WP vs. LP

[j33]

Try 1987-1990, but I'll have to watch that when I get home. I might know some people as I do know quite a few people who where around a bit earlier (if we are still in Chicago, sometimes we have a way of finding each other, I just found myself talking to a former DJ from Exit not too long ago and he was talking about the 'good old days' of the early and mid 80's)

[Avengerfire]

Although I am a little bit younger than J33 I believe, I do remember that scene a bit myself. I know I had many dealings and encounters with those people for sure.

[Lookout Kid]

Punk isn't dead, but it has morphed into something unrecognizeable. And the new iteration seems to lack the rawness and power of the early scene... from what I can tell from the fragments of the past, anyway. I was playing kickball and foursquare on an elementary school playground in the early 80s...

[j33]

I watched that video, it was far too short, but the film ought to be fun when it comes out. It was clearly a few years before my time, but not before the time of a good friend of mine, so I'll have to get him to watch it too when it comes out, if anything to see if he's in it, but I did manage to see Naked Raygun more than a few times (they constantly played), and I know I have an Effigies record floating around my house somewhere. Hehe.

Funny stuff, to look at me now, nobody would ever know that I spent my high school and early college years wearing ripped clothing, with a partially shaved head and weird make-up, while jumping off the stage at punk shows on the weekend (once in awhile I like to tell 'em just to see the quizzical look on their faces, usually someone responds with a 'yeah, I could see that').

My how things change, I mean just last week I was chairing a meeting in which I had to make an (oh God help me) PowerPoint presentation. Oh, the humanity

[NearWestSider]

Well, if I was considerably younger, I'd probably be tempted to go on a punk/New Wave tour and report the reults. From what I have understand, Neo, Exit, Smart Bar, and Berlin are still going.

All those places date to the punk / New Wave era. What are they now? Who goes there? Are they still relevant? It would make an interesting read, if anyone wants to do it

Here's a bit of punk trivia: Devo did their first news conference in Chicago (way back when they were still in the rubber hair / nuclear suit era) at one of the lecture centers of the Circle (UIC) Campus. Apparently, they liked the atmosphere and found it consistent with the concept of post-industrial de-evolution. It made perfect sense to me, but I've always wondered what Walter Netch might have thought about that.

[Lookout Kid]

Neo is kind of a goth/fetish place now. Exit is retro crusty punk, though they think they are cutting edge. Smart bar is punk lite. Berlin is a gay dance club.

[randomguymike]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

P.S. On that note, I will never live on the ground floor in Chicago again!

Would anyone else agree with this statement? As noted in another thread I'm looking at being out there soon and moving from midwest, white picket fence single story ranch, suburbia, the idea of being in a high rise kind of freaks me out. Also, I have visions of my dog crashing out the window and plummetting 30 stories to his demise. So, I was going to make a conserted effort to get something on the ground floor. Is that a bad idea from a safety perspective? How about garden level? I know they have a bunch of those in DC and they seem OK.

As always, thanks for any info.

[Lookout Kid]

I've lived on a first level and a first level/garden level duplex, and will never do either again. I now live on a high second level and that has been fine.

It really depends on your neighborhood and how secure the perimiter of your building is. In Wicker Park we had nice new gates, but they were never locked so our side alley became a thorougfare for unsavories late at night (we didn't see them, but there would be evidence of their presence the next day). I personally will not live on the ground level again unless I buy a house, and then I will have a super whiz-bang burglar alarm.