Real Punk Rules The Depot District

Y0u might not believe it, but I was a pretty serious punk rocker.  Now keep in mind that punk pretty much lived and flamed out between'77-'81.  Now there's been plenty of bands keeping the flame burning, but when it comes to 'biggies' of the movement, there was just a few years in there.  More after the jump.

When I talk about the 'biggies' of punk, I'm talking Ramones, Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedy's and so on.  Now if you look in some type of 'rock history' book, you're going to see people with giant Mohawks, with safety pins through their noses spitting on the bands.  That's not what it was like in reality.   Most punk rock bands just looked like working class guys (the Clash) and played quick change up powerchord progressions (Ramones).  While overseas they tried to turn "punk rock' into a fashion thing, here it was about 'taking the music back' and putting it into the hands of ordinary people, much the way grunge did twenty years later.

I'm happy to say you can catch a real dose of real punk right here in the Hub in the form of Johnny Handgun.  Sure I'm a little late to the party, but I'm a little burnt on local bands now; it seems that most are more interested in fighting with each other than really achieving anything.  So Rooster and I ventured out to meet up with some cool folks at the Johnny Handgun show this weekend.  J.H. delivered a solid punk show to packed house at  the Depot District Oyster Bar Friday night and it was a blast.   I've seen dozens and dozens of punk shows and Johnny Handgun is the real deal and they are right here in the Hub.  Some of the 'straights' out there are actually a little timid when it comes to attending a 'punk' show  thinking it's going to be violent or something, but the word that best describes a good punk show is 'boisterous'.  It's just great, simple, sing-a-long songs delivered with a devil-may-care attitude.

It was also fun for me to check out the contrast in the Depot District.  Other than the Library (who were great hosts to us early and late in the evening) the District is now a bunch of lightly attended dance clubs who wouldn't have let us in if we tried.  Little did they know, a little punk band was packing them in on the North side.