LAist: No Age @ the LA River, 11/17/07

White Light

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 09:02:29 -0800

Actually, there were a few people who left their trash as they scattered. The rest of us (including Dean,Randy and Jay) made sure to stay behind and clean up after them (and let anyone who would listen know that littering was in direct conflict with who and what we all are). People even brought brooms and swept up (maybe overkill). The point was it was a community effort. Call it punk, not punk, call it whatever you want, no one involved has labeled it or subscribed to a title of any kind. We were not there to brawl with the police, we simply wanted to create, participate in and document the magic that is happening in Los Angeles at this very moment.

thedarkocean

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:06:32 -0800

Tony, I wasn't accusing anyone of anything; just making sure people were being good neighbors. I'm all for art and we should also use our political energy to make access to the river authorized so everyone can come watch shows instead of having to dodge the cops. That's no fun :(

g

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:05:15 -0800

Ha... someone accusing people of littering in the pristine l.a. river.

Tony Pierce

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:50:33 -0800

yes the litter was picked up, thank you for your accusation though. but after speaking to the ranger, the biggest infraction is people cant walk along the river or even be on the incline. you can walk along the top part, but you cant be down by the water cuz its dangerous. there was no noise complaint. we were in an unauthorized part of the "river".

thedarkocean

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:46:35 -0800

Coming from a non-punker, anti-anarchist, I just want to make sure everyone understands why the rangers arrived. There are rules and laws you need to follow and for good reasons: was every piece of litter picked up after the show? Did any of the listeners leave beer bottles behind? Maybe people come to the river to enjoy solitude and silence and don't want to hear an impromptu rock show. Don't over-glamorize what this band did; it's probably been done before and there is a fine line between spontanaeity and imposing your will on others.

Elise Thompson

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 00:38:52 -0800

Ahh, the good old days when Dave Travis' generator let us watch bands in the desert. And it is extremely punk to scatter when the cops arrive. The only thing more punk is to get your head bashed in during a riot, but much less fun.

tomdog

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:40:04 -0800

great story Joshua and great pics. LAist has a review of No Age's most recent album HERE

worriedman

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 15:55:58 -0800

I think thats bad ass. Wish I coulda seen it. But I gotta say, these things don't happen ONLY in LA... :-) Refused played their last show, and broke up, in my neighbor's tiny basement in college. They were on a major tour, decided to call it quits, and pulled over to our small town to play one last impromptu sweaty basement show. Insane... huge tourbus pulls up to the front yard. Word spreads via bike, and the college radio station (cell phones were sorta rare). Throughout the set, the cops came several times, but as word spread thru town, that the band was indeed playing, the crowd grew exponentially. Finally, I watched the HarrisonburgPD charge down the shoddy wooden stairs, push through the crowd, and physically rip the powerstrips out of the wall, and then pry the guitars from the bands' grip, as the 200 hundred-some sweaty kids finished the final song acapella. My roomate went to jail for a night, as he was the one dealing with the cops. It was all pretty fuckin' punk.... in VA.

cone

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 15:30:22 -0800

a video of the entire event, in 3 parts, is here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=a9EbN6B5zLg

Joshua Pressman

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 13:59:06 -0800

haha jinx!

Tony Pierce

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 13:58:09 -0800

what would a real "punk"er do - keep playing and wait for the LAPD to throw them in jail? i think you're confusing punk rock artists with frat boys or soccer fans.

Joshua Pressman

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 13:57:08 -0800

Yeah, you know what would've been real punk? Making a huge scene when the rangers showed up by continuing to play, consequently necessitating the involvement of other law enforcements agencies. Better yet, if they had been shot! Man, that would have been punk...

90039

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 13:32:04 -0800

punk revival...i think not... how can you use the word "punk" when the band stopped the moment the rangers showed up....yah...real punk...