The Dark Side of the Longest Day + more better punk rock

The longest day, and consequently the shortest night, are cause for celebration. I ate, I drank, I made merry, and I saw some excellent music. In honor of the good time I had (all hail me and my awesomeness) I will now recount the best-of-the-best of Vilnius punk rock and the concerts I got to see during the few days of never-ending sunlight and parties.

Vytas (not Vytis)

Gaile has a friend, and he has a band. His name is Vytas. Say hi to Vytas.

Vytas in Mekas Duo

Mekas Duo...there are two of them

Vytas was introduced to me several times and has really been a great guide to the local music here. He showed me the most amazing underground website that has been up since the inception of the punk, metal, avant-garde scene here. (hardcore.lt) It is a really good source for information and music from the best of Vilnius, as well as being a central point of unification for the scene.

Vytas Live in Concert

Vytas' band's name is Mekas Duo, they are awesome. Say hi to Mekas Duo.

SC

SC is comprised of: 2 singers (1 female, and 1 male), 1 bass player with an amazing dreadlock mullet, and 1 incongruous drummer. They are also awesome.

Say Hello to SC.

The first time I saw SC they were playing at 11-20  when we arrived for the first time, I only caught the end of the show so I had no idea how good they really were. They have been around in the Vilnius punk scene for a very long time (according to our guide Vytas) and I would have to describe their sound as a Halloween-carnival ride with perfect dissonance in the vocals, and absolutely no resemblance to any other band I know (so I'm not going to say shit like "they sound like Fleetwood Mac dry-humping a distortion pedal while Jim Morrison masturbates in the corner...even though that would be awesome).

Nomeansno

Nomeansno is an old-school punk band from Canada (and when I say old-school, i mean they are all really old now and should be using walkers to get onto stage). SC opened for them at a very cool warehouse-converted-venue in Vilnius. If you don't know, now you know...

Also...Linas, Gaile, and I were caught on camera and showed up on the facebook photos for the concert. Not a terribly interesting story, we were just hanging out on the back patio in-between sets, but doesn't Gaile look like she's having fun?

The 11/20 Club + Tragedy

It's the weekend again, and we are going to see a punk show at 11/20.

Its just me and Linas, the girl from the last weekend isn't coming along...and i don't ask why.

The first band is from Poland and they have their rock faces on for sure. The girl who is singing is at times angered and amused either by her own lyrics or the crowd itself.

Either way she has some serious pipes.

Before the show even starts there is a guy who has already had too much to drink. he is pounding the front of the stage while the band is setting up. At one point he looses his control enough to grab the singer, and pick her up over his head in a bear hug-like grip. She pushes his face back trying to get loose. "No means no!" she shouts. It works. Later the guy is dragged out by the volunteer security for this homegrown venue. He does manage to get back in and is forcibly removed several more times. 

After this little melodrama the singer starts the show by telling us "as a little girl we were taught to be pleasant, to be [acquiescent], but that's bullshit."

...Let the punk rock begin.

Tragedy is from Oregon, they are brutal. The crowd packs in even tighter than before now that its time for the headliner. The band rips through song after song without stopping to talk, breath, or even drink that much.

The crowd eats it up. The place explodes into mosh pits, and crowd surfing. I thought you needed hundreds of people to crowd surf with any real effectiveness. I was wrong.

You can see all the show's photos here (http://photo.qip.ru/users/gooyuyu/96587837/all/?mode=large)

Linas tells me you can see me holding up one of the crowd surfers in one of the photos, I haven't found it yet. Where's waldo? 

The Wingman + Discovering Punk in Vilnius

We arrived back in the city for the end of street music day/the beginning of street music night. The official end is supposed to be around 10 pm. but you could tell the crowds and the musicians had no  intention of stopping.

Wandering

We wandered the street for a while, finding DJs cranking dance music inside ancient walled gardens, and people spilling into the streets from every conceivable corner. Fire dancers entertaining for change on the roads punctuated the deepening night with bright light and heat.  

SMC Again

We find ourselves back at the SMC, I need some whiskey.

The Girl

"Can you order the drinks? I need to talk to this girl." As statements of romantic intent go, this didn't even come close. I just nodded my head yes—since I couldn't really think of anything helpful to say.  It is much harder to execute one's duties as a wing-man if you don't speak the language. Linas left me at the bar to get the drinks, I appreciated this confidence in my new-found language skills—however misplaced, and made his way outside.

The Discovery of a Secret Punk Rocker

I meet them outside with the drinks. They are deep in conversation, and i don't understand any of it. I keep my distance, trying to be a good wing-man (I guess, I mean at this point I don't know enough to even be sure that is what role I am playing here). I wander off a distance, to give them some space, and find some people speaking English that i can talk to. They are not that interesting. Boo-hoo for me.

Linas waves me over. "Stand like you're [in our group]". I allow myself to join them, but remain certain that this is a violation of bro-code. They start talking in English for my sake. I am introduced to Gaile. Hi Gaile! I bring up music since it is still going on all around us, asking everyone what their favorite music is—and what bands they are into...blah, blah, blah. The same questions we all ask when we don't know the people and have nothing good to say anyway.

She knows punk..a lot of punk.

We disintegrate into quizzing each other about punk bands. "Do you know Bad Brains?" "Hell yes!". I know a lot of current bands from American that she does not, she knows a lot of bands from everywhere else that I do not. We have common ground on the classics.

11/20

"Where can i see local punk shows" I ask her. She tells us about an underground venue, no advertising, no listing, that has one every weekend and sometimes during the week.

It is called 11/20, because someone, somewhere, said that was the day punk music died. I don't know what year, I don't know who said it, and I don't care.

Lies about the Toasters

"The toasters will be there on Wednesday!" Gaile says "The fucking Toasters!" I exclaim, then break into a horrible rendition of Don't Let The Bastards Grind You Down. I extract a promise from everyone that we will go. They agree.

The next day Linas tells me, the toasters are not coming.

Bullshit Gaile. Bullshit.