Growing up in suburbia during the late 70’s and early 80’s, I became a big fan of Vancouver’s punk scene. I was never able to attend their concerts at the time – how could a good suburban boy ever get to (or into) the Smilin’ Buddha? – but I bought as many records and cassettes as I could find. I’m not sure what attracted me to DOA, Art Bergmann, the Subhumans and the Pointed Sticks, et al., but it was probably a combination of the energy, bad language and social awareness that oozed out of these bands. And they wrote some damn good songs.
The Knowledge Network recently showed a great documentary on Vancouver’s early punk scene called Bloodied But Unbowed. If you’re interested in this scene – which Duff McKagan figures was one of the best in the world – the film is absolutely worth the 55 minutes.
Edited on: Sunday, October 03, 2010 5:27 PM
