Music influences people at all ages. For people who are trying
to create an identity and find a place in the world, music is a
good way to do that. You make friends who enjoy the same music and
you see bands of people you know who play that music.
Music influences people at all ages. For people who are trying to create an identity and find a place in the world, music is a good way to do that. You make friends who enjoy the same music and you see bands of people you know who play that music. What happens, though, when the youth that are seeking a place in this world brand themselves as those who destroy? They destroy the venues, the equipment and above all the music.
Locally, the music scene hasn’t been strong. Usually, it’s the same few places where the same few bands play. With the recent explosion of new bands looking for new places to play, some buildings have opened their doors with the intention of expanding the horizons of musically gifted youth.
Bands who do it for the love of the music have been really grateful for the opportunities, but some more ungrateful fans have taken advantage of the people who let bands play there. Lately, a group of teenagers has been vandalizing venues, which in turn gets bands expelled from playing there again and costs the business owners money.
The most recent occurrence was at The Strand in Gilroy. Local bands played there Friday, Jan. 31. The Strand is a hall with a little stage and a prop room with costumes, masks and balloons. A group of teenagers came to the show and got into the prop room. They took out the costumes, blew up balloons, popped some already blown up balloons, spilled water, broke a chair and destroyed equipment. This all came at the band’s expense. The bands weren’t paid due to vandalism in the women’s bathroom. And, because of the display of disrespect to the owner’s building, no more bands are allowed to play there anymore.
This wasn’t the first time something like this happened. In December, at the Family Tree in Hollister, a teenager tagged the name of his band in the bathroom. The owner scolded the kids, yet was kind enough not to call the police or prohibit bands from playing again.
The recent display of disrespect for the venues and, ultimately the music, is shocking. All teenagers go through that stage of wanting to challenge authority and thinking that they’re always right, but some teenagers take it too far. Soon there will be no places where bands can play and there will be no fans to watch.
Anarchy is defined in Webster’s dictionary as “an ideal society made up of individuals who enjoy complete freedom.” The idea of anarchy is usually miscued in the minds of people who don’t understand it as annihilation. This includes teenagers, who take the misunderstood meaning of anarchy too literally. In this case, they want to defy authority by destroying what they say they have to live for: the music.
Bands are frustrated because now it’s becoming harder to find places to play at because they’re often affiliated with the people who come.
Erik Coatsworth, the drummer for local band Nominal, said, “I’m glad that people get into the music with the rowdiness and all, but it’s not cool when we’re not allowed to play at places anymore because owners think that we promote what the fans do. When in actuality, it’s the opposite.”
The point that I’m trying to make is not that teenagers are evil because I’m one myself, and not that all teenagers are vandals either. What I am trying to say is that maybe someone should give them a wake-up call, and hopefully, parents can start teaching their kids to reap what they sow.
If they ruin what so many years of bands have tried to create, then there’ll be no more music, and nowhere for them to destroy. Go for the music, not for the vigilante justice.
Meghan Phillips is a senior at San Benito High School.
