good set: social currency in punx
“there will be cheers at the gallows / a roaring ovation for a circular firing squad / “
I often write these things down in the notes in my phone. The best ideas are not bred by staring at a piece of paper. However, I often forget the context for the things I write which is no necessarily a terrible thing. It gives me the ability to review it with a fresh unbiased mind.
I was at a show, sometime in the past year or so. I noticed someone that I have seen at shows every now and then not really watching the band playing. They, like me at this time, were on their phone, stepping out, or talking to a friend. All of this is completely acceptable and I am often guilty of it. Sometimes a band is playing and it just simply doesn’t interest you. Then why am I pointing this out?
After the set, I was helping a friend move their gear onto the stage after the previous band. The same person that was completely disinterested in the band playing, comes up to them and pats them on the back with a “Good set, we should play again sometime!” the two went on to talk a bit, most that I did not catch because of what I was doing. But, that stuck with me - they really couldn’t have thought it was a good set.
This is a simple act of building your social currency. It is one thing to not like a band and give them your attention but, to actively deceive them with your good intention seems out of place to me. It leads me to question if this sort of ingenuity have a place in our DIY community? Is this sort of social posturing healthy? Now I am far from wishing to discourage someone from creating music and art but, who is truly benefiting from this interaction? Is critical analysis only beneficial to people that we do not have any intention of using for self promotion?
There is so much more to the DIY culture that we are missing. There is more to it than the “I pat your back you pat mine” that I think we are not always achieving. You have to question the legitimacy of a community that ignores the same traps that we criticize conventional american culture in the exploitation of social capital.
Maybe I am just being cynical. Perhaps the person watching the band looks at their phone because they dont know what else to do while standing. Maybe their conversations during the bands set were complimenting something they were doing? As a person I should probably be a bit less jaded and more excited for people to be creating original works of art. I could definitely see myself featured in an article like this being accused of just watching the set and not “getting into it” as I was did.
I suppose these circles of logic lead me to one conclusion even friendships can be politicized. Not every band is expected to be of your interests and thats okay. We can appreciate them without enjoying what they do. I feel a huge issue in any community is genuine behavior and conversations. Being kind is very important but without it backed up by genuine feelings it serves little more than a means for social capital.
