WHY DO WE GO TO SHOWS?

As we are all aware, when we go to our smaller hardcore shows in London, we tend to see the same people all the time, making it a type of community. Has coming to these things over the years for some people become less of a chance to see new bands and enjoy old ones or has gig going become more like just going to a club, bar or pub and hanging with mates?

Unlike big concerts, including non-hardcore ones, where there are so many people that there are just loads of little groups of people who stick together for the duration of the gig, people can be seen mingling more at small shows. This is probably due to having got to know a whole load more people via being introduced to them through people you already get on with or just starting a conversation with someone because you’ve seen them many times before. I have spoken to some people who say that they tend to come to gigs purely for the social aspects of it…yet really only if at least one band they like or that their mates are in, which does not always mean the same thing, are on the bill. As I’m sure is the case for many of us when we started going to shows, I personally used to go to any hardcore show that was promoted on forums and messageboards purely to check out bands I’d never heard of before. I still do this to some degree, but over the years I seem to have automatically seen going to shows very similar to popping down the local. It’s become comforting and almost routine. Although I still tend to be a bit of a shy soul, having been coming to shows for pretty much 6 years now, being round people I recognise and know and, in some cases, get on really well with gives this particular ‘scene’ a somewhat social club-like quality.

Without touching upon this too much as I know a lot of people like separating the 2 things, but over the years I have begun to see my religion in very much the same way. Religion became more of a routine than a real ‘faith’ and having the tag of a Jew makes one prone to ‘Jew Dos’. It is pretty much safe to say that just about every Jew in London knows one another or knows someone who knows someone. This is how the hardcore scene in London feels like to me.

What I’m hoping to gain out of this column are any views concerning your own thoughts about what I’ve said. Are you someone who tends to come to shows because you want to see your mates? Are you maybe someone who actually does not really know anyone in the scene but purely comes for the music? Do you not like hardcore at all but come to shows for pressing matters? Are you someone who doesn’t come to shows because you’re not in a band anymore? Are you Ali? I want to hear from all of you.