If I were THAT person, I'd fuckin' LOVE Fugazi shows.

But I'm not. The "Drunk Guy" is a fixture of music that will never go away. He'll just drink outside if he has to. Get used to it.

I'm not advocating getting totally fucked up and ruining things for somebody else, but jeezus, sometimes all I want when I'm at a packed and sweaty show is a giant ice cold bottle of beer.

SO: I guess my point is, if you've got a band that doesn't want to play to a crowd of drinking smokers, don't book yourself in venues that allow smoking and serve alchohol.

Makes sense, right?

The Evens played libraries, movie theatres, halls, car parks, and a bunch of unconventional places for live music. This was to dissociate rock and roll from booze. I read an interesting piece around the time I saw the Evens where Mackaye stated he wanted to do something different because everyone unintentionally considers rock and roll and alcohol as going hand in hand without even questioning the concept.

He doesn't drink, so why should he play a venue that are going to profit off alcohol sales merely because Ian Mackaye is on stage?

I just missed out on Fugazi so I have no idea what types of venues they played and whether or not they served alcohol. But I have seen the Evens a bunch of times and they've been at churches, community centers, and parks. So yea, it looks like Ian is staying true to his word and beliefs.

thats a bit of a sweeping statement. How many straight edge people have you actually taken the time to get to know or have spoken to?

I've gotten to know about 8 straight edge people.

The only ones who didn't annoy me eventually realized straight edge was a joke.. and are now no longer straight edge. And there was actually 1 cool straight edger but even he says he's going to try drinking soon. So, yeah..

Anyone who imposes a lifestyle through their music or attempts doing so through their gigs, has to be mentally retarded. I admire people who have no vices, but I hate those who continuously preach.

This I respect. He's got his guns, and he's sticking to them. He's working outside an established system for touring and booking, which is an incredible challenge (working through normal channels is hard enough). I respect him as a musician, artist, whatever, but, like I said in my previous post, what he did at that Fugazi show REALLY pissed me off.

exactly. That applies to most black metal as well as christian bands for me.

I thought Mackaye hated the idea that straight edge became this doctrine-like thing.

He does.

Ian (as far as I know) never told anyone they couldn't drink, smoke, fuck each other, whatever. I'm pretty sure all he was trying to get across was that a lot of those things don't really interest him. A big reason he didn't drink or do drugs was that a lot of people he knew in the DC scene became junkies and ended up ruining their lives, and I think his stance was at least partly a reaction to that. A lot of people hated Minor Threat (and many other so-called political hardcore bands, DKs, MDC, etc...) because they were thought of as preachy.

Personally, I've never really thought of Ian Mackaye as being preachy. He was simply making a personal statement, in fact, in the one recording of "Out of Step" there's a little break down part where he even says "I'm not trying to tell people what to do... etc...". The problem with "straight edge" is that certain people were militant about it, and thought that because they didn't drink or whatever it somehow made them better than everyone else. Like LittlePuppetBoy pointed out, Ian Mackaye never wanted to start some kind of movement, and he was actually really dissapointed by the fact that people were such fucking zealots as soon as they decided to be "straight edge".

That said, I've got a lot of respect for the guy. Everything I know about him suggests that he's a very genuine person. Hey, he's stuck to his ideals this far, that's gotta count for something. Plus he's made some great music.

WELL....?

you functionally illiterate pizza brains...

did any of you enjoy the article i went through the trouble of hunting down and posting?

no?

are you more interested in your own unrethorical musings than in that humorous little gem?

ok then... your loss.

I've Realized That I Hate The Sound Of Guitars

I read it all! I had a response typed out about how he failed to include Bad Brains....but then realized that they left DC for New York after being banned from playing at a lot of clubs.

that guy seemed pretty much dead on. I DO love Fugazi, but the preachy shit really chaps my ass.

the last thing I need is music to make me feel morally superior.

KEEP MUSIC EVIL.

yeah, good article, aside from the minor threat confusion.

oh im glad you guys liked it. i laughed and laughed when i first read it. what he says about the dc music scene is quite true... for the most part anyway. or it was, 4 years ago.

is it Ian "Mick-kay" or Ian "Ma-Kai"?

I've heard both.

Ma-Kai

wow and i thought he was an asshole for stopping the show to wave five bucks in the air and tell someone to get out for "moshing"

Moshing sucks... unless you're 15.

well i guess he couldve been 15. are you trying to get all ageist on me in an ian mackaye thread?!?!?!?!