quick list...

we love our lists
my memory is not good enough to forge this list

initially I had intended on trying to list the top five Punk Shows from my misspent youth
but then I realized
so much of my teen years are a blur
one massive memory
how many times did I seen Iron Cross play with GI?
I do not know the answer to that riddle
that one goes right next to...
How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop?

but let me try...
then let me fudge...

1. Minor Threat/Trouble Funk at the Landsburgh Culture Center
this one goes without saying...
this was a fantastic show... Minor Threat is one of the greatest bands of all time!
it may very well be the only time I saw Minor Threat
the show was awesome
they rocked the house
TIGHT! DEAD ON! LIVE! ALIVE!
I did not stay too much into the Trouble Funk show
I do not remember getting in any trouble for being a few minutes late for my midnight curfew

2.Black Flag/Nig Heist at Pierce Hall
not sure... but this may have been the first time I saw Black Flag
it may have been just before the release of My War
Henry was Henry... young... long hair... just starting to be covered with tattoos
Search And Destroy may have just hit the shoulder blades
the large sun had not yet been pasted on his back
I was young and thought Henry was the coolest
the following week some of my skater buddies asked me if my head hurt
apparently in all the excitement Henry Kicked me in the back of the head while I was doing a stage dive
ah... love hurts
there is a scar on the back of my head... it may be from that night
(I went to a memorial service for my good friend Rob's dad a few seasons ago, it was held at Peirce Hall... either that place shrunk or I grew... it was diminutive... I recalled it being massive)
saw Rollins do his Spoken Word thing at DC Space which was super cool
also caught Black Flag at the old 930...

3.Rites of Spring at Food for Thought (maybe their first show)
I am not adding Rites of Spring because I saw Guy playing Mr. Mom in Adams Morgan this morning
I saw Rites of Spring too many times to count
each and every performance by these guys was done with such great emotion that you thought that they would never try to play live again as it would be foolish to try and repeat it
but... the band played on and they hit the mark each time
as much as I loved to mock Rites of Spring for their tear filled following and the flower pedals on the stage... they were an amazing band... music still viable today

hmmmm...
let me see what I come up with
there were so many fun gatherings at Fort Reno, but those times were great for the gatherings more than the music
the same goes for RAR on the 4th of July... a great day in the park with so many friends offering so many memories, but the music was so often just background noise for the day itself
trying to find a memory from The Wilson Center... The Meatmen were cool... but more of a rock and roll comedy act than a punk show
hmmm....

4. a conglomeration of the Community Center Shows...
for a short while there was a trend for the dc bands to play at community centers
which made a certain amount of sense... people were gathering for the music, not for drinks
it also allowed for a more rational sense of promotion
Bells of hosted an assortment of community center shows
there were so many shows I can not recall
but one show stands out... a fall show at the Chevy Chase Community center in NW DC across from The Avalon
it may have been Dave Smalley's first show after Shawn Brown was removed from Dag Nasty
at this show Scream played an acoustic set... not sure if Dave Grohl was the drummer
but this show really showed that the singer Peter Stahl could do more than Scream... dag nasty ripped it up as well

it is hard to believe that something so important to me at the time could all drift out of my mind like this

what should I toss in there as a 5th to round out my top five?
there were all sorts of bands that I really enjoyed seeing... Beefeater, HR (I never saw Bad Brains in their prime,) Marginal Man, so many... it is foolish to list
KingFace was a band that I thought was an odd ball in the DC scene... so much bravado... so much rock... not exactly the shy coolness that the dc folks like to present
GI was an amazing band... always bringing fantastic energy to the room
John Stabb was born to perform
Iron Cross was cool and tapped into the energy of a teen age boy

I guess I will have to leave five open
as I find that it is best not to complete these lists
because with five open I can still come back and update four
but more than likely.... one, two, and three will remain the same

that classic quiz
What DC Hardcore Band Are You?

gwadzilla archive from 3 years ago where I touched on some of this same stuff
a time when I was more about words than pictures
although there are still pictures