“Bad Brains!” gushed the manager of Antiknock upon discovering that I was from Washington. “Bad Brains very delicious! Very delicious and very influential upon onto all of Japan.”
Slunk back into a basement ticket booth at Tokyo’s punk rock club, the manager of Antiknock quickly rolled through his list of DC bands who shaped the rock scene in Japan. “Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Fugazi, Black Flack…yes, Washington, DC!” English isn’t the easiest language for the native Japanese speaker. As such, I left lost to translation the fact that Black Flag was a California band whose lead singer (Henry Rollins) happened to be from DC.
Tourists to Washington seldom seem to swagger past the dens of the Smithsonian or, for the more adventurous, Bucca di Beppo. The same marble blocks that trap most DC visitors too often trick its residents into thinking that it is a staid, one-note town. Local DC is lost on even some of its own - those who seem unable to break beyond the boundaries of the lobby class or the obligatory “So, what do you do?” introductory cocktail question.
Unlike most of the country, Washington is one of the few American cities that is patched together by a series of walkable neighborhoods. But even so, the District’s large transient population can easily live in DC without experiencing its breadth. For that, one needs to walk among the rolling hills of Anacostia, dig into local bakeries hidden off of North Capitol Street and step up to the patches of green, artificial porch turf that stretch from Mt. Pleasant to Eckington.
Chuck Brown, godfather of go-go
Musically, when moving past the confines of the Capitol - or even Adams Morgan - the District opens up into something spectacular. Washington has grown up as an incubator of jazz and hip-hop, the cradle of hardcore punk, the North American home of Ethiopian pop and the birthplace of go-go and the straightedge movement (including its trademark “X” mark first employed at the Black Cat nightclub and now used across the country to identify those under the age of 21). “We would always hit DC when it was time to find a good party or some good beats,” says hip-hop artist Sisqo who fronted the R&B group Dru Hill throughout the 1990’s. “DC and its artists have always served as a great influence to me and my work.”
Few American cities shoulder both a local and international community. And fewer cities allow you to shirk your car, share in discussions with world-class writers and thinkers and shake the hand of famous (and infamous) neighbors.
DC has its drawbacks. For an international city, good Japanese (apart from sushi and steakhouses) is nearly impossible to find. New York sucks out too many talented designers, artists and musicians. The Metro escalators break too often, and those same escalators are burdened by hefty tourists obstructively standing to their left.
All good characters in literature are flawed, even if they’re the hero. And any great city fails if it tries to suit every situation (try finding good Ethiopian on the Upper West Side). DC isn’t perfect, but wherever its imperfections are reflected, they are mirrored alongside the great traits that compose this city.
The hipsters over at TheNewGay.net have decided to collect their own fond views of the District in the form of a I Heart DC party this Thursday night. The monthly TNG events are early affairs, usually clearing out by 11:30. So, it still give you plenty of time to hit Shorts IIIII.
I Heart DC party
hosted by TheNewGay.net
Thursday, July 10
9:00pm on
Solly’s Tavern (11th and U Streets, NW) - Upstairs
21+ Free Admission
I was watching American Hardcore — – on IFC or something on the Fourth. was re-amazed at how influential DC hardcore was to music in the US. especially Bad Brains. The three or four times I heard go go blaring out of cars in Brooklyn and the lower east side (mainly in the late 90s for the latter) were also pretty cool moments. I’d say “heartwarming” but you know… my blood runs cold, son. btw, Sisqo is more of an R&B guy than hip hop
July 9, 2008 at 2:56 pmThanks Patrick. Thats not so much a correction as one of two or three theories. I’ve always thought that Azerrad most likely revealed the most likely theory. In his articles, Azerrad suggests that the California occasion most likely represents a one-time thing only to be employed as an actual, regular identifier back in DC (I thought about mentioning that specifically, but it didn’t quite fit).
Always glad to talk rock history, and specifically DC rock history!!
Thanks so much.
July 9, 2008 at 3:10 pmI hate to comment twice but just read Fitsums’. Agree with you on Sisqo. He self-identified to me as hip-hop. But, go to town!
July 9, 2008 at 3:13 pmI don’t know for sure the start of the “X” on the hands but I do know by the time I was regularly seeing shows (83-84 maybe) it was being doled out everywhere in town - which is a long time before the Black Cat was even being thought of. 100s of shows at the old 930 alone.
