This sub convinced me to drive four hours to Virginia Beach to finally see Pennywise live.

I’d mentioned never seeing them before, and the response was basically unanimous: if you love Pennywise, you need to see them live. So my wife and I made a whole thing out of it - four-hour drive, Airbnb, weekend at the beach, all because I’ve loved this band for 30+ years and figured it was finally time.

We left about 45 minutes into their set. I’m still bummed about it.

For context, some of my favorite bands to see live are Descendents, Lagwagon, The Menzingers, Alkaline Trio, Face to Face, MakeWar, etc. I also grew up mostly listening to hardcore and playing in hardcore bands, so loud, aggressive, chaotic - even a degree of "macho" - shows have been part of my life since my early teens.

There was just something about Pennywise live that felt weirdly macho - cheesy, even - and performative to me. I can’t completely put my finger on it, but my wife independently felt exactly the same way. Neither of us was enjoying it. It felt like a pep rally.

What really spoiled it for us, though, was Fletcher going off about how “the right is wrong, the left is wrong” and how everyone just needs to “come together.” He even went off on someone in the crowd who clearly disagreed.

Sorry, bro, but in 2026 that isn’t punk rock to me. That’s just both-sides kumbaya bullshit. You don’t have to agree with everything on the left, but pretending what’s happening politically right now is just two equally bad sides that need to hug it out is stupid. That's not some enlightened anti-establishment position - it’s actually enabling fascism by treating it like just another political disagreement.

And hearing that kind of message preached from the stage by a punk band I’ve loved for three decades was just profoundly disappointing.

I’m not saying Pennywise sucks. I still love the records and always will. I’m honestly just bummed that after finally seeing them, their live vibe apparently isn’t my scene at all - and even more disappointed that part of the show was spent preaching a nonsense “can’t we all just get along” message at a moment when taking a side actually matters.

Curious if anyone else loves Pennywise on record but just didn’t connect with them live...

UPDATE: a lot of comments about how this has always been true, but, in my best Adam Sandler voice, THINGS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION DAYS AGO!

?

I just wanted to appreciate the original misfits 3 album run after relistening to it after years of branching out to different sub genres of punk. Genuinely one of the greatest runs in music I’ve ever heard and I feel like they don’t really get their flowers for their actual musical output as opposed to the massive popularity of their image.

And I was never the same.

The Moscow band Skygrain is one of the most legendary and iconic acts in the history of not only the Moscow hardcore scene but the entire post‑Soviet hardcore scene.

The band was formed in 1995 and existed until 1998. They are considered to have appeared on the scene after the breakup of the youth crew band Step Back (which partly included Skygrain members).

Skygrain's musical style is aggressive, "punchy" old‑school hardcore. They are often called one of the first, if not the very first, straight‑edge bands in Russia, marking the beginning of that movement in the post‑Soviet space. They were true pioneers, often playing for just a few dozen people and being about five years ahead of their time. RFC Zine calls them the "starting point" for hardcore in the CIS, emphasising that hardcore shows, fanzines, style, ethics, the fight against Nazis, and closed‑door concerts all started with them.

During their existence, the band went through many lineup changes. The key figures were vocalists Kirill Student and Alexey Samokhin. Other members included Gog, Andrey, Max Ionov, Pasha Voloshin, Ilya Lipkin, Denis Shizo, and guitarist Reich Lyosha. After Skygrain disbanded, many members went on to play in other well‑known bands such as B'67, XXX, Argument 5.45, Unconform, Bandarlog, Yarche 1000 Solnts, Asian Women On The Telephone, Ray, Ricochet, Zatmim, Koroli Mambo, Neutral, Restoned, Cheeseball Punx, and Bol' Razluki.

Over their three‑year existence, the band recorded only one demo, titled "Демо с Самохиным" ("Demo With Samokhin), which included 4 songs. These tracks later appeared on the cassette compilation "We All Are Positive", released in 1999 by the label SzSS. In 1996, Skygrain's song "Война одного" (One Man's War) was included on the extreme music compilation "Учитесь плавать. Урок второй" (Learn to Swim. Lesson Two). In 1998, the demo was released as an EP. In 2022, the label "Izdatelstvo Siyanie" re‑issued this demo, and in 2024 a limited edition 7‑inch blue vinyl pressing of 100 copies was released.

The band's songs are available on all platforms.

Example of a song: https://youtu.be/Hu3mVuozJxI?si=sMV3ueG3TuYFY8PU

I’ve gone to a couple shows in my area recently. Maybe im going on the wrong days of the week but I swear every time I’m one of two people there who aren’t apart of or friends with any of the bands playing that night.

Me and my girlfriend are too busy in college to go. I‘m absolutely devastated. I paid 130 for the tix, offering for 100. Ticketmaster wants to give me 50, but I’m trying to swap these with Mountain Goats tix since they’ll be in my area, unlike Chicago which is a five hour drive </3 If interested, please dm me on Instagram @ lilysrosegardens

Zicosis 🇨🇴

The Dot Vaeth Group was a punk band from Dallas Texas.

Sluggo was a punk fanzine created by Nick Modern sold in store around Texas from 1979 to 1980. I drew the cover for this issue, THE CAT DOES DRUGS and I was also the featured fold out inside as the Reverend Neil X. Incidentally, the background music for this trip back into fanzine hell is provided by my experimental rock group Radio Fre Europe. These tracks were recorded in late 1979.

Hello! My name is Maëlyn, I am a french PhD student working on the topics of gender and sexuality in British and American punk (I also play bass in a riot grrrl/queercore band).

I am looking for people to interview for my PhD. Specifically, I'm looking for people from London and New York. The form contains about 20 questions, but if some of you would be so kind as to take some time to answer, it would be really helpful.

I am specifically looking for queer punks, but the form is open to everyone, as long as you identify as punk and come from one of the required cities (or are an active member of their local scenes)

In case you are concerned about how your data is being used, don't worry, everything will be anonymized and only me and my PhD supervisor will have access to your answers.

Here is the link, feel free to share it around you as well: https://framaforms.org/phd-punk-1788101718

If you have any questions, let me know, I will gladly answer them! Thank you <3

What an absolutely mental connection