the state of shows as of december 2009

[tylerp]

I think I made a post like this on the myspace group about a year ago.

I used to be a little worried about the direction of things with dwindling affordable venues, fewer bands, and fewer kids interested. now I feel great. no eulogy are amazing (BEST Willa SIMPSON PROJECT EVER and I liked the others a lot), promises rule, white ribs blow my mind and feel like part of whatever we've got going on. you guys have weekly planning meetings for hardcore fest. there's that outbreak show coming up. lots of people show up to the house shows (we've had FIVE now) and have fun.

I like how things are going. a lot. what can improve? more kids and more non-house shows, I guess. I feel like some of the people who come to the house shows just to hang are getting more into the music. and fish and her pals are awesome. this board is fun. things rule.

-TYLER P, SOCIAL ANALYST

[keith.]

theres been such a dry spell this last half the year, things seem to be gaining momentum again and thats really exciting

even outside of the VIHC it was dry but january is going to be kicking a lot of butt
rorschach/black wizard
endless blockade
ladyhawk
BISON
myelin sheaths/los tycoons

2010 suckas

[canon.docre]

fuck yeah things are hot bangin' now. making a bunch of new friends, partying hard with long time buddies, three chords and a cloud of dust, diy blasts and crust.

[ZACH ATTACK]

The last few months have been nothing but a great sign for things to come for VIHC. For a city this size we've done a fantastic job of getting new kids interested and involved in hardcore. I'm so proud to be a part of VIHC. With that said, there's definitely a lot of room for us to improve on a few things. I think probably the best place to start would be by finding new venues that aren't in houses (Troyler house rules, no question, but it would be nice if we had other options that weren't tied up in friendships. I'd like to alienate those guys if something shady ever went down at a show at their house,) and reaching out more to the crust and straight ahead punk scenes. I've always felt that it was just shitty scene politics that keep punk and hardcore separate. One time I saw a Betercore album cover that had a picture of a hardcore kids and crust dude shaking hands and giving thumbs up. That sums up my thoughts on the matter perfectly. (and if anybody knows where I can find a copy of t hat picture, let me know.)

[Hollow]

fuck yeah things are hot bangin' now. making a bunch of new friends, partying hard with long time buddies, three chords and a cloud of dust, diy blasts and crust.

This x1000. The past six months have been better for VIHC than the past four years. But we can't become complacent. Complacency is the death of innovation. What Zach said is spot on, we need to be reaching out to the Crust and Punk communities as much as possible, let them know that this is a place for them, too. Shitty scene politics are just that, and should have no place in this community. Just my two cents. More mixed bill shows, more thrashing, more fun. That's gonna be the best thing for us. Everyone keep an eye out for places we can use as venues, get any bands info that wants to do a show and get it to Ebony, be friendly, be open, say hi and shake hands. NO CLIQUES. Oh God, no cliques.

Oh, and Scott, found my keys, so the Crust War can continue on despite your desertion to Mexico. Sell out.

[ebony]

i am lovin this thread so much right now. we really do need to get our hands on more venues, which is hard because they either dont return our calls, dont like "rock shows", or are way too expensive.
with that said, i think we do a really good job of getting people intereted and i think everyone realises that we are not a cliquey group and we are very welcoming. i spent awhile outside on saturday night talking to a girl that wanted to know more about what it was like to be a girl in hardcore and she seemed really into our scene and what we have going. it got me really excited even though it was just one person. that definetly means something to me, especially since it was a GIRL.

[Mikey]

I'll be honest, I don't always feel comfortable at shows. I don't really know that many of you, and I'm not very out-going for the most part. So in the past while loving shows, at the same time I felt a little out of the loop of a large and well established circle of friends when it came to hardcore shows. Especially when coming into a scene with no real knowledge of hardcore, it can seem overwhelming to try to keep up in conversations when you lack any real exposure to it. And on a note that has been previously discussed, it can be shitty if you go to your first hardcore show, and feel like you're not a part of it/get made fun of for bands you like, which only discourages you from coming out to more shows. This is obviously incredibly different for each person, and subjective.

That being said, again coming from the view point of someone who is shy/doesn't have a big personality, I absolutely love the current state of shows. If the Slingshot extravaganza (not to mention the VIHC fests) isn't a superb example of a welcoming/fun community, then nothing is. I had a ridiculous amount of fun at this show, many laughs and good times with the general populace. And compared to previous years I feel like the scene is getting more positive and welcoming as each event passes. To reiterate, I have to say I've never been a part of a more welcoming and friendly group of people.

I'm not trying to badmouth previous years in the scene in any way either, just saying that the scene has gotten pretty darn easy to become a part of it, hang out and talk to people, compared to previous years (as I remember them anyway). So I hope none of this came off as a super-negative thing, just putting it out there.

[dalamar501]

for mikey's post: don't think you came off as negative. You have been going to shows longer than me... since you were going to shows when you were 13ish? so 2000 2001?
But then i guess you went from active to not around or one or two a year to yeah whatever! haha


Music scenes work in cycles. In most cities it seems. Some bigger cities it just seems to progress right to another one and you won't always see it get to far into the shitty area.

We were at a really low point 2 years ago. After 3 ish years of a lot going on (the Brian VIHC years haha) Wasn't so bad that we couldn't do shows but really there were like 10-20 of us that still came out to shows from the previous years.

