The Mentally Handicapped Sure Know How to Rock and Roll!

This reminds me of that South Park episode where Timmy joins a band and becomes a rock and roll superstar. Just like in that South Park episode, people will doubtlessly believe that me posting this video is cruel. To that, I say the great thing about these guys is they are in your face, doing their own thing, and clearly enjoying it.

I mean, who knew this whole crowd would get so into hardcore punk? This is much like the scenes I saw when I was a teenager going to all ages shows. The difference, of course, is that the mentally handicapped — in general — don't care about ideological purity and "who sold out". To them, it's all about the rock and roll. Even the lady in the wheelchair is getting into it.

Actually, I think it would be cool if more mentally handicapped went to concerts. I think it would be more fun. Maybe their clear enjoyment would rub off on some of the more stoic folks in the audience.

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Live Performance of Bad Brains Circa 1979

Hot damn. If you don't know the significance of Bad Brains, take a bloody look. This was the band to define what was to come. This was the original hardcore punk band. But they didn't just do punk rock. They were also a fusion jazz band, a funk band, and a dub reggae band (singer H.R. is a Rastafarian).

And what a performance. They aren't just loud and frenetic. There's a depth of delivery going on. You know he's saying something important and you better take heed.

Now here is my dream, and I know it will be a forever unfulfilled one. I'd like to see Public Enemy and Bad Brains together on stage. They are so perfect together. Both share the same political leanings, both are energetic, and both have a message they want to broadcast to the world. Finally, both are a purer version of the genres of music they represent.

So marvel at this performance, even if you don't like punk rock. What you are seeing is one of the seminal moments that would define the next 20 years of music. You like Black Flag, Nirvana, and Sublime? What about the Beastie Boys? You are seeing it all in a very raw form.

The Definitive Punk Rock Montage

I realized a few years ago that I'm not punk rock — I'm just cranky. I'm not cranky in a good way either. I'm nearing Travis Bickle at times: a tightly wound, solitary man who has one foot in the grave. Working late at night and staying up even later will do that to you. It will turn you into a machine who is working a machine.

But that isn't punk rock. That's just being neurotic — and you wouldn't say Woody Allen is punk rock, would you? I thought not.

Punk rock is what you see in this montage. The song, by the way, is "We're desperate" by X. This pretty much showcases what is punk rock. It's alcoholic girls who piss in an alleyway then offer you sex right then and there. It's strung out sons of guns who thrash uncontrollably and get their faces bashed in by a flailing fist. It's Listerine and dirty needles littered in a condemned apartment, acknowledging that your life is a mess — and yet confronted by a hope that there's something greater. That, my friends, is punk rock.

I realized long ago that it's not for me. There is no chance in hell that my nocturnal caffeinated twitches will ever meet the fury of raw and real punk rock. Yes, I may be on the cusp of a blow-out at times, but I definitely am not punk rock.

There's not very much punk rock nowadays. Every so often, though, you'll see it in some decrepit concert hall in skid row.

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