Punk Fest
In the excellent doc Punk:
Attitude Chrissie Hynde asserts that punk only really lasted 40 days before it got co-opted and made into something commercial, the antithesis of its original meaning. Lorenzo di Flaneur’s
shot from the Punk Fest in Thompkins Square Park of kids with
matching black T-shirts, each emblazoned with another band, would seem to
suggest that the current state of punk is more about branding than an angry
declaration of anti-conformity. Anti-conformity can’t really sustain as a movement
though, and I choose to think that these tweener's tepid rebellion is a lot better than nothing; at least they’re
choosing to buy something that makes them look sort of like rad rebels of yesteryear rather than someone from
One Tree Hill. And as you can see in the shot below the crowd’s clearly
having a good time, listening to good raw angry music in an anti-Bush,
damn-the-man context. So two thumbs up, young quasi-punks!
Lorenzo has pics from this event and many
others at his Flickr page;
from the Scissor Sisters show at Coney Island to art openings to Wigstocks
past, it’s an rich portrait of both day and night life in
Photos: Lorenzo di Flaneur
