[from Memphis TN] I don’t remember what stage of love I was
at with Eric Friedl & Gonerfest at this point of the festival but this band
was definitely not a deflater. They were a walking political statement, as
BrightShards would say. The lead singer, super black, super aggressive. The guy with dreads was more pot-ty, easier to smile, just easier. Their sound was
aggressive—honestly too aggressive for me on a tired afternoon. The lead singer
led with commentary on Nazis, fascists, etc. It was like I was back in
Portland. He told the audience how the Proud Boys had sent him threatening
emails because he runs SHARP (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice) and I
mentally sent apologies to my friend IMayOrMayNotBeAntifa because I had
assumed Proud Boys were a Portland issue. They were smart, creative, funny. A sonically
perfect draw on oi punk, 90s southern California ska punk, hardcore. They
covered ‘Screwdriver’ whom I find out now are a late 1970s British anti-racist
oi band. Their politics went too far for me (sorry, again, IMayOrMayNotBeAntifa),
with talk of killing Nazis and a song called ACB (All Cops are Bastards). They
were also a little close to the nose, with songs on each hot-button item.
Racism, check. Rape, check. Homophobia, check. The rapist song went something
like “we’ll protect you women.. we’ll hang ‘em high…” All the men in the crowd (white)
nodding and waving their fists like proper allies – thanks, but no. We don’t
need a cadre of male-protectors. And then a song about how “we need strong
governance” which sort of ran counter to their criticisms of public entities. To
be fair, I am more critical of people whom I’m bordering on really admiring and
who make me think. And, to be fair, I’d arrived in Memphis exasperated with
ideological dogmatism, and political evangelism. I make this criticism
regardless of your ‘side.’ Because when you’re dogmatic, you’ve stopped
engaging in independent thought, you’ve cut off your ability to empathize,
your ability to wonder what other people’s paths are like and what motivates
their beliefs. The fact that there is a side IS THE PROBLEM. I hated groupthink
as a kid and I am swarmed with new versions of it in our currently ‘polarized
times.’ And, in my work, it’s not only ineffective but, I believe, unethical.
Nonetheless, when hardcore can tend white male, I appreciated this festival’s
celebration of radical black male, especially in a region of the country that’s
less appreciative. So all hail Gonerfest and all hail Negro Terror. In other things, maybe related, I was
noticing about my surroundings, I was called ‘ma’am’ several times – not happening
on the west coast. And people take their time with you.
Interactions are personal
– people look you in the eye. A person I met at the airport car rental place
took time to go over a map with me, for no reason at all, shedding insight on
my proposed trip through the Delta blues. Not to mention, I, by now, 'knew' everybody
at the festival (hardly, but you know). People smoke, not only on sidewalks but in bars (in other
important facts). Also, people talk about race. Lord knows I love talk about
race but my Lyft drivers were bringing it up, whether black or white, and most
were black, and without even a nudge from me. I was enraptured. The South is warm, or is it hot?
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