Culture Shock: Hardcore/Punk Rock is 'Extremist'

Last Monday, a band from Texas called 'Die Young' was supposed to be playing a show here in St. Petersburg. Amazing dedication for a band like that to make the incredibly diffeicult trip into Russia to play a small club show for about 30 or 40 kids. But instead of getting to play their approx. 30-40 min. set, 50 police and 10 high ranking officers showed up before the show could start and shut the whole show down. Upon hearing this I was shocked. I knew who this band was, had met the guys a couple times, seen them play at a local youth center, and played with them when I was in high school. These guys, though controversial, have a positive message of tolerance, social justice, the power of freedom in speech, and thoughfulness towards all political and social matters. Four boys from Texas who love music, and even more their fans, had been classified as to 'extremist' by the law enforcement here to play to even a small crowd. Please read the article here from 'The St. Petersburg Times'. As someone who is somewhat involved with the music scene back home, I cannot even imagine this sort of reaction taking place. If this ever did happen in Canada, it would be a sure sign of times changing, but here it is put up with on a regular basis and one must commend those kids who stay dedicated enough to put on shows for touring bands even at the risk of being raided by 60 cops.