and heckling incessantly. Now though truly this is becoming the norm and instead of fixing it what do we do? Let it happen, gatekeep ourselves from others, provide a narrative that this is ours and not theirs? Fuck that.

We are in the day and age where we have the ability to connect with people across the country. We have the ability to not deal with any true scene beef and get bad people out of communities. With that in mind, I think screamo is in a place which is stronger than ever. I’ve rambled through all of this write up but I want to home in on this single point. We don’t need to excommunicate ourselves from a music scene because of a sense of superiority. We don’t have to be there for the sake of showing face. You can be involved and care especially in a moment like this. Screamo is in a moment of clarity, where no one has to live continually behind a screen.

There’s a disdain for young people acting “cringey” but if we allow a safe space for this to occur and guide them into what art such as this is all about community can blossom. If you don’t look out for others what’s the point. To make yourself feel better when you lay down to sleep at night? To show how much better you can play your instruments? To show how many people you know? When we fall beneath the earth and the soil corrodes our lungs, all that’s left is the impact we’ve had. 

Become a guiding hand, don’t talk with anger yet speak sternly when you see people acting out of line. Understand what we can do as a unit, remember who you were 5-10 years ago. Think about what is now instead of any other pessimistic thing which floats by. It can all be better as long as you want it to be.