We all worked hard to try and keep it going. Tough when you have no local bands to play shows and when it seems like kids just don't care to come out.
It was july 07 i like to think was a big changing point. That was when Willa told me that he was going to work hard to start another band. as he said we needed bands in town. After lewd acts show i think? or yeah.

Vegan Holocaust started. Promises. Black Cloud etc

09 - FUTURE - VIHC SOCIETYY times
07 - 08 - Let's all do stuff on our own... / i put on 8 shows 2008. 1 in 2007.
03 - 07 - Brian VIHC, TAN, WBOM, cloak, JBCC shows THE ANSWER coming a million times.

no idea really before that i was giong to do a nice time line... haha

late 90s early 2000s - good hot hot heat stuff, contessa, pretty much need to ask bubba
mid 90s - late 90s - trial shows, republic of freedom fighters, render useless other stuff
no good at this history stuff i wish i knew more besides the all your ears can hear. which is rad but only covers very early on.

[wolfgang]

Yes on more mixed shows!!! That's the only way to grow a scene and get different people to listen to the music you love. Hardcore bands with punk, noise, metal, pop, weirdo art shit. Especially more PUNK shit...simply cause that's where my interests lie.

[keith.]

it got me really excited even though it was just one person.

this is how i kinda see it. 1 person at a time.
ilyvihc

[tylerp]

sometimes this happens at our house

[Rude Boy Puff]

mixing up shows would be cool if some kids knew fuck all about getting along and respecting a community run venue. Until then I dont wanna see more straight ahead punk in this scene they can stay at lucky bar where a fight and smashed gear can be appreciated.

[Fish]

Yes on more mixed shows!!!

I haven't been watching the hardcore scene long enough to see the change, but from what I've seen, you guys have developed such a warm, welcoming community that probably doesn't exist elsewhere in this city, so congrats.
I like the house shows; meet new people, check out new bands I probably wouldn't listen to otherwise, all that stuff.

I didn't read every post- it's been a long day, so if nothing I said makes any sense that's why. I don't even know where I'm going with this but but...
thanks tyler, you and your pals are awesome too.
I have a couple other friends who have said they are interested in checking out hardcore shows, but the last few house shows have conflicted with their schedules. I'll try to bring them 'round to the next one.

[ZACH ATTACK]

mixing up shows would be cool if some kids knew fuck all about getting along and respecting a community run venue. Until then I dont wanna see more straight ahead punk in this scene they can stay at lucky bar where a fight and smashed gear can be appreciated.

I spent two years working at the Reef and watching all sorts of shit from Lucky bar spill over into the ally. In those two years I only saw one fight that punks were involved in and it only happened because a bunch of roided out jockey motherfuckers decided to pick on them for no reason. I've been to a gang of punk shows at other venues in town as well and haven't seen any more fights or problems than there are in hardcore. When I first moved here Cordell and his friends seemed to be trouble makers, but they haven't come around in forever. But sweeping generalizations are cool I guess. All hardcore kids are pigheaded jocks. All edge kids are self righteous and militant. Everybody with tattoos are criminals. I have no work ethic because I smoke pot. Generalizations rule and separation creates understanding and strengthens communities.

Yes on more mixed shows!!! That's the only way to grow a scene and get different people to listen to the music you love. Hardcore bands with punk, noise, metal, pop, weirdo art shit. Especially more PUNK shit...simply cause that's where my interests lie.

On Saturday there was a show that had a hardcore band, a noise duo, and a D-beat band. Sure it's not the mix bag of the century but anybody who complains about the bands sounding too similar is probably deaf. I'd love to start booking more power-pop and straight ahead punk bands, but unfortunately that really isn't what's going on in Victoria right now. If bands playing that type of music get in touch with us looking for shows we'll do what we can for them. If bands playing that type of music start popping up in the area, then we'll probably start trying to book them. If there's nothing going on, then we can't really do much. But like I've said before, if you know of any bands playing that type of music who want shows here, feel free to pass along their contact info to us and we'll see what we can do.

[dalamar501]

When I first moved here Cordell and his friends seemed to be trouble makers, but they haven't come around in forever. But sweeping generalizations are cool I guess. All hardcore kids are pigheaded jocks. All edge kids are self righteous and militant. Everybody with tattoos are criminals. I have no work ethic because I smoke pot. Generalizations rule and separation creates understanding and strengthens communities.

I AM FUCKING SELF RIGHTEOUS. If you have ever smoked or drank in front of me i have judged you.



Cordell after getting kicked out of the ruiner show told me he was never coming to one of these shows again.

[ZACH ATTACK]

I remember that happening and I was just kinda like "You don't really understand what 'banned' means, do you?"

[dalamar501]

I remember that happening and I was just kinda like "You don't really understand what 'banned' means, do you?"

haha what?
I never told him he was banned. I know after that show Willa / others decided that if he showed up he would be "banned"
i think that was also after something that happened at either camas or jbcc

anyways the ruiner show he just told me that he wasn't going to bother coming out to one anymore..
which i was okay with

[ZACH ATTACK]

I guess it was more of a de-facto banning, in that nobody wanted him there and would probably show him the door pretty quickly.

[tylerp]

Banned..... from the forums!!!!!!!!!!!

[grind/bro]

I just realized that I haven't said anything in this thread but I just want to post here to say that I did. Oh and more house shows.