5.23.2011

A New Direction For Hardcore Punk: Get your apathetic-hipster-punk outta here.


So, there’s this new hardcore and punk fest happening on August 19th & 20th , in Olympia, WA, called New Direction Fest. The idea behind the fest is pretty awesome; its goal is to revive the punk tradition of resisting the status quo.
The first line-up announcement just came out. It’s their first year, but so far they have Vic Bondi playing Articles of Faith (Chicago), Migraine (San Fran), Brigada Roja (Mexico), Know More (Denver, CO), Resist and Exist (L.A.), Adelit@s (PDX), Hummingbird of Death (Boise), Red and Black (Oly), and Cowardice (Tacoma). All of these bands have actually done something to make the world a less shitty place; from animal rights activism to IWW labor organizing to starting a DIY all-ages venue. Finally, a fest that just doesn’t complain about our fucked up world but actually strives to change that shit.
During the morning, there are also going to be workshops put on by radical punks, who fight the power, including Rose City Antifa (PDX), Mark Anderson (Positive Force DC), Josh Simpson (Coffee Strong), and a workshop with Migraine about class struggle and unionizing our workplace. These spaces will be a perfect opportunity to exchange ideas and opinions about how these issues affect our hardcore/punk communities and the general society.
It’s refreshing to see punks getting active and confronting the bullshit injustices that plague everything around us, instead of the apathetic hipster attitude that “doesn’t give a fuck” about other peoples suffering. Punks shouldn’t stand by and do nothing when the government and corporations thrive off the obedience and wide-spread suffering happening right now. It’s absurd how much our counter-culture has been commercialized and made into a commodity by corporate fucks. Our community can be more than just a network to sell merch and records. 
New Direction Fest represents all the best aspects of punk: distrust of authority, rejection of power structures, fighting fascism, independent thinking, DIY ethics, and anti-consumerism. Now, more than ever, we need to reconnect with these punk values and make them into a reality. We need to transform our lyrics into action. That’s what this fest is about.
For more information about the fest, or how to help out and what not, check out their website at newdirectionfest.net or donate to the cause here. Tickets are for sale at Brown Paper Tickets. The second line-up announcement should be released in the next month or so. I don’t know about you, but I’ll be waiting in anticipation until then.  
via bradicalmang:

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