July 9, 2008 at 3:54 pmI can corroborate John Foster’s observation about the “X” on the hands for underage patrons @ the old 9:30. IIRC, they also did it @ the Bayou, etc.
July 9, 2008 at 5:03 pmSpeaking of the old 930, in “American Hardcore” there was some footage of Minor Threat when they played there in the earlyish 80s.
Man …
to see the old club with the way the stage was set up and the cameraperson (the club had a videoguy perched in this sort of raven’s coop above the crowd shooting shows) and how close the crowd was to the band… that shit gave me a fullbody flashback. someone really needs to invent a timemachine. I miss that place alot.
The “X” was everywhere pretty quickly. I just missed being grandfathered into the DC drinking age being 18 so lots of clubs had an 18-21 policy getting X’s. Not just for music shows either as I danced (hard to believe if you see me now) at The Roxy and Trax and a number of places during that time. The old 930 was all ages for a lot of shows so when we were in middle and high school we came in a lot of mornings with huge X’s still fresh. They didn’t mess around there and patrolled the bathroom to be sure you didn’t wash them off sometimes (legal didn’t always get stamped or if they did kids still smeared their X’s around to make it look like a smudged stamp) and often it was on both hands as a message.
I am romantic about the old 930 for obvious reasons but it could be a tough place to see a show if it was packed. The AC was basically non-existent with 50+ in there and you always had to avoid being slammed into the pole in the middle of the room (where the filming was done on top of and broadcast to TVs around the club since the rooms sort of snaked out of the main one.) I was at Fugazi’s first 930 show (second overall?) and they stopped the show twice to make sure a pregnant lady in the audience didn’t get smashed against the pole.
The guy doing all the filming was Jimmy from Go Records most nights. I don’t know if they taped or just simulcast. If they taped than a treasure trove is sitting in someone’s garage.
I have a client that grew up in Toronto and spent the entire 80s listening to only Minor Threat and Bad Brains and it is all he ever wants to talk about (along with hockey.)
July 9, 2008 at 5:47 pmA Canadian talking about hockey? Waaaa??
July 9, 2008 at 10:37 pmWhat timing.. Yesterday I came across this review of 2 books on the DC music scene (about go-go and punk, respectively): http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=316971097901935 The books they mention are Lornell and Stephenson’s “The Beat: Go-Go’s Fusion of Funk and Hip-Hop” and Anderson and Jenkins’ “Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation’s Capital”.
July 10, 2008 at 12:16 ami didnt read any of the comments or even the actual post itself, but i will say this. I heard by word of mouth that it was bad brains. I come to learn later that it is just HR and his band (which is still awesome…however….not bad brains)
July 10, 2008 at 5:06 amAhg, thanks to John for bringing back memories of that stupid pole (wasn’t it really more of structural column?) @ 9:30.
July 10, 2008 at 9:40 amHey John F….you are right. That was simply a mistype when I mentioned the Black Cat. However, the last time I tried to add a correction to a published piece, I accidentally deleted the whole thing. So, I will let this serve as a correction.
July 10, 2008 at 9:57 amHey John - I did the same thing once which is why I just let my one misspelling per column ride each time. I feel for you as you write a nice piece and it gets swallowed up by chit chat about markers on kids hands - haha. Such is life with comments.
Yes - the pole was structural. The whole place was never set up to be a club and when you went in the downstairs area and saw how it was basically just carved into the ground you got the idea. References to the beginnings in my urban verbs interview.
I really just remember sitting in the hallway outside for hours waiting for the doors to open. I probably have two years of my life spent doing that if I added it up. Lining up outside just isn’t the same…
July 10, 2008 at 10:21 am
CORRECTION:
July 9, 2008 at 2:52 pm“According to a series of interviews by journalist Michael Azerrad, the straight-edge “X” can be traced to the Teen Idles’ brief U.S. West Coast tour in 1980. the Teen Idles were scheduled to play at San Francisco’s Mabuhay Gardens, but when the band arrived, club management discovered that the entire band was under the legal drinking age and therefore should be denied entry to the club. As a compromise, management marked each of the Idles’ hands with a large black “X” as a warning to the club’s staff not to serve alcohol to the band. Upon returning to Washington, DC, the band suggested this same system to local clubs as a means to allow teenagers in to see musical performances without being served alcohol.”