On Monday/Memorial Day the 9:30 Club celebrated its 30th Anniversary. For kids who grew up listening to and mythologizing D.C. hardcore, punk, and the like, the place needs no introduction. In case it does, host Henry Rollins did a good job offering background and various old-time Black Flag-related anecdotes. (Of course, old pal/pet store coworker Ian MacKaye gets a lot of deserved mentions.) Outside Rollins and his anecdotes, there were performances by Ted Leo, the Fleshtones, Clutch, the Psychedelic Furs, Bob Mould, and the Evens (fronted by MacKaye). People seemed to be especially excited about Dave Grohl reuniting with his teenage band Scream (I would’ve held out for Rites Of Spring). We have video of Rollins introducing Bob Mould, Ted Leo being Ted Leo, and Dave Grohl/Scream covering Bad Brains.

Read More...

To be more specific, MacKaye talks about skateboarding culture in the “Skate And Create” section of the D.I.Y. America documentary put together by Aaron Rose and WKE, a subsidiary of Nike and Coca Cola and etc.’s ad agency Wieden+Kennedy. It’s labeled a “WKE Original Series.” While I wouldn’t exactly call it pimping for Nike’s ad agency, for someone as politically outspoken as MacKaye, he probably should have done his homework (or read the release form/contract more closely). What’s more interesting to me is that this “serialized show focusing on leaders in the youth/punk/DIY movement” doesn’t include much youth. Why? Because the series was constructed from footage shot for, but not included in Beautiful Losers, the film about early ’90s D.I.Y. So, no, you’re likely not going to get much 2010: Instead of Todd P and friends, it’s MacKaye, Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Tommy Guerrero, Tony Hawk, etc., doing the talking. (As far as newer crews, the soundrack includes Gang Gang Dance and No Age.) All that said, MacKaye has cool/poetic things to say about “the skaters’ gaze,” but it’s not nearly as entertaining as this Nike-related fodder. Take a look.

“WTF” was invented for moments like watching the Oscar-winning Gandhi actor get into the zone and make like Ian MacKaye in front of a simulated salad days D.C. hardcore audience for a lipsynced rendition of Minor Threat’s classic fight song: Look here and laugh. No idea how this came about because we don’t want to know — good enough that it exists.